Hatari!

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Howard Hawks's 1962 adventure-comedy is basically the same, loosely plotted movie Hawks made over and over again for decades. A collection of professionals with a common goal--in this case, animal trapping in Tanganyika--forms a pocket community and holds each other to high standards in their work. This is a film about camaraderie, crisp banter, romance, and exciting action (the animal sequences are great). John Wayne played this part in about a thousand ways for Hawks over the years, and he could not be more entertaining as a grizzled pro. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews:

Long, but lots of fun.......2007-07-05

Hatari is a classic movie setting cowboy John Wayne in the wilds of safari land. Especially delightful for those who love animals.

Hatari!.......2007-06-27

Good-natured, leisurely Hawks-Wayne outing features gorgeous on-location shooting, with exciting footage of wild animal chases (the crew races after them in a jeep with nets), and effective ensemble playing from Cabot, Red Buttons, and Hardy Kruger, who comprise Mercer's core team. Martinelli is more than just ornamental as Dallas- we can well understand how she might get under Sean's supposedly thick skin. Catchy, distinctive Mancini score completes this exuberant, diverting picture, ideal for all ages.

More of the Duke doing what he does best.......2007-06-08

Hatari is one of those unexpected pleasures you find on basic cable. I first saw this movie on a local channel one Saturday afternoon. I only watched because it had the Duke in it. What I took from the movie was a fast-paced adventure which didn't minimize toughness, but didn't emphasize violence. A great deal of adeventure movies features violence and gore, not just plain, sturdy toughness. This movie features manly toughness without any embellishment or crudeness. Just a bunch of confident guys getting a tough job done without complaint. The plot is light, but not far fetched. The plot focuses simply on people doing their job (a job that is enjoyable) while interacting with one another. The movie doesn't need to go further than that because it is entertaining and enjoyable. Bit of trivia - Wayne and the others caught the animals themselves. Look at Wayne's mouth during the catch sequences; they are obviously dubbed over because Wayne cursed too much at the animals. Anyway watch this movie, it's a real treat!!!!

Hawks just hanging out with the boys.......2007-05-08

Hatari! is Howard Hawks at his most laid back. Thankfully not as shrill and manic as his Thirties screwball comedies, this veers totally in the opposite direction with its ambling, almost low-key and virtually plotless look at a group of animal catchers in East Africa who embody all the usual Hawksian stereotypes - likeably gruff but not humourless hero (Wayne), quiet punk kid who makes good (Gerard Blain), professional sidekick (Hardy Kruger), obligatory comic relief (Red Buttons) and game gal (Elsa Martinelliu). It in no way justifies its 157-minute running time, but all the reason Hawks needs is that he likes these people and wants to spend more time with them. Gently entertaining, but at times a little too laid back.

Paramount's DVD offers a good transfer with the original theatrical trailer the only extra.

An African "Western".......2007-04-10

Hatari means danger in Swahili. And so it is. A group of animal-catchers, operating from fast-moving trucks, capture wild animals using rope (no tranquilizers!). The animals frequently attack the trucks, for which the trucks are protected with old tires mounted on their sides. Attempts to corral a rhino lead to one of the men being severely gored. A tourniquet does not stem the loss of blood, and the man is near death. In the end, it takes a blood transfusion to save the man's life, followed by days of recovery.

There are scenes showing the capture of giraffes, wildebeest, and other animals. Natives help in the roundup of escaped ostriches. A woman raises one, two, and then three unweaned baby elephants. These are fed goats' milk, which turns out to be not so simple to get from the goats! In time, the woman leaves the group unannounced, and attempts to return to Europe. Her baby elephants sniff her out when she doesn't want to be found, enabling the others to locate her.

Throughout this flick, John Wayne is his typical self. He engages in blustery talk to others, including women. Diplomacy is not exactly his forte--but then who would expect the Duke to be diplomatic? And, as one would expect in a western, there are fistfights.

There are funny scenes in the film as well, as when a man builds rockets to be fired in order to scare monkeys into going up a tree. In the end, ironically, he is the most scared of all when one of his rockets is launched. He cannot even bear to look at it from a distance!

The John Wayne Century Collection (Big Jake, Donovan's Reef, El Dorado, Hatari!, Hondo, In Harm's Way, Island in the Sky, McLintock!, Rio Lobo, The High and the Mighty, etc.)

