Stanton, thank you for your thoughts on the Wayne Westerns…much appreciated, as always.
I keep reading the same about ‘The Alamo’. Personally I love it. I had/have the Road Show version on Laserdisc.
I can understand what you are saying about the long speeches etc, but I love it. I am not a massive Wayne fan, but the fact that the project that mean’t so much to him was butchered, is heart-breaking.
I think JW (despite his views on Communism etc) had his heart in the right place…perhaps mis-guided, but hey-ho.
My eternal regret is that the studio that was in charge of ‘The Alamo’ negative somehow fucked up the Roadshow version (released on laserdisc in the early 90’s), and that that version is now lost…?
Am I right?
A 201 min version was released on the Koch Blu, but only as extra and in SD. Maybe taken from that Laserdisc.
So it’s not lost, but does not have the picture quality it deserves.
I like John Wayne, always did.
He was not the greatest actor alive, but was usually very good in the type of roles he did in most of his westerns. And sometimes he went beyond his limitations, then he was able to be really great.
Since Ford and Hawks have become meanwhile adored gods of directing, there are few actors who appeared in more cinema classics.
I saw it, as a kid at the cinema with mum and dad/ I vaguely remember that it was sad…so very, very sad. But, for all the sadness, it was a film that was worth remembering. And, of course, I have.
I think it was one of those movie experiences that helped shape my life, because I never forgot it.
This is btw a remake of The Walking Hills (1949), which is John Sturges’ first western and with Randolph Scott in the lead. Good start for Sturges. 7/10
I enjoyed it for what it was. Maybe even a 7/10. I wish the powers that be would create more lower budget westerns like this. Revive the genre and go crazy for 5 years.
I’ve just watched the 1969 Mexican western ‘Super Colt 38’ starring Jeffrey Hunter and Pedro Armendáriz Jr. It’s clearly a rip from an old VHS, in Spanish, with passable fan created English subtitles. It was released around the time of Hunter’s death.
It’s a typical low-budget Mexican effort in the more traditional Hollywood style which means that although it was released in 1969 it looks like something from the late 50’s/early 60’s.
However, it was entertaining enough and passed 1.5 hours harmlessly.
I’m on a bit of a classic American western binge lately and really enjoyed The Last Sunset. Don’t usually lean towards heavy romance based flicks but I was ok with this one.
It had a bit of a Mexican vibe to it (and according to IMDb filmed entirely in Mexico) and I really enjoyed the dynamic between the main characters, especially Dorothy Malone’s character who the entire story revolved around really.
Also, the more I watch of Kirk Douglas, the more I realise just how incredible of a presence he was.
Tremendous film and I thought Douglas was brilliant as Doc Holliday, as was Burt as Earp. One of my favourite duos, for sure.
I do think the runtime was 10-15 minutes too long, it became a little slow and uneventful around the halfway stage for a short time, but I think the overall build up to the final shootout was incredible and maybe the best I’ve seen in a classic western.
I rewatched Ride and Kill, my first Eurowestern in a while, as well as Dirty Little Billy, a a revisionist western from 1972 which is definitely worth a watch, although I am not sure I would watch it on a routine basis. Pollard is good in the role.
Dirty Little Billy is not really a great film, but still a good and interesting one. And it is one of the few real anti-westerns, and Pollard’s Billy the Kid is one if the few real anti heroes, he obviously is in every respect the opposite of everything a hero stands for and looks like.
Also one of the few westerns which maybe could be called realistic or authentic.
One of a bunch of ugly looking 70s westerns bathing in dirt and hopelessness and pessimism. Bad Company is another one.
Hot Spur (1968) - which I saw on UK Amazon Prime. Low budget exploitation western with lots of nudity and sexual assault scenes, very rough and nasty even now and would have seemed much more in 1968. A young Mexican, traumatised by having to watch the rape of his sister when a child, is triggered by watching the sexual assault of a barmaid into taking revenge against his sister’s rapist and the man’s unpleasant ranch hands. He kidnaps the man’s (unpleasant) wife, rapes her and then sets various mantraps, Rambo-style, to wait for her rescuers to come after him. I’d seen Lee Frost’s The Scavengers (1969) which is an extremely nasty film, also about racism, misogoyny and rape. I think Hot Spur is also out on Blu Ray in America, UK Prime possibly have the same uncut print although they give it a 2023 date I think in their publicity which confused me. If this didn’t have so much relished gratuitous nudity and sexual assault scenes then I think it would have more cult appeal but I guess that wasn’t on Frost’s mind at the time..
Yes I agree with you, it is absolutely terrible. I watched the film a second time to refresh my memory but I will never subject myself to such torture again. It does have a pretty good ending though!
Yes I agree. It is definitely a good film but it feels like there’s a few elements missing to make it a great one. I watched it on YouTube since there is no affordable DVD or Blu-ray release at present.
