The John Wayne Westerns Collection
Matt Masters (John Wayne) is a circus owner who has to start from scratch when his ship sinks in the Barcelona harbour. Starting up a Wild West act he takes under his wing Toni Alfredo (Claudio Cardinale) a trapeze artist whose mother Lili (Rita Hayworth) has abandoned her. Seeking Lili out in a Hamburg bar Masters obtains her a job in the circus anonymously so that she can get to know her daughter.
British intelligence officer Richard Burton poses as a high-ranking Nazi who leads a ragtag group of POWs on an impossible mission in this exciting World War II desert adventure. Based on the real life battle of Tobruk this action-crammed drama has Burton and his 'army' battling Nazi Panzer Divisions destroying fuel dumps and making a suicidal assault on Rommel's infamous gun emplacement that has the potential to destroy the British fleet...
John Wayne recovered from his first bout of cancer to appear in 1965's The Sons of Katie Elder as the brother of Dean Martin, Earl Holliman and Michael Anderson Jr. All four characters are wandering souls prone to trouble, but after the funeral of their frontier mother, they set out to avenge her death. Directed by Henry Hathaway (Wayne's director on True Grit), the film moves like a conventional, latter-day Western, with good performances from Wayne and Martin, who'd already costarred with the Duke in Howard Hawks' Rio Bravo. There's also nice support from Dennis Hopper (who had a legendary conflict with Hathaway on this film), Strother Martin and George Kennedy. --Tom Keogh
Box-set featuring four classic John Wayne movies. 'The Big Trail' (1930) was Wayne's first starring role. He plays the young leader of a pioneer wagon train travelling across the Oregon Trail. Repulsing Indian attacks and battling against the hostile elements, The Duke still finds time for romance with a fellow traveller (Marguerite Churchill). In 'The Comancheros (1961), Wayne stars as Texas Ranger Jake Cutter whose path crosses with that of professional gambler Paul Regret (Stuart Whitman). The two become uneasy bedfellows in their quest to crush a powerful outlaw gang who are selling arms and alcohol to the local Indians. This was director Michael Curtiz's last film and also stars Lee Marvin and Ina Balin. 'North to Alaska' (1960) is a lighthearted Western starring Wayne and Stewart Granger as rough and tumble gold prospectors in Alaska. When Sam McCord (Wayne) and George Pratt (Granger) eventually strike it rich in the gold rush, George sends Sam to Seattle to fetch his fiancee; but Sam falls in love with her. George eventually accepts his loss and sets about finding a new gal, but only seems to find trouble. In 'The Undefeated' (1969), Confederate Colonel James Langdon (Rock Hudson) prepares to travel to Mexico with his family. When they are attacked by bandits, Union Colonel J.H. Thomas (Wayne) comes to their aid. The former enemies find themselves united in their efforts to resist Mexican Emperor Maximillian, and Juarez, the rebel leader. When the rebels kidnap the Southerners, Colonel Thomas must decide whether to surrender his valuable herd of 3,000 horses and secure their release, or leave them to their fate.