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Century Collection
John Wayne Century Collection
Fabulous collection
Great Value
This box set does NOT contain THE QUIET MAN

The John Wayne Century Collection (Big Jake, Donovan's Reef, El Dorado, Hatari!, Hondo, In Harm's Way, Island in the Sky, McLintock!, Rio Lobo, The High and the Mighty, etc.)
Starring: John Wayne
Manufacturer: Paramount
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000O179G8
Release Date: 2007-05-22

Product Description

DONOVAN'S REEF
Acclaimed director John Ford and screen legend John Wayne team up for what would be their final collaboration in this boisterous, rowdy South Seas escapade. The Duke, Lee Marvin and Jack Warden play World War II navy buddies who have made the French Polynesian island of Haleakaloha their post-war paradise. Local headquarters is Donovan's Reef, Wayne's rough-and-tumble watering hole where bragging, brawling, and full-blown misbehavior are the order of the day. But destined to create more turmoil than any barroom fisticuffs is the sudden arrival of Elizabeth Allen, a straight-laced Boston blue blood. She's hoping to locate her long-estranged father (Warden), affirm that he is "not of good moral character," and then assume control of the family's shipping dynasty back home in the States. Suave, debonair Cesar Romero and a sarong-clad Dorothy Lamour add to the laughs - and mayhem - in this tropical comedy treat.

IN HARM'S WAY
In Harm's Way, based on James Bassett's novel Harm's Way, has enough plot in it for four movies or a good miniseries (when it was shown on network television in prime time, it was broken into two very full nights). On the morning of December 7, 1941, a heavy cruiser, commanded by Captain Rockwell Torrey (John Wayne), and the destroyer Cassidy, under acting commander Lieutenant (jg) William McConnell (Thomas Tryon), are two of a handful of ships that escape the destruction of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Under Torrey's command, the tiny fleet of a dozen ships carries out its orders to seek out and engage the enemy fleet. But lack of fuel and a daring maneuver (but tragic miscalculation) by Torrey causes his ship to be seriously damaged. He's relieved of command and assigned to a desk job routing convoys in the shakeup following the attack, and his exec and oldest friend, Commander Paul Eddington (Kirk Douglas), is reassigned after a brawl, the result of his anger after identifying the body of his wife (Barbara Bouchet) who was killed during the attack while cavorting with an Marine Corps officer. Torrey's shore assignment leads him to reestablish contact on a very hostile level with his estranged son, Ensign Jere Torrey (Brandon de Wilde), his estranged son from a long-ended marriage, who is also serving at Pearl Harbor; he also establishes a romantic relationship with Lt. Maggie Haines (Patricia Neal), a navy nurse; he also befriends Commander Egan Powell (Burgess Meredith), a special-intelligence officer. Through his son's boasting during their bitter first meeting, Torrey learns of a top-secret offensive called Sky Hook — he figures out enough of it to impress Powell, and when Sky Hook gets bogged down by the indecisiveness of its commander, Vice Admiral Broderick (Dana Andrews), Powell convinces the commander of the Pacific Fleet (Adm. Chester Nimitz, unnamed here but played by Henry Fonda) that Torrey is the man to salvage the operation. Promoted to rear admiral, with Eddington — who'd been rotting away on a shore assignment, drunk most of the time — assigned as his chief of staff, Torrey gets Sky Hook rolling and finally finds his purpose in this war, gaining the belated admiration of his son in the process. Eddington is similarly motivated but is still haunted by the violent, ultimately self-destructive demons that blighted his marriage and his life — he is particularly attracted to a young nurse, Annalee Dohrn (Jill Haworth), not knowing that she is already involved romantically with Jere Torrey. Meanwhile, McConnell survives the sinking of his ship and is ordered to join Torrey's staff. Matters all come to a head when the Japanese begin a counter-offensive to Torrey's planned troop landing. And just at the time Torrey needs his men at their best, Eddington's violence and rage boil to the surface in a way that will destroy him and blight both men's lives. In a final attempt at redemption, Eddington provides Torrey with the information he needs to set up a battle that he has at least a chance of winning, pitting his small task group of destroyers and cruisers against the Japanese task force led by the Yamato, the largest battleship ever built.

