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Blu-Ray News #402: Hopalong Cassidy – The Legacy Collection, Volume 2 (1936).

April 25, 2026 by Toby

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The first volume of the Hopalong Cassidy Legacy Collection was a real Cadillac. ClassicFlix has announced that the second volume is on the way.

This time, we’ll get the first three Hoppy pictures from 1936. All three were directed by Howard Bretherton and shot by the great Archie Stout.

Call Of The Prairie (1936)
Directed by Howard Bretherton
Starring William Boyd, James Ellison, Muriel Evans, George “Gabby” Hayes, Chester Conklin

When Johnny (James Ellison) is framed for robbery and a shooting, and it’s up to Hoppy to set things right. George Hayes is one of the bad guys in this one.

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Three On The Trail (1936)
Directed by Howard Bretherton
Starring William Boyd, James Ellison, Onslow Stevens, Muriel Evans, George “Gabby” Hayes, Claude King

Though George Hayes was already a fixture of the series, Three On The Trail was the first time he played Windy Halliday. Hayes (and Windy) left the series in 1939, with Hayes moving to Republic.

This one has a gang of rustlers doing stage holdups as their side hustle, giving Hoppy twice as much justice to deliever.

Heart Of The West (1936)
Directed by Howard Bretherton
Starring William Boyd, James Ellison, George “Gabby” Hayes, Sidney Blackmer, Lynn Gabriel, Fred Kohler

Hoppy, Johnny and Windy get caught up in a range war. The big stampede sequence (complete with dynamite) is terrific.

The Hopalong Cassidy pictures turned the B Western on its ear. The budgets are bigger, the writing an acting are better, the locations and photography are incredible — and the “trio western” was established with William Boyd, James Ellison and George (not yet “Gabby”) Hayes.

Of course, Poverty Row was still cranking out three-day cowboy movies, but the Hoppy pictures were something different. They played large, first-run theaters in places that would turn their nose up at a Bob Steele or Tom Tyler movie.

ClassicFlix hasn’t set a release date for Volume 2 — just “later this year.” The list of extras, and there will be plenty of them, hasn’t been nailed down. I’ll update this when those announcements are made. Of course, the three features will look like a million bucks.

I’m sure this second Blu-Ray set will be just as nice as Volume 1 — and every bit as essential. Can’t wait!

Posted in ClassicFlix, DVD/Blu-Ray News, George "Gabby" Hayes, Hopalong Cassidy, Howard Bretherton, Paramount, William Boyd | 2 Comments »

Blu-Ray News #401: Cannon For Cordoba (1970).

April 20, 2026 by Toby

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Directed by Paul Wendkos
Starring George Peppard, Pete Duel, Giovanna Ralli, Raf Vallone, Pete Duel, Don Gordon

I’ve learned over the last couple years that I really like George Peppard. And I can thank the folks at Imprint for that realization. Their terrific Film Focus: George Peppard set gathered up four of his late-60s and early-70s action pictures — beyond the usual Operation Crossbow, The Blue Max and Tobruk — and I dug ’em all. (It was limited to 1,500 copies, so if you come across one, snatch it!)

Now, here comes Cannon For Cordoba (1970), a cool Mexican Revolution picture from Paul Wendkos. Peppard leads a team of misfits (Magnificent Seven style) into Mexico to retrieve some cannons stolen from the US Army. Beautifully shot in Spain by Antonio Macasoli, I was really taken by the look of this thing — and the really terrific action stuff.

Paul Wendkos is a director some have a hard time taking seriously since he committed the “sin” of working largely in TV movies. If you take a look at a few of his features — like maybe this one, The Burglar (1958) and Face Of A Fugitive (1959) — you’ll see that Wendkos certainly had it goin’ on. And when your TV work includes the Hawaii Five-O pilot and The Legend Of Lizzie Borden (1975), I don’t see why he doesn’t get the appreciation he deserves.

I did a commentary for this, and it was a lot of fun to pull together. My yapping is just one of the extras on this Blu-Ray, and it’s limited to just 1,500 copies. Highly, highly recommended.

Posted in DVD/Blu-Ray News, Imprint, United Artists | 2 Comments »

Blu-Ray News #400: The Texas Rangers (1936).