James Mason plays Field Marshal Erwin Rommel in both The Desert Fox (1951) and The Desert Rats (1953), a WWII double-bill on DVD. The Desert Fox, released six years after the end of the War, is a solemnly respectful tribute to Erwin Rommel, Germany's most celebrated military genius. James Mason's portrayal of this gallant warrior became a highlight of his career iconography. The film itself is oddly disjointed, though: a pre-credit commando raid to liquidate Rommel is followed by a flashback to the field-marshal's lightning successes commanding the Afrika Korps--a compressed account via documentary footage and copious narration (spoken by Michael Rennie, who also dubs Desmond Young, the Rommel biographer and one-time British POW appearing briefly as himself). The dramatic core is Rommel's growing disenchantment with Hitler (Luther Adler), his involvement in the plot to assassinate the Fuhrer, and his subsequent martyrdom. The Desert Rats stars Richard Burton in only his second Hollywood role (between Oscar-nominated turns in My Cousin Rachel and The Robe), as a Scottish commando put in charge of a battalion of the 9th Australian Division defending Tobruk. The Aussies don't like him, and with a year of grim North African duty already under his belt, he's not too crazy about his new responsibilities either. The outfit is charged with staving off the battering assaults of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel for two months, to give the British Army time to regroup in Cairo and prepare for a counterattack. In the end, the "desert rats" play hell with the Desert Fox for 242 days, during which time they and their commander develop some mutual respect. This is a solid, workmanlike World War II picture that, having been made in 1953 rather than 1943, can acknowledge a degree of eccentric humanity and soldierly professionalism in the enemy. Featured guest star James Mason reprises his Rommel from The Desert Fox, playing all his scenes in German except for a scene of ironical repartee with Burton. Another distinguished Brit, Robert Newton, gets costar billing as a boozy, self-confessed coward who used to be Burton's schoolmaster. However, a goodly number of Australians--including Chips Rafferty and Charles "Bud" Tingwell rate at least as much screen time. Robert Wise directed, with a trimness that reminds us he started out as an editor, and the pungent black-and-white cinematography is by Lucien Ballard. --Richard T. Jameson
John Wayne hams it up as a one-eyed, broken-down marshal in this 1969 adaptation of Charles Portis's bestselling novel. Kim Darby plays the formal-speaking adolescent who goes to Wayne for help tracking down her father's killer, and singer Glen Campbell straps on his guns to join the quest. Directed by old lion Henry Hathaway (Rawhide), True Grit is largely a showcase for Wayne (who finally won an Oscar), but it is also a decent Western with a particularly stirring final act. --Tom Keogh
Private investigator Bradford Galt has moved to New York from San Fransisco after serving a jail term on account of his lawyer partner Tony Jardine. When he finds someone is tailing - and possibly trying to kill him Galt believes Jardine is behind it. As he finds there is rather more to it he is increasingly glad to have his attractive new secretary Kathleen around for several reasons...
James Mason delivers a strong performance in the title role of this sympathetic study of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel. In the early 40's Rommel's juggernaut Afrika Korps dominated North Africa. But as the tide turned and he came to the painful realisation that his Fuhrer to whom he had sworn allegiance was destroying Germany his ingrained sense of duty pushed him into a conspiracy against Hitler. Focusing on the latter part of Rommel's career the flm portrays him as a dedicated so
True Grit: In 1970 John Wayne earned an Academy Award for his larger-than-life performance as the drunken uncouth and totally fearless one-eyed U.S. Marshal Rooster Cogburn. The cantankerous Rooster is hired by a headstrong young girl (Kim Darby) to find the man who murdered her father and fled with the family savings. When Cogburn's employer insists on accompanying the old gunfighter sparks fly. And the situation goes from troubled to disastrous when the inexperienced but enthusiastic Texas Ranger (Glen Campbell) joins the party. Laughter and tears punctuate the wild action in this extraordinary Western which features performances by Robert Duvall and Strother Martin. The Sons Of Katie Elder: Katie Elder bore four sons. The day she is buried they all return home to Clearwater Texas to pay their last respects. John Wayne is the eldest and toughest son the gunslinger. Tom (Dean Martin) is good with a deck of cards and good with a gun when he has to be. Matt (Earl Holliman) is the quiet one - nobody ever called him yellow... twice. Bud (Michael Anderson Jr.) is the youngest. Any hope for respectability lies with him. Directed by Henry Hathaway (True Grit) an acknowledged master of the western the story has a dual theme; not only is this a he-mans story but it is also a drama of the maternal influence of Katie Elder movingly portrayed from beginning to conclusion. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance: Ranking with Stagecoach as one of the greatest of its genre 'The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance' is the modern-day Western to beat all Westerns. John Ford whose very name is synonymous with Westerns directed the ideal cast. Jimmy Stewart plays the bungling but charming big-city lawyer determined to rid the fair village of Shinbone of its number one nuisance and Bad Man: Liberty Valance (Lee Marvin). And as if all that weren't enough the biggest star that ever aimed a six-shooter plays the Man of the title: John Wayne. Super-sincere Stewart and rugged rancher Wayne also share the same love interest (Vera Miles). One gets the gunman but the other gets the gal...