HATARI!
Hatari! is Swahili for "danger"—and also the word for action, adventure and broad comedy in this two-fisted Howard Hawks effort. John Wayne stars as the head of a daring Tanganyka-based group which captures wild animals on behalf of the world's zoos. Hardy Kruger, Gérard Blain and Red Buttons are members of Wayne's men-only contingent, all of whom are reduced to jello when the curvaceous Elsa Martinelli enters the scene. In tried and true Howard Hawks fashion, Martinelli quickly becomes "one of the guys," though Wayne apparently can't say two words to her without sparking an argument. The second half of this amazingly long (159 minute) film concerns the care and maintenance of a baby elephant; the barely credible finale is devoted to a comic pachyderm stampede down an urban African street, ending literally at the foot of Martinelli's bed. The other scene worth mentioning involves comedy-relief Red Buttons' efforts to create a fireworks-powered animal trap. Not to be taken seriously for a minute, Hatari is attractively packaged and neatly tied up with a danceable-pranceable theme song by Henry Mancini.

RIO LOBO
After the Civil War, a Union Colonel goes to Rio Lobo to take revenge on two traitors.

BIG JAKE
An aging Texas cattle man who has outlived his time swings into action when outlaws kidnap his grandson and wound his son. He returns to his estranged family to help them in the search for Little Jake.

THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE
Like Pontius Pilate, director John Ford asks "What is truth?" in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance—but unlike Pilate, Ford waits for an answer. The film opens in 1910, with distinguished and influential U.S. senator Ransom Stoddard (James Stewart) and his wife Hallie (Vera Miles) returning to the dusty little frontier town where they met and married twenty-five years earlier. They have come back to attend the funeral of impoverished "nobody" Tom Doniphon (John Wayne). When a reporter asks why, Stoddard relates a film-long flashback. He recalls how, as a greenhorn lawyer, he had run afoul of notorious gunman Liberty Valance (Lee Marvin), who worked for a powerful cartel which had the territory in its clutches. Time and again, "pilgrim" Stoddard had his hide saved by the much-feared but essentially decent Doniphon. It wasn't that Doniphon was particularly fond of Stoddard; it was simply that Hallie was in love with Stoddard, and Doniphon was in love with Hallie and would do anything to assure her happiness, even if it meant giving her up to a greenhorn. When Liberty Valance challenged Stoddard to a showdown, everyone in town was certain that the greenhorn didn't stand a chance. Still, when the smoke cleared, Stoddard was still standing, and Liberty Valance lay dead. On the strength of his reputation as the man who shot Valance, Stoddard was railroaded into a political career, in the hope that he'd rid the territory of corruption. Stoddard balked at the notion of winning an election simply because he killed a man-until Doniphon, in strictest confidence, told Stoddard the truth: It was Doniphon, not Stoddard, who shot down Valance. Stoddard was about to reveal this to the world, but Doniphon told him not to. It was far more important in Doniphon's eyes that a decent, honest man like Stoddard become a major political figure; Stoddard represented the "new" civilized west, while Doniphon knew that he and the West he represented were already anachronisms. Thus Stoddard went on to a spectacular political career, bringing extensive reforms to the state, while Doniphon faded into the woodwork. His story finished, the aged Stoddard asks the reporter if he plans to print the truth. The reporter responds by tearing up his notes. "This is the West, sir, " the reporter explains quietly. "When the legend becomes fact, print the legend." Dismissed as just another cowboy opus at the time of its release, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance has since taken its proper place as one of the great Western classics. It questions the role of myth in forging the legends of the West, while setting this theme in the elegiac atmosphere of the West itself, set off by the aging Stewart and Wayne.

THE SONS OF KATIE ELDER
Henry Hathaway directs the 1965 psychological Western The Sons of Katie Elder. Four sons reunite in their Texas hometown to attend their mother's funeral. John (John Wayne) is the gunfighter, Tom (Dean Martin) is the gambler, Matt (Earl Holliman) is the quiet one, and Bud (Michael Anderson Jr.) is the youngest. They soon learn that their father gambled away the family ranch, leading to his own murder. The brothers decide to find their father's killer and get back the ranch, even though they are discouraged to do so by local Sheriff Billy Wilson (Paul Fix). When the sheriff turns up dead, the Elder boys are blamed for the murder. Deputy Sheriff Ben Latta (Jeremy Slate) joins forces with the only witnesses of the murder: Morgan Hastings (James Gregory) and his son Dave (Dennis Hopper). A gunfight breaks out between the Hastings gang and the Elder gang. After his brother Matt is killed, John decides to settle the ranch dispute in a court of law with a judge (Sheldon Allman). However, Tom decides to take matters into his own hands by kidnapping Dave. After the final climactic gunfight, John and the wounded Bud retreat to a rooming house owned by Mary Gordon (Martha Hyer).

