Sunday, March 30, 2008

Coming to DVD: The Big Trail (1930)

John Wayne's historic early film THE BIG TRAIL comes to DVD in a two-disc special edition on May 13, 2008.

THE BIG TRAIL, which was directed by Raoul Walsh, is notable not just because it features the very young John Wayne in a starring role, but because it was a widescreen movie, over two decades before the invention of CinemaScope and other commonly used widescreen processes. I was fortunate to see the widescreen version quite a few years back at the Los Angeles County Art Museum, and it was truly fascinating.

The film is also of historic interest as it was the last film made by Tyrone Power Sr., whose son -- billed in his earliest films as Tyrone Power Jr. -- would achieve the height of Hollywood stardom.

THE BIG TRAIL will be presented on DVD in both its 70mm edition and a fullscreen version. Extras include a commentary by Richard Schickel as well as featurettes and photo galleries.

THE BIG TRAIL can be purchased as either an individual title (subject link) or as part of a boxed set called John Wayne: The Fox Westerns Collection with NORTH TO ALASKA, THE COMANCHEROS, and THE UNDEFEATED.

2018 Update: Here's a review of THE BIG TRAIL, as seen at the Lone Pine Film Festival.

3 Comments:

Blogger Terri said...

Laura,
Have you seen a British movie entitled Death at a Funeral? We thought it was a scream! They do use the F word quite a bit and there are a couple of naked butts (the butts were neccesary the F word, not so much). Anyway thought I would recommend a movie to you for a change!
Enjoy your evening!
Terri

8:56 PM  
Blogger Laura said...

Hi Terri! I'm not familiar with that film at all. I looked it up at IMDb and noticed it has "Mr. Darcy" from the newest PRIDE AND PREJUDICE. I've jotted the title down -- thanks much for the tip.

Have a good week!

Best wishes,
Laura

9:15 PM  
Blogger J.C. Loophole said...

Definitely looking forward to The Big Trail- especially after reading about it in John Wayne: American. I've seen it available on a barebones disc, but I've kept avoiding it for some reason. Now I know why!

10:08 PM  

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