Free Republic

The health of the American western in 1956 was robust if you go by just two pictures released that year: John Ford's The Searchers, probably one of the greatest westerns ever made, and George Stevens' Giant, which showed how western themes and values could be nudged forward into the modern world. It was also the year when Clayton Moore and Jay Silverheels transplanted the Lone Ranger and Tonto from television to the movie screen with The Lone Ranger – a hit for Warner Bros. and the first of two pictures featuring Moore as the masked gunman, proof that there was...

I was just watching the short morning speeches on C-SPAN when liberal Mr. Cohen from NC (I think), was referring to the fact that conservatives are now opposing the raising of the debt ceiling; but they supported same when Bush was president. He referenced the scene in "Blazing Saddles", when the citizens of Rock Ridge were asked by the new black sheriff for just 24 more hours to solve the crisis. Denied. Whereupon Sheriff Bart protested, "You'd do it for Randolph Scott." The citizens then showed reverence at the mention of that name, and capitulated.

Warner Bros. today will launch a service giving the public the opportunity to custom-order DVDs of films never before released via the medium. The move is seen as a response to dwindling DVD sales and also to customer demand for titles that while not totally obscure, didn't necessarily generate enough heat to merit a full-on DVD release. The Warner Archive Collection, available at WarnerArchive.com, includes films dating back to the silent age and for $19.95 per disc Warners will burn, package and ship for receipt within an estimated five days. Currently there are 150 titles available with for a total...

Martin Scorsese’s The Film Foundation has partnered with Sony Pictures Home Entertainment to bring a variety of classic films to DVD. Films will be released under the “Collector’s Choice” banner and include restored and remastered transfers of previously unreleased titles from the Sony catalog. Hollywood talent will contribute commentaries and introductions in films that have inspired their own work. The first release will be The Films of Budd Boetticher, a boxed set of five Westerns that will arrive in stores Nov. 4. The set includes The Tall T, Decision at Sundown, Buchanan Rides Alone, Ride Lonesome and Comanche Station, all...

[Bold emphases were inserted by me.] PRESS RELEASEJeanine Basinger, noted film expert and professor at Wesleyan University of Middletown, CT recently recorded DVD commentary on Budd Boetticher westerns. Hartford, CT, May 30, 2008 --(PR.com)-- It was a B Movie bonanza in Tapeworks today, as noted film authority Jeanine Basinger narrated a companion DVD track to the Budd Boetticher Western, “The Tall ‘T’” starring Randolph Scott and Maureen O’Sullivan. This is the first in a series of Boetticher releases that will comprise a box set of the director's distinctive works. A regular presence in the Hartford recording studio, Prof. Basinger has...