TRUE GRIT
In 1970, John Wayne won an Academy Award. for his larger-than-life performance as the drunken, uncouth and totally fearless one-eyed U.S. Marshall, 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 an 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 SHOOTIST
About ten minutes into The Shootist, Doctor Hostetler (James Stewart) tells aging western gunfighter John Bernard Books (John Wayne) "You have a cancer." Knowing that his death will be painful and lingering, Books is determined to be shot in the line of "duty". In his remaining two months, Books settles scores with old enemies, including gambler Pulford (Hugh O'Brian) and Marshall Thibido (Harry Morgan) and reaches out to new friends (including feisty widow Lauren Bacall and her hero-worshipping son Ron Howard). In the end, is shot to death, but in so doing he is able to dissuade another from following his blood-stained example. Throughout the film, Book's imminent demise is compared with the decline of the west, as represented by the automobiles and streetcars that have begun to blight the main street of Wayne's home town. It is unknown if John Wayne was aware that he was dying of cancer when he agreed to film The Shootist; whatever the case, the film is a powerful valedictory to a remarkable man and a fabulous career.

EL DORADO
Legendary producer-director Howard Hawks teams with two equally legendary stars, John Wayne and Robert Mitchum, in this classic Western drama. Mitchum plays to perfection an alcoholic but gutsy sheriff who relentlessly battles the dark side of the wild West, ruthless cattle barons and crooked "businessmen." The Duke gives an equally adept performance as the sheriff's old friend who knows his way around a gunfight. Filled with brawling action and humor, El Dorado delivers the goods. James Caan and Ed Asner co-star.

THE HIGH AND THE MIGHTY
When a commercial airliner developes engine problems on a trans- Pacific flight and the pilot loses his nerve, it is up to the washed-up co-pilot Dan Roman to bring the plane in safely.

ISLAND IN THE SKY
A transport plane crash-lands in the frozen wastes of Labrador, and the plane's pilot, Dooley, must keep his men alive in deadly conditions while waiting for rescue.

HONDO
Based on the Louis L'Amour story "The Gift of Cochise," this sparkling western has Wayne as a half-Indian Cavalry scout who, with his feral dog companion, finds a young woman and her son living on a isolated ranch in unfriendly Apache country. A poetic and exciting script, outstanding performances, and breathtaking scenery make this an indisputable classic. Page's debut.

MCLINTOCK!
Wayne shows off his funny side in this 1963 western, a comedy inspired by The Taming of the Shrew. Starring as wealthy cattle baron G.W. McLintock, Wayne shows a real sense of comic timing in several scenes filled with slapstick humor. After his wife (Maureen O'Hara) and daughter leave him for the East, McLintock attempts to win them back. The dynamics between O'Hara and Wayne are the strong suit of this film, the actors having worked together previously on

THE QUIET MAN
As this is by no means a revisionist western, McLintock's chauvinistic attempts to "tame" his wife fit within the problematic ideology of the larger western genre. The ultimate example of this comes at the end of the film when McLintock settles his marital dispute by publicly "spanking" his wife in what is now a notorious cinematic moment.

Customer Reviews:

Century Collection.......2007-09-07

I couldn't be happier with a collection such as these that represent my favorite era in westerns and Wayne films.

John Wayne Century Collection.......2007-07-21

Most of the discs played well in both a computer drive or in one of 3 dvd players. However two of the discs would not completely play in any drive. My thanks to Amazon for promptly replacing the defective merchandise.
The movies themselves are of course: John Wayne. Nothing else to be said. The second set seems to be OK

Fabulous collection.......2007-07-13

This is a must-have collection for John Wayne fans. The movies are some of his best and many come with special features and interviews with actors and actresses that co-starred and worked with "The Duke." Great quality and very entertaining!

Great Value.......2007-06-14

This collection is an outstanding deal at $70. THis contains many of Wayne's most sought-after films at a bargain price.

This box set does NOT contain THE QUIET MAN.......2007-05-23

Contrary to Amazon's editorial description above, the John Wayne Century Collection contains 14 movies, but does NOT include THE QUIET MAN. Still, it is a good bargain and contains a new Special Edition release of TRUE GRIT.