The Saturday matinee adventure classic is back! Young Prince Valiant travels to Camelot to become a squire for Sir Gawain one of King Arthur's legendary knights unaware that the traitor that sold his father King Aguar to the pagan rival King Sligon is already seated at the Round Table! With thrilling action romance courtly intrigue Franz Waxman's rousing score and a magnificent cast of Hollywood greats including James Mason (North by Northwest) Janet Leigh (Psycho) Robert Wagner (TV's Hart to Hart) Debra Paget (The Ten Commandments) Sterling Hayden (Dr. Strangelove) Victor McLaglen (The Quiet Man) Donald Crisp (National Velvet) and Tom Conway (Cat People).
Fourteen-year-old Mattie Ross's father has been shot in cold blood by the coward Tom Chaney, and she is determined to bring him to justice...even if it means siding with the dangerous Rooster Cogburn.
With courage sinew and conflict: that's how the West was won. With three directors five interlocked stories some of the most legendary action scenes in movie history and a constellation of acting talent: that's how How The West Was Won was filmed. Henry Fonda Gregory Peck Debbie Reynolds James Stewart and John Wayne are among the big names in this big-event saga following a dauntless family's move West through generations - underscored by the spectacles of a heart-pounding raging river ride a thunderous buffalo stampede and a bracing runaway train shootout. The winner of three Academy Awards How The West Was Won was also a box-office winner.
The Searchers With The Searchers, John Wayne and director John Ford forged an indelible saga of the frontier and the men and women who challenged it. Wayne plays Ethan Edwards, an ex-Confederate who sets out to find his niece, captured by Comanches who massacred his family. He won't surrender to hunger, thirst, the elements or loneliness. And in his obsessive quest, Ethan finds something unexpected: his own humanity. One of the most influential movies ever made. Pale Rider In ...
In this sinister and dark portrait of human sexuality, Marilyn Monroe portrays a sexy and scheming wife who seduces her lover into helping with the murder of her husband during a romantic weekend at Niagara Falls.
A tough hard-drinking gold prospector agrees to pick up his partner's fiance but winds up with a beautiful substitute. When both partners begin vying for her favour trouble inevitably breaks out!
The F.B.I.'s own tense, terrific story behind the protection of the Atomic Bomb!Nazi spies have infiltrated America, one of which tries to recruit a college graduate, who then becomes a double agent for the F.B.I.
Matt Masters (John Wayne) is a circus owner who has to start from scratch when his ship sinks in the Barcelona harbour. Starting up a Wild West act he takes under his wing Toni Alfredo (Claudio Cardinale) a trapeze artist whose mother Lili (Rita Hayworth) has abandoned her. Seeking Lili out in a Hamburg bar Masters obtains her a job in the circus anonymously so that she can get to know her daughter.
Titles Comprise: The Comancheros: John Wayne is a Texas Ranger in this rollicking, good humored western, assigned to bring an arms-running gang to justice. After Wayne arrests one of the criminals, matters are complicated when they wander into an area controlled by the Comancheros- a group of Anglos aiding the warring Comanche Indians. Director Curtiz' last film is based on the novel by Paul I. Wellman.North To Alaska: A tough, hard-drinking gold prospector agrees to pick up his partner's fiance, but winds up with a beautiful substitute. When both partners begin vying for her favour, trouble inevitably breaks out!The Undefeated: After the Civil War, former Union Colonel John Henry Thomas (Wayne) and Confederate Colonel James Langdon (Hudson) are leading expeditions to Mexico, Langdon to establish a new settlement away from Carpetbaggers and Thomas to sell horses. Along the way they must put aside their differences to deal with a threatening Mexican general.
The epic journey of four generations of Americans who carved a country with their bare hands. With courage sinew and conflict: that's how the West was won. With three directors five interlocked stories some of the most legendary action scenes in movie history and a constellation of acting talent: that's how How The West Was Won was filmed.Henry Fonda Gregory Peck Debbie Reynolds James Stewart and John Wayne are among the big names in this big-event saga following a dauntless family's move West through generations - underscored by the spectacles of a heart-pounding raging river ride a thunderous buffalo stampede and a bracing runaway train shootout. The winner of three Academy Awards How The West Was Won was also a box-office winner.
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