The last western I watched was the William Wellman classic Yellow Sky, starring Gregory Peck, Anne Baxter, Richard Widmark and James Barton, all terrific. And then I watched the mediocre remake, The Jackals, which looks like a western except that it’s set in South Africa, though filmed in Australia. The latter’s main interest is seeing Vincent Price in the James Barton role — Price did make a few westerns.
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Some updated info re the February 25 Blu-ray release of The Conqueror:
Description: Hollywood icon John Wayne (The Searchers, Hatari!) stars as the Mongol ruler Genghis Khan in the lavish period epic The Conqueror. Produced by the legendary Howard Hughes (The Outlaw), the directorial debut of actor Dick Powell (Christmas in July, Pitfall) features a cast of thousands and period costumes recreating 12th century China. Boasting an international cast that includes Susan Hayward (Canyon Passage), Agnes Moorehead (CItizen Kane), Pedro Armendariz (From Russia WIth Love) and William Conrad (The Killers), this infamous Eastern Western showcases "The Duke" in one of his most unusual roles ever.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
- Audio Commentary by Film Historian David Del Valle and Film Historian/Producer Dan Marino
- Theatrical Trailer
- Optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature
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Here's a comparison on YouTube of the new restoration of The Searchers (in 4K and a new Blu-ray) versus the old (yellowish) Blu-ray. The new restoration really is stunning.
The Warner Archive Collection proudly announces its first 4K UHD release -
John Ford’s “THE SEARCHERS”
(Newly Remastered and Restored from the Original VistaVision Negative)Available as a 4K UHD/Blu-ray Combo and as a remastered Blu-ray disc December 17th from the Warner Archive Collection
Perhaps the greatest collaboration between the legendary director John Ford and his famed leading man John Wayne, the 1956 Warner Bros. classic The Searchers will be arriving on 4K UHD Blu-ray disc, meticulously restored and newly remastered from its original VistaVision camera negative.
The film will be available as either a 4K UHD Blu-ray disc combo pack, including a newly remastered Blu-ray disc, or as a stand-alone Blu-ray disc. SRP for the 4K/Blu-ray combo pack will be $29.99. with sleeve packaging, and the remastered Blu-ray will have an SRP of $21.99. Both iterations will contain over an hour of special features in HD on the Blu-ray disc, with the feature itself having an archival commentary from the late Peter Bogdanovich.
The Searchers will release on December 17th, and is available for pre-order at leading online media retailers.
The new 4K UHD Blu-ray presentation of the feature will be available with Dolby Vision and HDR10. Both the 4K and Blu-ray discs will contain the feature’s original monaural audio track which was restored from the best available source materials to provide a clean and dynamic audio presentation.
The film underwent an extensive restoration earlier this year, at Warner Bros. Motion Picture Imaging and Warner Bros. Archival Mastering (for audio). The restoration was undertaken in collaboration with The Film Foundation, and made its public premiere earlier this year at the TCM Film Festival.
Compression and authoring for Blu-ray and UHD Blu-ray were performed by Fidelity in Motion. To maintain the highest possible image and sound quality for home viewing, these optimized encodes fully utilize the available bandwidth and disc space on the BD100 and BD50 formats.
The Searchers was filmed using the 8-perf 35mm VistaVision process, where the negative went through the camera horizontally with double the frame size of traditional 35mm film, thus yielding incredible clarity with greater depth of field. The original camera negative along with yellow separation protection masters were used for this new presentation, to fully restore the film’s original color palette capturing the masterful cinematography of Winton C. Hoch, a frequent Ford collaborator. The result is a revelatory presentation which is a testament to the artistry that went into creating this beloved motion picture.
Special Features on the 4K UHD disc and the Blu-ray disc:
• Archival Commentary by Director Peter Bogdanovich (The Last Picture Show, What’s Up, Doc?) on both the 4K and Blu-ray discs.
On the Blu-ray disc:
• Original Theatrical trailer (HD) • 1996 Introduction to the feature by Patrick Wayne (HD)
• The Searchers: An Appreciation (HD) • A Turning of the Earth: John Ford, John Wayne and The Searchers (HD)
• Newsreel coverage of the film’s world premiere (HD)
• Outtakes (HD)
• Behind the Cameras (segments from the 1956 Warner Bros. Presents TV series): (HD)
o Meet Jeffrey Hunter o Monument Valley o Meet Natalie Wood o Setting Up ProductionRunning time: 119 Minutes-COLOR-NOT RATED-DTS-HD MA 2.0 Mono
Aspect ratio 16x9 1.85:1
Subtitles: English SDH
For the 4k UHD Blu-ray: Dolby Vision, HDR10, BD100
For the Blu-ray: BD50
4K UHD Blu-ray/Blu-ray 2-Disc combo-$29.99 SRP
Blu-ray-$21.99
Street date-December 17, 2024 -
Hatari is now available on 4K and Blu-ray.