The John Wayne Adventure Collection (The High and the Mighty / In Harms Way / Island in the Sky / Hatari! / Donovans Reef)

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The John Wayne Adventure Collection (The High and the Mighty / In Harms Way / Island in the Sky / Hatari! / Donovans Reef)
Starring: John Wayne , Kirk Douglas , Patricia Neal , Claire Trevor , and Robert Stack
Director: Otto Preminger , William A. Wellman , John Ford , and Howard Hawks
Manufacturer: Paramount
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Westerns | Genres | DVD | Video

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ASIN: B000O179GI
Release Date: 2007-05-22

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El Dorado / Hatari! (Double Feature)
Starring: John Wayne , Hardy Krüger , Elsa Martinelli , Red Buttons , and Gérard Blain
Director: Howard Hawks
Manufacturer: Paramount
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000O59A2K
Release Date: 2007-05-22

Average customer rating:

Long, but lots of fun
Hatari!
More of the Duke doing what he does best
Hawks just hanging out with the boys
An African "Western"

Hatari
Starring: John Wayne , Hardy Krüger , Elsa Martinelli , Red Buttons , and Gérard Blain
Director: Howard Hawks
Manufacturer: Paramount
ProductGroup: Video
Binding: VHS Tape

Classics | Action & Adventure | Genres | VHS | Video

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Buttons, Red | ( B ) | Actors & Actresses | VHS | Video

Cabot, Bruce | ( C ) | Actors & Actresses | VHS | Video

Franz, Eduard | ( F ) | Actors & Actresses | VHS | Video

Wayne, John | ( W ) | Actors & Actresses | VHS | Video

Hawks, Howard | ( H ) | Directors | VHS | Video

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ASIN: 6300215954
Release Date: 1991-08-12

Amazon.com

Customer Reviews:

Long, but lots of fun.......2007-07-05

Hatari is a classic movie setting cowboy John Wayne in the wilds of safari land. Especially delightful for those who love animals.

Hatari!.......2007-06-27

More of the Duke doing what he does best.......2007-06-08

Hawks just hanging out with the boys.......2007-05-08

An African "Western".......2007-04-10

John Wayne DVD Collection - Amazon.com Exclusive (10-Disc Set)

Average customer rating:

Awesome If it Were Available for Purchase!
Most Complete Boxed Wayne Collection a 'Must'...

John Wayne DVD Collection - Amazon.com Exclusive (10-Disc Set)
Starring: Rodolfo Acosta , Sheldon Allman , Michael Anderson Jr. , John Doucette , and Paul Fix
Director: Henry Hathaway
Manufacturer: Paramount Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
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The High and the Mighty (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)

ASIN: B0009XLDY0
Release Date: 2005-08-30

Amazon.com

John Wayne gave his first complex performance in a Paramount picture: 1941's Shepherd of the Hills, a quirky Ozark "Western" directed by Henry Hathaway, who 28 years later would shepherd the Duke to his Oscar in True Grit. It's somehow appropriate, then, that most of the notable films of the star's final two decades were produced and/or released under Paramount's aegis--something borne out proprietarily by the overall high quality of this largest-yet collection of his work.

Might as well get the soft spots out of the way. There are two, both directorial swan songs. Big Jake (1971) is credited to George Sherman, who used to direct Wayne in Republic's "Three Mesquiteers" series in the late '30s; however, biographers agree that Wayne himself pretty much took over. It's a scrappy affair, with Wayne and Maureen O'Hara briefly reunited one last time, then Wayne and old stalwart Bruce Cabot heading into the badlands to rescue a missing grandson from outlaws. Rio Lobo (1970) is better--but more seriously disappointing in that it was the final film from Howard Hawks, the giant who had made Red River, Rio Bravo, and El Dorado. There's a thrillingly spare main-title sequence, and a terrific Civil War commando assault on a Union train (largely the work of ace second-unit director Yakima Canutt). But once the story jumps to the postwar, with Wayne's Yankee officer and his former Rebel foes making common cause to clean up a Southwest bordertown, Hawks and Wayne run afoul of feeble costars, a ragged script, and dismayingly slipshod camerawork.

So much for the downside. Among the eight other very satisfying titles, let's focus first on what, for many, will be the real discovery of this collection. Otto Preminger's In Harm's Way, a fine 1965 film that never got its just deserts, features an excellent Wayne performance that sounds notes unheard anywhere else in his career. The ultraliberal director and the ultraconservative star made a political odd couple, but they got along great as fellow pros. Preminger's studiedly cool, objective style set a tone unlike any Wayne had worked in before, and the actor rewarded his director with a beautifully low-key study of a career Navy officer whose personal and professional lives have been filled with disappointment. Set in the Pacific theater of World War II and shot in lustrous Panavision black and white, this intelligent epic focuses on commanders rather than combat. Its large cast (Kirk Douglas, Henry Fonda, Burgess Meredith, Dana Andrews) includes Patricia Neal as a Navy nurse of a certain age to whom Wayne's character credibly warms. But the best, sometimes startling moments involve his encounters with long-estranged son Brandon De Wilde.