April 16, 2026 by Toby

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Directed by King Vidor
Starring Fred MacMurray, Jack Oakie, Jean Parker, Lloyd Nolan, Edward Ellis

Kino Lorber’s bring The Texas Rangers (1936) to Blu-Ray in June. It had been ages since I’d seen it, and I was really impressed with it — the scope of it and some of the stunt work. There’s a horse fall at the end that’s really something.

This was Fred MacMurray’s first Western, in a part originally meant for Gary Cooper. Of course, in the 50s, MacMurray made a couple of my favorites. I’m not a big Jack Oakie fan, but he’s really good here. Jean Parker is cute as a bug. And George “Gabby”Hayes has a great part as a judge (this was around the same time he was doing the first Hopalong Cassidy pictures).

The transfer is stunning. And it’ll have two commentaries: one by Max Allan Collins and Heath Holland, and a second from some clod named Toby.

It’s easy to recommend the King Vidor The Texas Rangers. Would love to see the 1951 Phil Karlson one, too.

Posted in DVD/Blu-Ray News, Fred MacMurray, George "Gabby" Hayes, Kino Lorber, Paramount | 4 Comments »

4K News #399: El Dorado (1967).

April 12, 2026 by Toby

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Directed by Howard Hawks
Starring John Wayne, Robert Mitchum, James Caan, Charlene Holt, Paul Fix, Arthur Hunnicutt, Michele Carey, Christopher George

“The Big One With The Big Two” is coming in the Big 4!

Kino Lorber has announced that they’re working on a 4K disc of El Dorado (1967). Can’t wait to see how this one looks — the Blu-Ray from Paramount a few years back was a disappointment.

Posted in Arthur Hunnicutt, DVD/Blu-Ray News, Howard Hawks, John Wayne, Kino Lorber, Paramount, Robert Mitchum | Leave a Comment »

Blu-Ray News #398: Monogram Matinee, Volume 3 (1946, 1949).

April 7, 2026 by Toby

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Two Johnny Mack Brown Monogram Westerns on Blu-Ray? Better check my blood pressure before I fall out. The third installment in Warner Archive’s Monogram Matinee series is right up my alley.

Under Arizona Skies (1946)
Directed by Lambert Hillyer
Starring Johnny Mack Brown, Reno Browne, Raymond Hatton, Riley Hill, Tris Coffin, Reed Howes

Johnny Mack Brown shoots a rustler and is soon on the hook for murder. His pal Raymond Hatton comes to the rescue. Reno Browne only made a handful of movies — this might be her first.

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Range Justice (1949)
Directed by Ray Taylor
Starring Johnny Mack Brown, Max Terhune, Tris Coffin, Riley Hill, Sarah Padden, Eddie Parker

This time, Johnny helps an old lady who’s being cheated out of her ranch. Director Ray Taylor was great with action — he did Flash Gordon Conquers The Universe (1940).

These Poverty Row marvels will look terrific in high definition. Highly recommended.

Posted in DVD/Blu-Ray News, Johnny Mack Brown, Lambert Hillyer, Monogram/Allied Artists, Raymond Hatton, Warner Archive | 9 Comments »

Play ball!

March 26, 2026 by Toby

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I’m so glad to have baseball back.

As is customary* around here, here’s John Ford sporting his Dodgers cap to mark the first game of the season at Dodgers Stadium.

After last year’s incredible World Series, I’m expecting big things from my favorite team this year.

Go Dodgers!

*50 Westerns Of The 50s Big Word Of The Day

Posted in John Ford | 3 Comments »

Blu-Ray News #397: Bend Of The River (1952).

March 24, 2026 by Toby

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Directed by Anthony Mann
Starring James Stewart, Arthur Kennedy, Julie Adams, Rock Hudson, Lori Nelson, Jay C. Flippen, Harry Morgan, Royal Dano, Stepin Fetchit, Chubby Johnson

Kino Lorber is bringing an updated Bend Of The River (1952) to Blu-Ray in May.

This is the second of the Anthony Mann/Jimmy Stewart Westerns, and one of the finest Westerns ever made.