HATARI! (1962)
DISC 1 (4KUHD):
• Brand New HDR/Dolby Vision Master – From a 16bit 4K Scan of the 35mm Original Camera Negative
• NEW Audio Commentary by Film Historian/Writer Julie Kirgo and Writer/Filmmaker Peter Hankoff
• 5.1 Surround and Lossless 2.0 Audio
• Triple-Layered UHD100 Disc
• Optional English SubtitlesDISC 2 (BLU-RAY):
• Brand New HD Master – From a 16bit 4K Scan of the 35mm Original Camera Negative
• NEW Audio Commentary by Film Historian/Writer Julie Kirgo and Writer/Filmmaker Peter Hankoff
• Theatrical Trailer
• 5.1 Surround and Lossless 2.0 Audio
• Dual-Layered BD50 Disc
• Optional English SubtitlesAlso Available on Standalone Blu-ray:
https://kinolorber.com/product/hatari-special-edition463411102_967263398777692_3450715484887187554_n.jpg463411102_967263398777692_3450715484887187554_n.jpg
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We're also getting a 4K/Blu-ray release of Sands of Iwo Jima.
***ANNOUNCEMENT***
Coming on April 15th on #4K and Blu-ray in the US from @KinoLorber: #SandsOfIwoJima (1949)!
DISC 1 (4KUHD):
• Brand New HDR/Dolby Vision Master – From a 4K Scan of the 35mm Original Camera Negative
• NEW Audio Commentary by Filmmaker/Historian Steve Mitchell and Combat Films: American Realism Author Steven Jay Rubin
• Triple-Layered UHD100 Disc
• Optional English SubtitlesDISC 2 (BLU-RAY):
• Brand New HD Master – From a 4K Scan of the 35mm Original Camera Negative
• NEW Audio Commentary by Filmmaker/Historian Steve Mitchell and Combat Films: American Realism Author Steven Jay Rubin • The Making of Sands of Iwo Jima: Hosted by Leonard Maltin
• Theatrical Trailer
• Dual-Layered BD50 Disc
• Optional English SubtitlesScreen legend John Wayne (The Longest Day) catapulted from Hollywood leading man to All-American hero with his Oscar-nominated performance (Best Actor of 1949) as Sgt. Stryker, a hard-nosed Marine sergeant who must mold a company of raw recruits into a combat-ready fighting machine. Feared by many and hated by all, Stryker’s training is soon put to the test in a full-scale assault against the Japanese on Iwo Jima—an infamous battle that will live forever in one of cinema’s most iconic scenes, the flag-raising on Mt. Suribachi. Emotionally gripping, punctuated with intense and sweeping battle scenes, all bound together by The Duke’s larger-than-life performance, Allan Dwan’s Sands of Iwo Jima is the quintessential WWII film.
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475300367_1075334151303679_4655389473212947736_n.jpgHere it is! The announcement for Donovan's Reef on 4K and Blu-ray. So stoked for this!
***ANNOUNCEMENT***
Coming on April 15th on #4K and Blu-ray in the US from @KinoLorber: #DonovansReef (1963)!
Legendary filmmaker John Ford (Stagecoach, The Quiet Man) and star John Wayne (Fort Apache, The Searchers ) team up for what would be their final collaboration in this boisterous, uproarious South Seas escapade! Life on a South Pacific island for two ex-Navy buddies (The Duke and Lee Marvin, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance) is just about perfect—they spend most of their time in Donovan’s Reef, the local saloon where they brawl and feud and somehow manage to stave off the sameness of tropical living. Then, into this mayhem arrives a straitlaced Bostonian (Elizabeth Allen, Cheyenne Autumn) in search of her father. Jack Warden, Cesar Romero, Dick Foran and Dorothy Lamour add to the laughs—and pandemonium—in this tropical Technicolor treat!Product Extras :
DISC 1 (4KUHD):Brand New HDR/Dolby Vision Master – From a 4K Scan of the 35mm Original Camera Negative
NEW Audio Commentary by Film Historian Joseph McBride, the Author of Searching for John Ford
NEW Audio Commentary by Film Historian Dwayne Epstein, the Author of Lee Marvin: Point Blank
Triple-Layered UHD100 Disc
Optional English SubtitlesDISC 2 (BLU-RAY):
Brand New HD Master – From a 4K Scan of the 35mm Original Camera Negative
NEW Audio Commentary by Film Historian Joseph McBride, the Author of Searching for John Ford
NEW Audio Commentary by Film Historian Dwayne Epstein, the Author of Lee Marvin: Point Blank
The Growler Story: 1957 Short Film Directed by John Ford (21 Minutes)
Theatrical Trailer
Dual-Layered BD50 Disc
Optional English Subtitles -
I know you’ve all been waiting breathlessly for a Blu-ray of The Conqueror, and your wish has been granted. Kino Lorber will release it on February 25, 2025.