The Sons of Katie Elder (1965), a typically solid Western from director Henry Hathaway, was the Duke's welcome-back vehicle after his initial bout with cancer. That shadow would return, of course, and in Donald Siegel's The Shootist (1976), which became Wayne's final film, the star plays a legendary gunfighter dying of cancer on the cusp of the 20th century. The movie begins with a montage of images from "John Bernard Books"'s violent career--i.e., clips from classic Wayne Westerns--and surrounds the star with an aptly valedictory supporting cast: James Stewart (clearly anguished at the real-life parallel), John Carradine, Big Jake adversary Richard Boone, and Lauren Bacall (who'd watched cancer take another legend two decades earlier).

Hatari! (1962) finds Wayne vigorously in charge of a crew that catches wild animals on the African veldt. Director Howard Hawks had his cast--Red Buttons, Hardy Kruger, Gérard Blain, Bruce Cabot, et al.--do the actual catching, as Russell Harlan's integral camerawork bears out time and again. Hawks admirer François Truffaut took Hatari!, with its easygoing alternation of scenes with the on-location "family" at work and play, as Hawks's metaphor for the joys of moviemaking. A comparable spirit informs John Ford's Donovan's Reef (1963), a very broad comedy about an extended family of World War II veterans who've found paradise on the Pacific island where they fought in wartime. Kauai supplies the unimpeachably paradisaical setting.

Happily, Hawks and Ford--Wayne's most important directors--are also each represented in the collection with a late-career masterpiece. El Dorado (1967) is carelessly discounted as Hawks's self-plagiarizing remake of the 1959 Rio Bravo--and since Rio Bravo (not in this collection) has a place on the movies' All-Time Ten Best list, that's understandable. But El Dorado is a highly self-aware revisit by a director and star acutely conscious of being eight years closer to mortality, from which they wrest heroic, often gloriously comic, poetry. James Caan, a Hawks discovery in the 1965 Red Line 7000, is excellent as the young vagabond who thinks he's hipper than the old crocks he's fallen in with (a brilliant case of Hawks making Pirandellian magic out of his performers' own personalities); Wayne and Robert Mitchum (in "the Dean Martin part") are both superb; and Christopher George, not much of an actor in other circumstances, has his finest career moment as a gunslinger who's every bit the man Wayne or Mitchum is, but has picked the wrong side.

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) is famously the film with the line "When the legend becomes fact, print the legend." Some take that as a credo for John Ford and the rationale for (or rationalization of) the director's mythmaking career. But Ford deconstructed myths as much as he celebrated them, and Liberty Valance--framed with allusions to Wayne's 1939 starmaking vehicle Stagecoach, and blatantly passing off the aged Wayne and James Stewart as younger men--is his most reflective meditation on the genre where he reigned supreme, and what the westward march of Progress had brought to the "cactus Eden." Lee Marvin never etched a more malevolent portrait than the title role here. The cumulative power of this movie, over its two-hour running time and every year since its release, is awesome.

A wonderful/rueful running gag in El Dorado involves the Edgar Allan Poe line "Ride, boldly ride" being mangled by toupee-wearer Wayne into "Ride, baldy, ride." Two years later, in True Grit, Wayne put the joke in italics by donning an eyepatch and several inches of girth to play cantankerous territorial marshal Rooster Cogburn. Critics belatedly noticed that he could be a marvelously entertaining actor, and Hollywood finally gave him the Oscar they'd failed to nominate him for in Red River, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, The Quiet Man, The Searchers, et al. But make no mistake: True Grit is a splendid movie, with lovingly textured storytelling and sturdy characters, Henry Hathaway's finest high-country action set-pieces, intoxicatingly ornate frontier language, and a couple of formidable bad guys (Jeff Corey's Tom Cheney and Robert Duvall's "Lucky" Ned Pepper). It's a compliment to say that, from a technical standpoint, the movie could have been made any time in Hathaway's 40-year career, yet its feeling for the reality of violence ceded no ground to The Wild Bunch, released around the same time. Still, the film's most sublime passage falls between bursts of gunplay: Rooster sitting on a hilltop at night recounting his life story, as John Wayne metamorphoses ineluctably into W.C. Fields. --Richard T. Jameson

Description

The John Wayne 10 pack consists of these John Wayne classics - True Grit, Rio Lobo, El Dorado, Donavan's Reef, In Harm's Way, The Sons of Katie Elder, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Big Jake, The Shootist, and Hatari!

