Directed by
John Ford
USA 1961
This rather atypical late (1961) John Ford western stars James Stewart as a cynical marshal hired to negotiate with the Comanches for white prisoners and Richard Widmark as a cavalry officer who comes along with him. Not a film with any of the resonance of The Searchers, despite a certain similarity in theme, but interesting nonetheless.
Excerpt from Jonathan Rosenbaum's capsule at the Chicago Reader located HERE.
Stewart is the Marshall on a mission to rescue some whites captured by the Comanche. In it for the money rather than any sense of justice, he just wants to get the job over and done with. However, accompanied by cavalry officer Widmark, he is forced to re-evaluate his philosophy when matters come to a head. Not Ford at his best, but the three-dimensional performances and an unusually dark atmosphere make for an above average, occasionally gripping western.
Excerpt from Channel 4 located HERE
Trivia: This was the last film in which James Stewart wore his familiar cowboy hat. Up to this point, he had worn it in all his westerns since "Winchester '73", except "Broken Arrow". This was Stewart's first film with John Ford, and Ford didn't want him to wear it as he thought it was the worst looking cowboy hat he had ever seen. As Stewart said in the documentary, "A Wonderful Life", Ford relented, but got back at him in their next western, "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance", when he didn't let Stewart wear a hat at all.
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Theatrical Release: July 26th, 1961
Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews
DVD Review: Universal - Region 2,4,5 - PAL
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CLICK to order from:
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| Distribution | Universal Home Video - Region 2, 4, 5 - PAL | |
| Runtime | 1:44:32 | |
| Video | 1.85:1
Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 4.95 mb/s PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s |
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NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes. |
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| Audio | English (Dolby Digital 2.0) French, German, Italian, Spanish (all in Dolby Digital 2.0) | |
| Subtitles | English, English (hoh), French, German, Italian, Spanish, None | |
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Release Information:
Edition Details: • none |
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| Comments: |
The transfer is fairly weak - dirty, lots of digital noise, colors are occasionally dull, and detail is rather unremarkable. Still, it is progressive and anamorphic set to sell in Regions, 2,4 (Australia) and 5. I believe it is transferred from the correct standard for DVD playback (PAL). No extras but the current price is right, so as this is not out in region 1, we recommend on the basis of the film. A solid western. |
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Recommended Reading for Western Genre Fans (CLICK COVERS or TITLES for more information)
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The Crowded Prairie: American National Identity in
the Hollywood Western (Cinema and Society) by Michael Coyne |
The Invention of the Western Film : A Cultural
History of the Genre's First Half Century (Genres in American Cinema S.) by Scott Simmon |
The Searchers (Bfi Film Classics) by Edward Buscombe |
The Western Genre by John Saunders |
Westerns: Films through History (AFI
Film Readers) by Janet Walker |
The Encyclopedia of Westerns (The Facts on File
Film Reference Library) by Herb Fagen, Tom Selleck |
Gunfighter Nation: The Myth of the Frontier in
Twentieth-Century America by Richard Slotkin |
The Western (Inside Film) by David Lusted |
Red River (Bfi Film Classics) by Suzanne Liandrat-Guigues |
Check out more in "The Library"
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| Distribution | Universal Home Video - Region 2, 4, 5 - PAL | |
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