Needless to say, this is exciting news for those of us who love Universal Westerns!
WESTERN HORIZONS is due out February 18, 2013. Here are the five films in the set, listed in chronological order:
HORIZONS WEST (1952), which I reviewed in 2010, starring Rock Hudson, Robert Ryan, and Julie Adams, directed by Budd Boetticher.
SASKATCHEWAN (1954) with Alan Ladd and Shelley Winters, directed by Raoul Walsh.
DAWN AT SOCORRO (1954) starring Rory Calhoun, Piper Laurie, and Lee Van Cleef, directed by George Sherman. (Like Toby, I think the movie's poster art is terrific!)BACKLASH (1956), briefly reviewed by me in 2007, starring Richard Widmark and Donna Reed, directed by John Sturges.
PILLARS OF THE SKY (1956) with Jeff Chandler, Dorothy Malone, Ward Bond and Lee Marvin, directed by George Marshall.
All five films have been remastered. Extras will include an introduction by Robert Osborne, stills (including UK stills) and posters.Although I wouldn't class either HORIZONS WEST or BACKLASH as particular favorites, the actors starring in those films certainly are, and I love the actors in the new-to-me films as well. I'm excited about the opportunity to see them for the first time in nice-looking new prints.
I'm also hoping this means that there will be future volumes of Universal Western collections from the TCM Vault!
I do hope TCM will reconsider the cover art, though...there are so many other more attractive possibilities. The tentative box art is seen at the upper left of this post.
More good Western news today comes from ClassicFlix: KIT CARSON (1940), which has long been on my wish list, will be out from Hen's Tooth Video on January 29th.KIT CARSON was a United Artists release starring Jon Hall, Dana Andrews, Lynn Bari, and Ward Bond. With a cast like that, it should be fun. It was directed by George B. Seitz, who worked on many "B" films at MGM, including the ANDY HARDY series.
Thanks for this news,Laura. I'd like to see Dawn at Sicorro
ReplyDeleteHooray for Kit Carson coming to DVD! I have that one on VHS, and love it.
ReplyDeleteIt's remarkable to compare the beautiful poster art by Reynold Brown in the DAWN AT SOCORRO poster to the terrible cover art for the box. You would think they might take some inspiration from those original posters/lobby cards which were always so good.
ReplyDeleteStill, this is a great set overall and shows Universal is finally getting some real sense of what they have been keeping locked up. Hope they'll just keep releasing more of that treasure trove, and not only the Westerns.
Thanks for these details, Laura! I'll definitely be picking up both releases, although I'm sad to hear that you didn't much care for the title I was most interested in — just read your review of Horizons West. I've been wanting to see it ever since picking up the same-titled book by Jim Kitses, years ago. Regardless of whether I end up liking it or not, I'm sure the others will make up for it.
ReplyDeleteNow I'm off to read your reviews for Backlash and Shotgun. :)
Universal's got enough unreleased Westerns to make up FIVE of these box-sets! It'll be terrific to see "Pillars Of The Sky" (don't you just love that title?) in it's proper CinemaScope ratio too.....
ReplyDeleteBrad