directed by John
Sturges
USA 1967
Ten years after he made "Gunfight at the O.K. Corral," producer-director
John Sturges is back with the sequel, in case you've been wondering ever since
what happened then. A lot happened. Wyatt Earp changed from Burt Lancaster into
James Garner, grew a mustache and set out to avenge his brothers. Doc Holliday
kept hitting the bottle and wound up playing gin rummy in a Colorado sanitarium.
The Clanton gang got theirs. And Wyatt decided not to take the job in Tombstone
after all.
About the only thing that didn't change was the Hollywood Western, which remains
blessedly itself. Sturges has made some good ones ("Gunfight," "Bad
Day at Black Rock," "The Magnificent Seven"), and "Hour
of the Gun" belongs in the same company but slightly lower on the guest
list.
It is, first of all, beautiful to look at. All but the interiors were shot on
location in Arizona, and Sturges evokes the land more realistically than, say,
all those panoramic wagon train shots in "The Way West" did. There are
stereotyped landscapes with tumbleweeds and mountains in the background, sure,
and you expect them. But there are also lovely little ponds at the bends of
rivers, and horse paths with trees meeting overhead. Some of the towns and
villages are probably stage sets, but others are obviously real and have the
unmistakable feel of the old West to them.
...
Garner turns in one of his best performances. Sturges must have tamed him. He
doesn't shout or swagger; he's quiet and squint-eyed, and in 20 more years when
he works up some wrinkles he'll make a good indestructible cowboy. Robert Ryan,
who has worked up the wrinkles, doesn't have much of a role -- but he handles
it, as always, with authority. The memory of the Kirk Douglas and Burt Lancaster
performances in "Gunfight" haunts the sequel like a ghost, but "Hour of
the Gun" pretty much manages to stand on its own.
Excerpt from Roger Ebert's review located at the Chicago Sun-Times HERE.
Posters etc.
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Theatrical Release: November 1st, 1967
Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews
DVD Review: MGM - Region 1 - NTSC
| DVD Box Cover |
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CLICK to order from:
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| Distribution | MGM Home Video - Region 1 - NTSC | |
| Runtime | 1:41:15 | |
| Video | 2.32:1
Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 5.45 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 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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| Bitrate: |
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| Audio | English (Dolby Digital 2.0) | |
| Subtitles | English, French Spanish, None | |
| Features |
Release Information:
Edition Details: • Trailer (2:15)
NOTE: Full screen version on opposite side |
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| Comments: |
If not for a communication from a fellow film buff, JFinkelste, this little gem would have passed me by. Great re-telling of the fabled legend. James Garner is at his best with support from Robards and Ryan - we have a classic western tale.
Unfortunately, the DVD is
sub-par again from lackluster MGM - now the worst major DVD production
in the world (and this includes Alliance Atlantis) . Non-progressive
transfer is fraught with bad combing - see last large capture. Tube
owners won't notice, but when you upgrade your system (and you will one
day), you may as well chuck this DVD in the garbage. Aside from, that it
is a little saturated and thick, which tends to make it dark at times
obscuring certain information or subtleties in black backgrounds. It is
also a little soft, subtitles are very large (this is a negative - they
should be non-intrusive in the viewing experience). Finally - no extras
save a poor quality trailer. This film deserved better ! Western fans
may want to buy but a word to MGM - get on the ball !
P.S. While I'm on at MGM again - what is the purpose of their tripled seam sealed DVDs. They sell their product for peanuts but take great pains to make it impossible to open quickly. If they spent less time on security seals and more on their image quality, they might get a few more satisfied customers. |
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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 |
Check out more in "The Library"
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| Distribution | MGM Home Video - Region 1 - NTSC | |
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John Sturges' Hour of the Gun - MGM Region 1- NTSC - John Sturges Hour of the Gun DVD Review James Garner Robards Ryan Hour of the Gun John Sturges Hour of the Gun DVD Review James Garner Robards Ryan Hour of the Gun John Sturges Hour of the Gun DVD Review James Garner Robards Ryan Hour of the Gun John Sturges Hour of the Gun DVD Review James Garner Robards Ryan Hour of the Gun John Sturges Hour of the Gun DVD Review James Garner Robards Ryan Hour of the Gun John Sturges Hour of the Gun DVD Review James Garner Robards Ryan Hour of the Gun John Sturges Hour of the Gun DVD Review James Garner Robards Ryan Hour of the Gun John Sturges Hour of the Gun DVD Review James Garner Robards Ryan Hour of the Gun John Sturges' Hour of the Gun - MGM Region 1- NTSC - John Sturges Hour of the Gun DVD Review James Garner Robards Ryan Hour of the Gun John Sturges Hour of the Gun DVD Review James Garner Robards Ryan Hour of the Gun John Sturges Hour of the Gun DVD Review James Garner Robards Ryan Hour of the Gun John Sturges Hour of the Gun DVD Review James Garner Robards Ryan Hour of the Gun John Sturges Hour of the Gun DVD Review James Garner Robards Ryan Hour of the Gun John Sturges Hour of the Gun DVD Review James Garner Robards Ryan Hour of the Gun John Sturges Hour of the Gun DVD Review James Garner Robards Ryan Hour of the Gun John Sturges Hour of the Gun DVD Review James Garner Robards Ryan Hour of the Gun John Sturges' Hour of the Gun - 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MGM Region 1- NTSC - John Sturges Hour of the Gun DVD Review James Garner Robards Ryan Hour of the Gun John Sturges Hour of the Gun DVD Review James Garner Robards Ryan Hour of the Gun John Sturges Hour of the Gun DVD Review James Garner Robards Ryan Hour of the Gun John Sturges Hour of the Gun DVD Review James Garner Robards Ryan Hour of the Gun John Sturges Hour of the Gun DVD Review James Garner Robards Ryan Hour of the Gun John Sturges Hour of the Gun DVD Review James Garner Robards Ryan Hour of the Gun John Sturges Hour of the Gun DVD Review James Garner Robards Ryan Hour of the Gun John Sturges Hour of the Gun DVD Review James Garner Robards Ryan Hour of the Gun John Sturges' Hour of the Gun - MGM Region 1- NTSC - John Sturges Hour of the Gun DVD Review James Garner Robards Ryan Hour of the Gun John Sturges Hour of the Gun DVD Review James Garner Robards Ryan Hour of the Gun John Sturges Hour of the Gun DVD Review James Garner Robards Ryan Hour of the Gun John Sturges Hour of the Gun DVD Review James Garner Robards Ryan Hour of the Gun John Sturges Hour of the Gun DVD Review James Garner Robards Ryan Hour of the Gun John Sturges Hour of the Gun DVD Review James Garner Robards Ryan Hour of the Gun John Sturges Hour of the Gun DVD Review James Garner Robards Ryan Hour of the Gun John Sturges Hour of the Gun DVD Review James Garner Robards Ryan Hour of the Gun