The Conqueror | Kino Lorber - Experience CinemaHollywood icon John Wayne stars as the Mongol ruler Genghis Khan in this lavish period epic.kinolorber.com -
Thought you all would enjoy this publicity still of Ben in She Wore a Yellow Ribbon. Photo by Alex Kahle.
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Hi, friends!
Great news about Donovan's Reef. No info yet about release date, artwork or extras (I am sure there will be a commentary at least). Will post when there is more information.
Kino Lorber have revealed that they are preparing a 4K Blu-ray and Blu-ray releases of John Ford's Donovan's Reef (1963), starring John Wayne, Lee Marvin, Elizabeth Allen, Jack Warden, and Cesar Romero.
Description: Three World War II Navy veterans -- Donovan (John Wayne), Doc Dedham (Jack Warden) and Gilhooley (Lee Marvin) -- converge on the French Polynesian island of Haleakaloha and team up to deceive Dedham's prim daughter (Elizabeth Allen), who has just learned of her father's existence and his inherited stock from the company of which she is chairman, and hopes to find just cause to reclaim his shares. Dedham's marriage to an island woman serves to further threaten his share in the company. -
Ready for John Wayne and friends in 4K?
Coming to 4K UHD 7/18 from Warner Brothers
Rio Bravo (1959) 4K UHD
https://amzn.to/4249JZ0This classic western directed by Howard Hawks features an all-star cast, including the legendary John Wayne. There's a showdown at Rio Bravo when courageous Sheriff John T. Chance (Wayne) throws the brother of evil cattle baron Nathan Burdette in jail for murder (the Burdette brothers played by John Russell and Claude Akins). When Burdette's men lay seige to his jailhouse, Chance holds on until the arrival of a U.S. Marshal with the help of his drunken deputy, Dude (Dean Martin), cranky old man Stumpy (Walter Brennan), a young gunfighter (Ricky Nelson) and the beautiful long-legged Feathers (Angie Dickinson).
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Heroes-8M.jpgHeroes-9M.jpgHeroes-7M.jpgYo!
It's been five years since there was a post in the Ben Johnson thread, so the bulletin board recommended starting a new thread. Which has now been done.
Mainly wanted to say hello everyone and that my Ben Johnson Fan Page website was forced to move to a new locale, thanks (or better yet, NO THANKS) to Shutterfly, which decided to discontinue its webhosting service. 12 1/2 years of work on that site disappeared overnight. *sigh*
Anyway, the new site is benjohnsonfanspage.com. Everything was saved from the old site, and I'm now working on re-posting everything, though it probably will be a few months more before it's all back.
Meanwhile, enjoy these three pictures of Ben taken by photographer Jerry Click (that was really his name!) for The Houston Post. Ben was in Houston promoting his new picture, My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys.
