The John Ford Film Collection - Warner - Cheyenne Autumn, The Informer, Sergeant Rutledge, The Lost Patrol, Mary of Scotland

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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

Titles

Synopses:

The Lost Patrol
A World War I British Army patrol is crossing the Mesopotomian desert when their commanding officer, the only one who knows their destination is killed by the bullet of unseen bandits. The patrol's sergeant keeps them heading north on the assumption that they will hit their brigade. They stop for the night at an oasis and awake the next morning to find their horses stolen, their sentry dead, the oasis surrounded and survival difficult.

The Informer
Dublin, 1922. Gypo Nolan, strong but none too bright, has been ousted from the rebel organization and is starving. When he finds that his equally destitute sweetheart Katie has been reduced to prostitution, he succumbs to temptation and betrays his former comrade Frankie to the British authorities for a 20 pound reward. In the course of one gloomy, foggy night, guilt and retribution inexorably close in...

Mary of Scotland
Mary Stuart returns to Scotland to rule as queen, to the chagrin of Elizabeth I of England who finds her a dangerous rival. There is much ado over whom Mary shall marry; to her later regret, she picks effete Lord Darnley over the strong but unpopular Earl of Bothwell. A palace coup leads to civil war and house arrest for Mary; she escapes and flees to England, where a worse fate awaits her.

Sergeant Rutledge
Lieutenant Tom Cantrell is sent to defend Sergeant Braxton Rutledge a black cavalry soldier on a charge of rape and murder. The story begins in a courtroom and the story is told through flashbacks. This is a story of how a black soldier in the face of danger from the Indians can be so easily mistaken as a criminal.

Cheyenne Autumn

Ford's valedictory western is a belated and belaboured tribute to the Native American and reparation for the way the director portrayed them in his films. Pity, therefore, he decided to cast Latins Del Rio, Mineo and Montalban as the Native Americans. The best part of the rambling narrative, which tells of the sufferings of the Cheyenne tribe being moved hundreds of miles to a new reservation, is a comic interlude set in Dodge City featuring Stewart as Wyatt Earp. Ford's compositions (he was 69 at the time) are as noble as ever, but a feeling of fatigue hangs over the whole enterprise.

Posters

Theatrical Releases: Various from 1934 - 1964

DVD Reviews

DVD Review: Warner - Region 1,4 - NTSC

DVD Box Cover		CLICK to order from:
Distribution	Warner Home Video - Region 1,4 - NTSC
Audio	English (original) NOTE: 5.1 for Cheyenne Autumn
Subtitles	English, French, Spanish, None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Warner Home Video Aspect Ratio: All Original Aspect Ratios - 1.33 but Sergeant Rutledge and Cheyenne Autumn are widescreen 16X9 enhanced Edition Details: • The Lost Patrol (full screen, 1.33) • The Informer (full screen, 1.33) New Featurette: "The Informer: Out of the Fog" Theatrical Trailer • Mary of Scotland (full screen, 1.33) • Sergeant Rutledge (letterboxed) Theatrical Trailer • Cheyenne Autumn (letterboxed) New digital transfer from restored roadshow length picture and audio elements Vintage featurette "Cheyenne Autumn Trail" Commentary by Ford biographer Joseph McBride Theatrical Trailer DVD Release Date: June 6th, 2006 5 Keep Cases inside a cardboard box Chapters: various

Comments:

Well, lets talk about the films first - an incredibly impressive list for one boxset. All 5 are brand new to DVD, and all 5 are available only in this boxset. I found Mary of Scotland the least enjoyable although seeing Kate Hepburn work her screen power in this bio-pic was still well worth it. Personally, I have always enjoyed Sergeant Rutledge and it might have been the best film in the boxset for my taste, if not for my first viewing of The Informer - which I now rank as one of Ford's absolute best films - an impressive and unforgettable story.

The images - all are progressive and expectantly The Lost Patrol shows the most damage with some fairly significant flickering contrast. The Informer also exhibits some weaknesses (fair number of scratches) but it has some moments of very strong detail as well. Mary of Scotland has visible digital noise artifacts and is quite dirty in spots with less frequent damage marks than the first two but they are still prevalent at times. I've made some individual comments about Sergeant Rutledge HERE but it again falls a little short of expectations. Colors are dullish and it is less sharp than one might desire. In terms of video transfer - the prize of the package is Cheyenne Autumn - it looks absolutely fabulous. Detail is crystal clear and colors are vivid and vibrant. I suspect any further queries of the image quality can be resolved by viewing the screen capture representations that we have included below - they give a decent accounting of what to expect. I'd say in general terms it is a notch below what you might anticipate from Warner considering their incredible DVD output of the last couple of years. It is still superior to most other digital production house's work, especially for films going back some 70 years.

Audio - again falling a little short - some audible hiss in The Lost Patrol, The Informer and Mary of Scotland, but I wouldn't say it bothered me during normal viewing - it's the type of thing you get used to very quickly and is quite understandable considering the age of the films. Cheyenne Autumn has an optional 5.1 bump that sounded okay, but I was happy with the original track as well.

Extras - Aside from 3 trailers - on The Intruder we are given a 10 minute featurette entitled The Informer: Out of the Fog . It is pretty good , especially for film students. Many historical anecdotes are discussed by the likes of Peter Bogdanovich and others. Of greater significance is the audio commentary on Cheyenne Autumn given by Joseph McBride who really knows his stuff. The film is quite long for a full commentary but McBride has a lot to say and it really is a worthwhile listening experience. He was quite well prepared. Also included are a 20 minute short, narrated by Jimmy Stewart called Cheyenne Autumn Trail - which I found kind of unnecessary filler.

In conclusion, I don't think there is any doubt that we have strong feelings about this set which borders on 'essential' in my opinion. These are great films and I treasure finally having them on DVD (especially Rutledge that seems like I've waited a decade for). Watching these 5 films was one of the most pleasurable viewing experiences that I've had so far this year- a wonderful collection at less than $10 a film!

Gary W. Tooze

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