John Wayne Western Classics DVD

Here's an unexpected collection of rare John Wayne Western Classics. An unorthodox Western for its time, anticipating the social and moral issues that Clint Eastwood found in the genre a generation later, Angel and the Badman (1947) is the first film produced by Wayne, which may account for the rather hesitant action sequences and uneasy balance between the hero as gun-toting outlaw and man of conscience who is drawn into a Quaker family and their duty of forgiveness. Gail Russell is sympathetic as Penelope, and there's a priceless cameo from Harry Carey as the sheriff.... The two shorter features (54 minutes each) are pre-Stagecoach Wayne, interesting for the light they shed on his development of the authentic Wayne persona. Blue Steel (1934) finds him joining forces with the doughty George Hayes in a scenario that pre-echoes For a Few Dollars More. Winds of the Wasteland (1936) pays tribute to the mail-run pioneers, Wayne and Lane Chandler beating crooked banker Douglas Cosgrove at his own game. The closing stagecoach chase must have seemed thrilling back then. On the DVD John Wayne Western Classics three-disc set is a no-frills presentation, though with decent remastering at 1.33:1 aspect ratio There's no attempt to disguise the low-budget production values of the 30s films, whose undeniable creakiness is surely an attraction in itself. Wayne and Western devotees need not hesitate. --Richard Whitehouse [show more]

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