The opening scene is great indeed. Overall 7/10 for me.
This afternoon, I put on Revenge of the Resurrected starring Peter Lee Lawrence. I watched the Wild East disc, which is okay in terms of quality, but nothing special. I like a good gothic western and found Revenge of the Resurrected was solid if a little derivative. Derivative in the sense that it borrows heavily from Death Rides a Horse, which some might take issue with. Nevertheless, itās an enjoyable B grade spaghetti with some good action sequences.
[quote=āchuck connors brother, post:8844, topic:141ā]Last Train from Gun Hill (1958) - Pretty dark vengeance western, had me from start to finishā¦ one of my favourite American Westerns.
Canāt believe how much I liked this oneā¦ as I wasnāt a fan of Sturges previous Western with Kirk Douglas - Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, unlike that film (imo) this one doesnāt waste time with pointless dialogue scenes that drag on, or sub-plotsā¦ it just gets to the point.[/quote]
I watched it last nightā¦ and it is good. I wonder why Sturges shot all the townās exterior-scenes from waist-level, so weāre kind of seeing rooftop outlines constantlyā¦ It wasnāt distracting. Just different. And since Iām a Brad Dexter fan, it was great seeing him in a bad-guy role where he didnāt get killed.
In Old Oklahoma aka War of the Wildcats (1944) 5/10
An old John Wayner from his not so well known period between Stagecoach (1939) and Fort Apache (1948), before he became a superstar and an icon.
Standard stuff with some romantic interludes (not the things Wayne is good in) and some well done action. The character of the villain (Albert Dekker) is not as one-dimensional as usual in these type of films, which makes the film quite entertaining.
"Last Train From Gun Hill " (1959)
-Kirk Douglas, Anthony Quinn
Plot: IMDB
The wife of marshal Matt Morgan is raped and murdered. The killers leave behind a distinctive saddle, that Morgan recognises as belonging to his old friend Craig Belden, now cattle baron in the town of Gun Hill. Belden is sympathetic, until it transpires that one of the murderers is his own son Rick, whom he refuses to hand over. Morgan is determined to capture Rick and take him away by the 9.00 train; but he is trapped in the town alone, with Belden and all his men now looking to kill him.
Phantomās Review: Excellent western drama. Kirk Douglas is intense as the Marshall hunting his wifeās killer and Quinn is superb as the man protecting his son, but sympathetic to his old friend. Light on action, but big on suspense, character and some great acting. . This is one of the greats
[url]http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/36/trackofthecat1.png/[/url] [size=12pt]Track of the Cat [/size] (1954, William Wellman)
![http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/36/trackofthecat1.png/[/url]](http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/36/trackofthecat1.png/%5B/url%5D){kind=link}
A drama of a family (living in the middle of nowhere) falling apart, is parallelled with a hunt for a big cat that is terrorizing the surroundings
Labelled as a western, but thereās absolutely no western action. It feels more like a Tennessee Williams or Eugene OāNeill play set in a lonely, lonely, snow-covered West
Robert Mitchum turns in a good performance (as always) as the bad brother, but one of the problems is that heās far more menacing than the animal heās hunting.
The cat is both called a puma and a panther.
Panthers out West?
A few scary scenes in which the presence of the animal is suggested and Philip Tonge has a few good moments as the alcoholic father, but Wellmanās directon is far too heavy-handed and some of the drama is downright embarrassing.
Based on a novel by Walter Van Tilburg Clark, who also wrote The Ox-Bow Incident
Iāve never been a true fan of that movie, but I have the idea the drama worked in that case. Here it simply doesnāt.
Mourning becomes William Wellman. Try a real Tennessee Williams (or a real western in the snow) instead
Best thing about the movie (apart from Mitchum) is William Clothierās almost ācolor freeā color cinematography: parts of the movie seem in black & white, with a dot of red or blue here and there (look at the screenshot).
hah, ācolor freeā, that is just great - you had to have a good time, scherp
btw, when i saw a posted pic, i just thought, i must see that
my excitement went wrong way after i read text :-
and 1954? probably iĀ“ve seen four westerns from that era and donĀ“t know if i want to return
but i like the theme - man against beast 
good film on that theme was Ghost and the Darkness with lions and Douglas
The drama parts in Track of the Cat are really overdone. I also remember too much artificial studio sets for the outdoor scenes. But I would like to re-watch it.
I have re-watched The Ox_Bow Incident recently, and it is a very good western. Also some studio sets, but they look good. It is astonishing how differentiated the characterizations are, very unusual for such an old Hollywood film.
And it is a pretty dirty looking film. Fonda isnāt much of a hero in this anti-western (the first?). The ending is a bit stilted, and some changes compared to the novel made the film a bit more conventional, but it was still a daring film for the time. 8/10
[quote=āStanton, post:8988, topic:141ā]The drama parts in Track of the Cat are really overdone. I also remember too much artificial studio sets for the outdoor scenes. But I would like to re-watch it.
I have re-watched The Ox_Bow Incident recently, and it is a very good western. Also some studio sets, but they look good. It is astonishing how differentiated the characterizations are, very unusual for such an old Hollywood film.
And it is a pretty dirty looking film. Fonda isnāt much of a hero in this anti-western (the first?). The ending is a bit stilted, and some changes compared to the novel made the film a bit more conventional, but it was still a daring film for the time. 8/10[/quote]
Yes there are quite a few scenes shot on soundstages (with those multiple shadows circling around the actors!)
If you like, Iāll send you the DVD (it even has German subs)
Havenāt seen The Ox-Bow Incident in ages, should see it again before I judge it
Thanks. I do
I have watched several Wellman films in the last months, and bough a few DVDs (Wings, A Star Is Born, Battleground, The Ox-Bow Incident, Yellow Sky). And I would like to see a few more which are difficult to get in Germany (Robin Hood of El dorado, Beau Geste, The Story of G.I. Joe).
DUEL AT DIABLO - Excellent stuff. Great locations and very well made action scenes. On the whole I find this being much better than Soldier Blue, which isnāt bad at all though. Has anybody seen the other Nelson western āThe wrath of godā? I would really like to see that one, if anyone can help with a download link or any other way it would be very much appreciated.
I downloaded it from cinemageddon but havenāt watched it yet
I agree that Duel at Diablo was a good action western, great cast, tense, gritty
I hadnāt logged in in Cinemageddon for some time and then one day I try to do it and I get a message āyouāre no longer a memberā. I donāt know why, my ratio was pretty good and I had uploaded some stuff as well. Wonāt bother with them again. If thereās a link somewhere else Iād be glad to give it try 'cos my search has been rather unsuccesful until now
If you canāt find anything, give me a notice
I can make you a copy of my download
Accounts sometimes get pruned if you have not logged in for a while. Some user classes are exempt from this, cannot remember which ones off the top of my head.
Sure thing, scherp. Iāll search more thoroughly the next days and Iāll let you know. Thanks for the offer in any case.
Let me know if you need a new invite. Just PM an email address.
Fistful Of Dollars
A masterpiece, simply.
[quote=āSilence, post:8998, topic:141ā]Fistful Of Dollars
A masterpiece, simply.[/quote]
Straight to the point and damn right too.
BTW, I noticed there was a guy in the main titles called Johnny Wels!