KL’s old Blu-Ray of Bend Of The River is wonderful, but there was some registration trouble with the Technicolor in a few scenes. That’s now been corrected, and if you ask me, a new disc is certainly warranted. (I’m so glad that my commentary from the old disc is making its way to this one.) Absolutely essential.

Posted in 1952, Anthony Mann, Arthur Kennedy, Chubby Johnson, DVD/Blu-Ray News, Harry Morgan, Jay C. Flippen, Jimmy Stewart, Julie Adams, Kino Lorber, Rock Hudson, Royal Dano, Universal (International) | 6 Comments »

Read Any Good Books Lately?

March 14, 2026 by Toby

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My To-Do list is really long and tangled up these days (somebody wanna mow our yard?), but I wanted to share a couple things real quick.

Found a book the other day that I didn’t know anything about — The Movie Railroads by Larry Jensen, published back in 1981. The idea that the studios used to actually own real trains and had to maintain them and move them around is fascinating. And it’s fun to see how many stars climbed around on the same locomotives from picture to picture. This is a piece of the whole 50s Westerns thing that I hadn’t given a lot of thought. How lame on my part.

Currently on the nightstand at 50s Westerns HQ is Kathryn Jones’ Tall In The Saddle, a brand new and simply incredible biography of Ben Johnson. I’ve read a number of sections of it (of course, I went to One-Eyed Jacks immediately), and can’t wait to dig into the whole thing. Remember Susan Compo’s great book on Warren Oates (Warren Oates: A Wild Life) or Dwayne Epstein’s Lee Marvin: Point Blank? It’s that good. Highly, highly recommended. (Will get around to a real review of this ASAP.)

Posted in Ben Johnson, Books, Warren Oates | 4 Comments »

Blu-Ray News #396: Monogram Matinee, Volume 2 (1944 – 1947).

March 13, 2026 by Toby

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Just what we’ve been waiting for — another Monogram Matinee! This time we get a bigger-than-usual Monogram picture, along with one of the Westerns they excelled at.

Louisiana (1947)
Directed by Phil Karlson
Starring Governor Jimmie Davis, Margaret Lindsay, John Gallaudet

Jimmie Davis was the governor of Louisiana. He was also a pretty fair songwriter and country singer — he wrote “You Are My Sunshine.” Monogram made a movie about, with Davis playing himself, covering his rise from redneck to sheriff to mayor to governor, with country singer spread over the top of it all. The great Phil Karlson directed, and he swore his picture helped Davis get re-elected. We’re all familiar with the celebrity-turned-politician thing, but starring in a movie while still in office?

Song Of The Range (1944)
Directed by Wallace Fox
Starring Jimmy Wakely, Dennis Moore, Lee ‘Lasses’ White

Song Of The Range is the first of Monogram’s Jimmy Wakely pictures. Wakely had appeared in a number of B Westerns before getting a series of his own. He made 28 pictures for Monogram. Here, director Wallace Fox stirs up guitars and gunplay for a brisk, tuneful 55 minutes. Fox worked a lot with Sam Katzman at Monogram, then directed some serials for him when Katzman split for Columbia.

With these features coming from 4k scans of the best surviving nitrate materials, I cannot wait to get my hands on this thing. Highly recommended.


Posted in DVD/Blu-Ray News, Jimmy Wakely, Monogram/Allied Artists, Phil Karlson, Wallace Fox, Warner Archive | 10 Comments »

“Ride, Boldly Ride…”

March 10, 2026 by Toby

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“Eldorado”
by Edgar Allan Poe

Gaily bedight,
A gallant knight,
In sunshine and in shadow,
Had journeyed long,
Singing a song,
In search of Eldorado.

But he grew old—
This knight so bold—
And o’er his heart a shadow—
Fell as he found
No spot of ground
That looked like Eldorado.

And, as his strength
Failed him at length,
He met a pilgrim shadow—
‘Shadow,’ said he,
‘Where can it be—
This land of Eldorado?’

‘Over the Mountains
Of the Moon,
Down the Valley of the Shadow,
Ride, boldly ride,’
The shade replied,—
‘If you seek for Eldorado!’

Posted in Arthur Hunnicutt, Howard Hawks, John Wayne, Robert Mitchum | 12 Comments »

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