Warner Home Video Western Classics Collection (Escape from Fort Bravo / Many Rivers to Cross / Cimarron 1960 / The Law and Jake Wade / Saddle the Wind / The Stalking Moon) Reviews

• A pretty good collection of western films from the 50's and 60's

  
  By A2E3F04ZK7FG66 on 2008-05-09
  This is a pretty good collection of miscellaneous westerns by Warner Home Video. There is no word on extra features yet, but here are the details on the films themselves and my viewpoint on each one.
  
  Escape From Ft. Bravo (1953) Directed by John Sturges. (4/5)
  At the end of the Civil War, Ft. Bravo is being used to house Confederate POWs. William Holden stars as Captain Roper, a man responsible for retrieving escapees from the Fort. He is often brutal in the execution of his duties, but he feels he must be or risk even more escapes. Eleanor Parker comes as a visitor to the fort and butters up Roper. All the while she is helping enable the escape of her true love, a Confederate prisoner. Roper falls in love with Parker's character. When he finds out the truth - after the prisoners escape - he could just leave them to the Apaches. Instead he goes out to rescue and retrieve the prisoners and the girl who betrayed his trust.
  
  Many Rivers To Cross (1955) Directed by Row Rowland. (4/5)
  This is a rather unusual cross between a comedy and a western. I really didn't like it the first time I saw it, but it does grow on you. Eleanor Parker stars as a woman who is afraid she will be a spinster and sets her sights on Robert Taylor's character, Bushrod Gentry. Bushrod is an unlikely husband and an untameable frontiersman, or so it seems.
  
  Cimarron (1960) Directed by Anthony Mann (3/5)
  Maybe I was spoiled by the 1931 version - in particular the very hammy portrayal of Yancey by Richard Dix. That film won an unbelievable Best Picture Oscar and a Best Actor nomination for Dix. This movie is far superior to the original, with Glenn Ford as Yancey. It confronts head-on the issues that the original just skirts around, yet in doing this it just seems to take on too much. The film is about an ill-matched couple that settles in Oklahoma during the land rush years and how things progress between the two of them as the years progress. Yancey is a wanderer at heart. His wife, Sabra, wants Yancey to settle down and raise a family. You'll probably like this one more if you haven't seen the original.
  
  The Law and Jake Wade (1958) Directed by John Sturges (4/5)
  This one has great performances in a rather unremarkable story. Robert Taylor plays Jake Wade. Richard Widmark plays Clint Hollister. It turns out that in years past Clint saved Jake's life when they were in the same gang. Jake goes straight and becomes a sheriff. Jake hears that Clint is about to hang - for something that he actually did - yet feels a debt and breaks him out of jail. Clint does the natural thing - he kidnaps Jake and his fiancee and forces him to return some money Jake stole when he was with the gang. You can pretty much see where this one is going at every turn, but it is worth it to see Taylor and Widmark in the lead. They really are excellent.
  
  Saddle The Wind (1958) Directed by Robert Parrish (3/5)
  The only western written by Rod Serling, this one was rather disappointing considering its author. Robert Taylor once again plays a bad guy gone straight, this time as a farmer. He has a younger brother (John Cassavetes) who is following in his wild footsteps but surprises everyone when he brings home a wife. This doesn't prevent him from getting into deep trouble from which his brother must rescue him.
  
  The Stalking Moon (1968) Directed by Robert Mulligan (4/5)
  Considering it was made at a time when westerns were largely out of fashion, this one is very good. It does a great job of building suspense. An army scout (Gregory Peck) takes in a woman and her half-Apache son who are pretty much ostracized by society because of their origins. Unfortunately, the boy's Apache father is a violent fellow who wants his "property" back.
  
  

• At Long Last! Rare Westerns Finally Released on DVDs!!

  
  By A1F0UY8FT2TPTX on 2008-05-04
  Warner Bros will soon be releasing this Boxed Set of 6 DVDs which should please most fans of Classic Western movies:
  
  1. Escape From Fort Bravo, stars William Holden, 99 minutes, Released 1953, Color.
  2. Many Rivers to Cross, Stars Robert Taylor, 94 minutes, Released 1955, Color.
  3. The Law and Jake Wade, Stars Robert Taylor & Richard Widmark, 86 minutes, Released 1958, Color.
  4. Saddle the Wind, Stars Robert Taylor, 84 minutes, Released 1958, Color.
  5. The Stalking Moon, Stars Gregory Peck, 109 minutes, Released 1968, Color.
  6. Cimarron, Stars Glenn Ford, 147 minutes, Released 1960, Color.
  
  The boxed Set will be released August 2008.
  
  

• Good but not great..

  
  By A35LWA8VY66G8F on 2008-08-29
  These westerns are first of all not Warner Bros films; they were produced at Metro. The Robert Taylor films are dreadful, and the stand out is Escape from Fort Bravo, and Cimarron. Fort Bravo has William Holden and E. Parker, and they are stand outs always. In this western she has some of the most expensive looking 19th century long gowns ever seen in the West. Also Eleannor Parker's hair...never has there been such style, in scene after scene, changes in shape color and ribbons. And catch the ending of this film..what is William Holden doing?
  
  Cimarron has Maria Schell and she is excellent. Glenn Ford is never really good in any film, with the exception of some earlier films and 3:10 to Yuma. Otherwise, it's Anne Baxter and the rest of the cast that make this worthwhile, and, Anthony Mann's direction..note how he has changed since Naked Spur days. Mann is warming up for the big spectacles, such as EL Cid.
  
  Then Stalking Moon could have had a lot going for it, but it's essentially anti Native American, and falls back on John Ford's absurd ideas of people of color.(Ford is a great director, but not in his treatment of Native Americans.)
  
  Many Rivers to Cross..here is a dud of the first rank. If they are doing WARNER BROS westerns, where is The Hanging Tree with Cooper and Schell?
  
  Wait for better things.
  
  

• WESTERN CLASSICS BOX SET

  
  By A3U9ZOEWZIJVTO on 2008-10-24
  If you love Westerns, you will love this Warner Western Classics DVD box set. Not just one movie but ALL 6 DVD movies are SPECTACULAR in this set. I could watch them over and over, the movies will keep you on the edge of your seat-----indeed real thrillers! Fantastic acting, beautiful scenery in vibrant color,and LOTS of action! I would actually rate these films a 10+---------
  Simply thrilled that they put these Westerns out on DVD!!
  
  

• Errol Flynn Westerns Collection (Montana / Rocky Mountain / San Antonio / Virginia City)
• Only the Valiant
• Fox Western Classics (Rawhide / The Gunfighter / Garden of Evil)
• How the West Was Won
• Budd Boetticher Box Set (Tall T, Decision at Sundown, Buchanan Rides Alone, Ride Lonesome, Comanche Station)