Here's a small description of each title -

True Grit: John Wayne earned the 1969 "Best Actor" Academy Award for this larger-than life performance as the drunken, uncouth and totally fearless one-eyed U.S. Marshall, Rooster Cogburn. Rooster is hired by a headstrong young girl (Kim Darby) to find a mind who murdered her father and fled with the family savings. When Rooster's employer insists on accompanying the old gunfighter, sparks fly. And the situation goes from troubled to disastrous when the inexperienced Texas Ranger (Glen Campbell) joins the party. Laughter and tears punctuate the wild action in this extraordinary Western which also features performances by Robert Duvall and Strother Martin.

Rio Lobo: A classic action-filled John Wayne Western is set into motion with a spectacular robbery of a Union pay train by Confederate guerillas. The train's colonel (Wayne) jails the enemy leaders (Jorge Rivero, Chris Mitchum) but the three men later become friends when the war ends. Together they seek the Union traitors responsible for a string of Confederate train robberies, a mission that culminates in a rousing shoot-'em-up finale.

El Dorado: Legendary producer-director Howard Hawks teams with two equally legendary stars, John Wayne and Robert Mitchum, in this classic Western drama. Mitchum plays to perfection an alcoholic but gutsy sheriff who relentlessly battles the dark side of the Wild West, ruthless cattle barons and crooked "businessman." The DUKE gives an equally adept performance as the sheriff's old friend who knows his way around a gunfight. Filled with brawling action and humor, El Dorado delivers the goods. James Caan and Ed Asner co-star.

Donavan's Reef: Acclaimed director John Ford and screen legend John Wayne team up for what would be their final collaboration in this boisterous, rowdy South Seas escapade. The DUKE, Lee Marvin and Jack Warden play WWII navy buddies who have made the French Polynesian island of Haleakaloha their post-war paradise. Local headquarters is Donavan's Reef, Wayne's rough-and-tumble watering hole where bragging, brawling, and full-blown misbehavior are the order of the day. But destined to create more turmoil than any barroom fisticuffs is the sudden arrival of Elizabeth Allen, a straight-laced Boston blue blood. She's hoping to locate her long-estranged father (Warden), affirm that he is "not of good moral character," and then assume control of the family's shipping dynasty back home in the States. Suave, debonair Cesar Romero and a sarong-clad Dorothy Lamour add to the laughs - and mayhem - in this tropical comedy treat.

In Harm's Way: Producer - Director Otto Preminger's epic treatment of the bombing of Pearl Harbor details the devastating attack on the Hawaiian naval base as well as the explosive, behind the scenes stories. An awesome cast - including John Wayne, Kirk Douglas, Patricia Neal, Henry Fonda, Carroll O'Connor, Burgess Meredith, Paula Prentiss, Dana Andrews and host of other notables - is interwoven into this account of the attack itself, as well as into the triumphs and tragedies of disobeyed orders, the American counter-offensive, father-son reunions, battles at sea, and layers of romantic entanglements. It's a story that's been told and re-told, but perhaps never so completely.

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.

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.

Big Jake: In this action-filled Western, John Wayne stars as Big Jake McCandles, a husband who hasn't seen his wife (Maureen O'Hara) in over 18 years. But he returns home after his grandson is kidnapped by a vicious outlaw gang. While the law gives chase in rickety automobiles, Jake saddles up with an Indian scout (Bruce Cabot) and a box of money - even though paying a ransom isn't how Jake plans to exact good old frontier justice. Spiced with humor and first-class gunfights, this is a vivid depiction of the last days of the wild frontier.

The Shootist: Afflicted with a terminal illness, John Bernard Brooks (John Wayne), the last of the legendary gunfighters, quietly returns to Carson City for medical attention from his old friend Dr. Hostetler (James Stewart). Aware that his days are numbered, the troubled man seeks solace and peace in a boarding house run by a widow (Lauren Becall) and her son (Ron Howard). However, it is not Brooks' fate to die in peace, as he becomes embroiled in one last valiant battle.

Hatari!: Director Howard Hawks re-teams with John Wayne, who heads up a group of highly skilled professional game hunters in Africa. Only they don't use bullets - they capture the ferocious big game with strong ropes and cameras for zoos and circus attractions. It is an exciting, death-defying business that pits man against beast. "Hatari!" means "danger!" in Swahili, but Hatari! also means a spectacular adventure film.

