Distributor:
Universal Home Entertainment | Region 4 | Pal This month
Universal release a sextet of classic Westerns from the Golden Age of
Hollywood, most of them starring James Stewart and Audie Murphy. All
include as extras their original theatrical trailers. Join us as we take
a look at them.
NIGHT
PASSAGE
Made
in 1957 Night Passage stars
James Stewart as Grant McLaine,
a traveling musician, who ends
up taking a job hoarding a
railroad payroll, however major
problems arise when his brother
Lee (Audie Murphy) aka The Utica
Kid learns of his new job and
begins planning a robbery.
Entertaining enough in its way
and with a rousing score by
Dmitri Tiomkin.
DUEL
AT SILVER CREEK
Another
Audie Murphy headliner from 1952
which sees him playing Luke
“The Silver Kid” Cromwell
who teams up with Marshall
“Lightning” Tyrone to try
and rid their territory of a
gang of tough claim jumpers.
With its straight ahead
direction from a young Don
Siegal and an appearance by a
young Lee Marvin Duel at Silver
Creek still has plenty going for
it despite its hackneyed plot.
BEND
OF THE RIVER
Another
movie from 1952, this time concerning the exploits of a team of wagon
trainers heading from Missouri to a new home in Oregon, chief amongst
them being James Stewart’s Glyn McLyntock; After settling in Portland
for the winter McLyntock spies the opportunity to make himself a little
money by selling the wagon train’s supllies to the residents of a gold
mining camp. Stewart made an awful lot of westerns in his career,
despite not necessarily being known as a western star, here the very
talented directed Anthony Mann carries the action along swiftly and here
are also supporting roles for a young Rock Hudson, Arthur Kennedy and
Julia Adams.
RARE
BREED
Made in 1966 Rare Breed is an amusing comedy
western that stars James Stewart once again partnered with the feisty
Maureen O’Hara who plays stubborn widow Martha Price, who, along with
her daughter Hilary (the beautiful Juliet Mills) moves to Texas from England bringing with their prize bull, Stewart plays
Sam Burnett who ends up working for O’Hara. The excellent Brian Keith
also has a prominent role as ranch over Alexander Bowen who is soon at
loggerheads with O’Hara. Actually a great deal of fun, Rare Breed,
despite being from an era when the western was considered passé,
manages to entertain nicely.
SHENANDOAH
James
Stewart stars in this 1965 Civil War drama, the plot follows one
Virginian farming family throughout the course of the American Civil War
with problems and drama arising when the youngest son is kidnapped by
union soldiers. With it’s fine ensemble cast which besides Stewart
also includes Katherine Ross, Doug McClure and Rosemary Forsyth,
Shenandoah occasionally seems a little soap operish but overall
maintaining the interest also offers a seldom seen view of the Civil War
– that of the ordinary family and how the fighting affected them.
WINCHESTER 73
Another
Anthony Mann-James Stewart killer western from 1950 in which an in his
prime Stewart plays Lin McAdam who wins a top of the range Winchester
Rifle out to have it stolen by his chief rival Dutch Henry Brown, McAdam
of course embarks on a quest to get his rifle back. Of all the movies in
this collection Winchester 73 was probably the most popular, Stewart as
always is very good as the everyman character whilst the supporting cast
is full of such well known faces as Shelley Winters, Dan Duryea, Rock
Hudson, Tony Curtis, Will “Grandpa Walton” Geer and Jay C. Flippen.
A
high quality western can make for a great evenings entertainment and
these new releases from Universal are well worth a look.