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From Blu-ray.com: Rio Grande Signature Edition Blu-ray
Rio Grande Signature Edition Blu-rayIndependent distributors Olive Films have officially announced and
detailed their upcoming Signature Edition of John Ford's classic western
Rio Grande
(1950), starring John Wayne, Maureen O'Hara, Ben Johnson, Claude
Jarman, Jr., and Harry Carey Jr. The release will be available for
purchase on November 17.Description: Rio Grande, the third and final installment in John Ford's
loosely-conceived Cavalry Trilogy(preceded by Fort Apache and She Wore A
Yellow Ribbon) stars John Wayne as Lt. Col. John Kirby Yorke (the role
he inhabited in Fort Apache) alongside Maureen O'Hara (in the first of
five films she'd co-star in alongside Wayne) as his estranged wife,
Kathleen, a woman set on keeping their son, Jefferson (Claude Jarman
Jr., The Yearling), now under Yorke's command, out of harm's way.Filmed throughout Moab, Utah and the majestic Professor Valley --
photographed in exquisite gradations of black and white by Stagecoach
cinematographer Bert Glennon -- Rio Grande offers nuanced observations
on love, family, and honor, while firmly adhering to the western genre,
showing Ford at his most measured and mature as a storyteller.Written
by James Kevin McGuinness (Men of Boys Town) based on the Saturday
Evening Post story by James Warner Bellah, Rio Grande features J. Carrol
Naish and a supporting cast of familiar faces, many of them from the
Ford stock company of actorsincluding Harry Carey, Jr., Ben Johnson,
Victor McLaglen, Chill Wills, and Grant Withers.Special Features and Technical Specs:
- NEW HIGH-DEFINITION DIGITAL RESTORATION OF THE FILM
- Audio commentary by Nancy Schoenberger
- "Telling Real Histories" – Raoul Trujillo on representations of Indigenous Americans in film
- "Songs of the Rio Grande" – Marc Wanamaker on the Sons of the Pioneers
- "Strength and Courage" – Patrick Wayne on his father
- "Bigger Than Life" – with Claude Jarman, Jr.
- Visual essay by Tag Gallagher
- "The Making of Rio Grande" – with Leonard Maltin
- Theatrical trailer
- Illustrated booklet with an essay by Paul Andrew Hutton
- Optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature
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Cherry Red Records in the U.K. is releasing a 3 CD- box set of Music from the Westerns of John Wayne & John Ford.
A unique presentation. A mixture of diegetic and non-diegetic music from the westerns John Wayne and his mentor, the great film director John Ford made together – from Stagecoach in 1939 through to The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance in 1962, where songs and music from the original scores are blended with recordings made by popular artists (mostly of 1950s vintage, or older) of songs heard in the films. In all, music from eight eternal westerns, a genre which Ford and Wayne both defined and long-dominated
Additional description and track listing are here:
Music From The Westerns Of John Wayne & John Ford: Various Artists, 3CD Boxset - Cherry Red Records
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Just posted by Kino Lorber Studio Classics:
Coming Soon on Blu-ray!
Legend of the Lost (1957) Starring John Wayne, Sophia Loren, Rossano Brazzi & Kurt Kasznar - Shot by Jack Cardiff (The Vikings) - Screenplay by Ben Hecht (The Indian Fighter), Robert Presnell, Jr. (Man in the Attic) - Directed by Henry Hathaway (23 Paces to Baker Street)No artwork or disc details yet.
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The Warner Archive will release Blood Alley and The Sea Chase on Blu-ray later this summer (specific date not yet announced):
Blood Alley
The Sea Chase
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Hi, all, Kino Lorber's Blu-ray of Dakota is really excellent, and has a terrific commentary about the film by Westerns film historian Toby Roan. Highly recommended!
By the way, I like Vera Hruba Ralston quite a bit.
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Today is Ben's 99th birthday.
Here's a still from Rio Grande. -
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Chisum and McQ recently came out on Blu-ray and look good, especially Chisum, which was scanned from an interpositive at 2K, with extensive color-correction to bring the film as close as possible to its original appearance. Here are two Chisum screencaps.
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The Blu-ray of She Wore a Yellow Ribbon is really gorgeous! I knew it would be because the new restoration I saw at the TCM festival in April was splendid. All the movie buffs I know are thrilled with this Blu-ray. Here are some screencaps from the SWAYR Blu-ray.
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WAC has announced the Blu-ray of She Wore a Yellow Ribbon. No release date but it shouldn't be too far off.
SHE WORE A YELLOW RIBBON (1949)
WARNER BROS.’ NEW 2016 MASTER - DIRECT FROM ITS WORLD PREMIERE AT THE TCM FILM FESTIVAL
103:00
DTS HD-Master Audio 2.0 - English
ORIGINAL ASPECT RATIO - 1.37:1, 16 X 9 LETTERBOX
COLOR
BD 50
Special Features: John Ford Home Movies and Theatrical trailer (1080p)
A masterpiece of mood and heroics, this second film in director John Ford's renowned cavalry trilogy (Fort Apache and Rio Grande are the others) features one of John Wayne's most moving performances, as a cavalry officer in his final week of service on the frontier. Under makeup aging him some 20 years, he inhabits the role of a wily veteran who knows the sting of war and vows to make his last mission one of peace. The ritual of outpost life, the sweep of battle, the advance of the patrol beneath ominous skies: She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, an Academy Award winner for its color cinematography, paints a memorable portrait of the honor, duty and courage in the finest tradition of the cavalry.
