Classic Western Round-Up, Vol. 2

Classic Western Round-Up, Vol. 2

The Texans (1938) California (1946)
The Cimarron Kid (1952) The Man from the Alamo (1953)

See how the West was really won in the action-packed Classic Western Round-Up: Volume 2! Experience all of the shootouts, fights and escapades with The Texans, California, Cimarron Kid and The Man From the Alamo. Starring Hollywood favorites Glenn Ford, Randolph Scott, Audie Murphy, Barbara Stanwyck and Ray Milland, this adventure-filled collection features some of the most thrilling films ever to come out of the Wild West! The Texans (1938) A former Confederate soldier (Randolph Scott) takes on new battles after the Civil War when he agrees to lead a herd of cattle to a recently completed railroad. California (1946) An Army deserter (Ray Milland) and a woman with a past (Barbara Stanwyck) head to the sunshine state - before it even was a state - during the 1848 mass migration. The Cimarron Kid (1952) When corrupt railroad officials wrongly accuse him of participating in a train robbery, Bill Doolin (Audie Murphy) joins the Dalton gang and soon becomes the legendary outlaw know as the "Cimarron Kid." The Man From the Alamo (1953) During the Texas war for independence, a survivor (Glenn Ford) of the brutal battle at The Alamo is branded a coward and sets out to clear his name.

Titles

The Texans
Stars Joan Bennett, Randolph Scott, Walter Brennan and Robert Cummings
Directors: James P. Hogan
Theatrical Release Date: July 27th, 1938
Synopsis - The scene, as noted before, is Texas after the Civil War when the carpet-baggers have begun their land-grabbing raids, their confiscatory taxation program, their ruthless persecution of all Confederate sympathizers. When they levy a tax of a dollar a head on all cattle, Mr. Scott rides to Miss Bennett's rescue with the plan to smuggle every white-faced steer on the Boca Grande ranch across the Mexican border and thence north to the Kansas terminus of the railroad. It is an overland trek of 1,500 miles, through Indian country, and with the wretched carpet-baggers in pursuit.

Excerpt from the NY Times located HERE

California
Stars Ray Milland, Barbara Stanwyck, Barry Fitzgerald and Anthony Quinn
Directors: John Farrow
Theatrical Release Date: December 17, 1946
Synopsis - Considering that California is about as far west as one can go (without going out of the country), it is logical, we suppose, that Paramount's lusty recount of a slice of early history of that State should likewise go the limit in full-blown Western style. As a consequence, "California," which came to the Rivoli yesterday, is a real whooper-dooper of a Western in which neither the horses nor the actors are spared. And, being in Technicolor, it also looks mighty purty, pard.

Excerpt from the NY Times located HERE

The Cimarron Kid
Stars Audie Murphy, Beverly Tyler, James Best and Yvette Duguay
Directors: Budd Boetticher
Theatrical Release Date: January 20th, 1952
Synopsis - Budd Boetticher's first western is efficiently made, with Audie Murphy as the perennial outlaw trying to go straight, but it's a long way from the insightfulness and superb storytelling of his later Randolph Scott cycle.

Excerpt from Dave Kehr - Chicago Reader

The Man From the Alamo
Stars Glenn Ford, Julie Adams, Chill Wills and Hugh O'Brian
Directors: Budd Boetticher
Theatrical Release Date: August 3rd, 1953
Synopsis - The surly, alienated hero who was to become the centerpiece of Budd Boetticher's great Randolph Scott westerns of the 50s makes his first, tentative appearance in this 1953 feature, in the guise of Glenn Ford--who, as the only American to survive the Alamo, must endure charges of cowardice until he is given a chance to prove his true colors.

Excerpt from Dave Kehr - Chicago Reader

Posters

Theatrical Releases: 1938 - 1953

DVD Reviews

DVD Review: Universal Studios (2-disc) - Region 1 - NTSC

DVD Box Cover		CLICK to order from:
Distribution	Universal Studios - Region 1 - NTSC
Time:	Respectively 1:37:45, 1:32:48, 1:23:51 + 1:19:15
Bitrate: Disc 1
Bitrate: Disc 2
Audio	English (2.0 stereo)
Subtitles	English, French, None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Universal Studios Home Video Aspect Ratio: All Original Aspect Ratios - 1.33 Edition Details: • Unrestored trailers for all except The Cimarron Kid DVD Release Date: May 8th, 2007 Standard 2 tiered Keep Cases inside a cardboard box Chapters: various

Comments:

The 4 features of the Classic Western Round-Up, Vol. 2 boxset are spread over 2 dual-layered DVDs (2 films on each disc). They are all 1.33 aspect ratio and like Vol. 1 - 3 of the 4 films are color efforts. The discs are housed in one standard dual 'keep case' and are not sold separately at this time. Both DVDs are coded for Region 1 in the NTSC standard. Once again I would say my expectations were exceeded in regards to the image quality. There are optional English or French subtitles and the discs are specifically divided as follows:

Disc 1: The Texans (1938) and California (1946) - both with trailers

Disc 2: The Cimarron Kid (1952) and The Man from the Alamo (1953) with trailer

Only three un-restored trailers as extras and the limitations are reflected in the reasonable price. Image quality looks quite acceptable on the 3 color efforts and only the black and white The Texans, because of its age, is a bit weaker. It does, however, look better than The Texas Rangers from Vol. 1. Once again I can be no authority of the accuracy of the theatrical colors of California (1946), The Cimarron Kid (1952) and The Man from the Alamo (1953). To me they all looked fairly good - progressive but The Man from the Alamo had more artifacts than the rest. I didn't note a lot of bleeding or wild color aberrations. The screen captures below are a decent representation of how these 4 films appear on DVD - and detail is exceptionally good considering their age and that they are sharing each disc with a 2nd film.

It was great to see the 2 Budd Boetticher films including his debut but I'll agree with Kehr in that it is far from his later work with Scott - like Comanche Station (1960), Ride Lonesome (1959), Buchanan Rides Alone (1958) and Decision at Sundown (1957). It was also fun to see Stanwyck, Milland, Audio Murphy and a very young Scott. These aren't the greatest westerns ever made but I think they hold some minor importance in the genre and hence I certainly recommend for the price! I love these early features.