Customer Reviews:

Awesome If it Were Available for Purchase!.......2006-01-17

I wish this were available for purchase. RE-visited this site several times in the past month or so and still not available. This collection is the best of all the JW weterns. Hopefully, AMAZON will figure out a way to put it up for sale again!!!!

BG

Most Complete Boxed Wayne Collection a 'Must'..........2005-07-10

I love John Wayne movies, and I love Amazon's dedication to offer the most for your dollar, so this Exclusive, to me, is the best of both worlds! While several 'signature' Wayne films (the Ford 'Cavalry' trilogy, in particular), are absent, and other 'classics' can be purchased individually, or in other boxed sets, this John Wayne DVD collection offers 10 of the Duke's most memorable films of the 60s and 70s...at less than $10, each! Talk about getting your money's worth!

The titles include:

"El Dorado" and "Rio Lobo": Howard Hawks' two variations of his classic, "Rio Bravo", all starring Wayne. "El Dorado", in particular, is a most worthy 'remake', offering Robert Mitchum in a wonderful comic send-up of the Dean Martin role, James Caan more entertaining than Ricky Nelson, and Arthur Hunnicutt, complete with bugle, filling Walter Brennan's shoes. Add Ed Asner as the villain, and Duke, standing tall (even while carrying a bullet inside him), and you have a first-rate actioner. While "Rio Lobo" is a disappointment (both Wayne and Hawks were sadly showing their years), it does offer the gorgeous (if wooden) Jennifer O'Neill, future studio boss Sherry Lansing, and Mitchum's son, Chris (along with an unbilled appearance by Wayne's youngest son, Ethan), in support.

"Hatari!": One of the BEST Hawks/Wayne teamings, this vastly entertaining African comedy/adventure may be the longest 'Buddy' film ever made, at 157 minutes, but Wayne, with all-star support including Hardy Krüger, Elsa Martinelli, and Red Buttons, makes capturing wild animals for zoos and circuses an irresistable experience!

"The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance": John Ford's last 'Classic' western, a deconstruction of the mythic West that he and Wayne helped create. Equal parts comedy and tragedy, with a healthy dose of old-fashioned politics, as Jimmy Stewart achieves national acclaim by shooting town bully Lee Marvin...an act actually done by Wayne! "When people prefer the myth to the truth, print the myth" is a credo Ford believed in, and this film is it's purest embodiment. A MUST!

"Donovan's Reef": Ford and Wayne, teamed again with Lee Marvin, in a delightful South Seas romp, as prim Elizabeth Allen learns to 'loosen up' under Wayne's brawny charms (forget the 27-year age difference!) Brawling fun, with Jack Warden, Cesar Romero, and saronged Dorothy Lamour in support.

"The Sons of Katie Elder": Most significant as being Wayne's triumphant return to the screen after losing a lung to cancer, this sprawling Henry Hathaway-directed western reteams Duke with Dean Martin (as BROTHERS?), in an entertaining tale of four brothers' vengeance; with a flavorful Elmer Bernstein score.

"True Grit": Hathaway directs Wayne to an Oscar, as one-eyed Rooster Cogburn. An underappreciated gem (Duke playing an old, fat reprobate upset many fans), but he has a ball in the role, and few of his films captured the 'feel' of the period, better!

"In Harm's Way": Otto Preminger and Wayne made a great team, in the director's HUGE saga of Pearl Harbor, and the early days of the Pacific war. No superhuman heroics, here, just a dedicated Naval officer (Wayne), his relationships (with Patricia Neal, Brandon De Wilde, and a superb Kirk Douglas), and his part in helping turn the tide of the war.

"Big Jake": Violent, but engrossing late western, as Duke's grandson (played by son Ethan) is kidnapped by Richard Boone's gang, and his estranged wife (radiant Maureen O'Hara, in her last teaming), depends on him to recover the boy. Featuring another Wayne son, Patrick, Robert Mitchum's son, Chris, and MANY of the old John Ford 'stock company' in support; at times quite brutal, but still one of Wayne's best 'late' films.

"The Shootist": Wayne's swansong is a loving tribute, despite the many difficulties his declining health caused. A legendary gunfighter must choose between dying from cancer or in a blaze of glory; from the wonderful opening montage of Wayne clips from several of his most popular westerns, to the bittersweet conclusion, a fitting film finale, with several 'old friends' in supporting roles.

Bravo, Amazon! You've done it right!

Average customer rating:

Long, but lots of fun
Hatari!
More of the Duke doing what he does best
Hawks just hanging out with the boys
An African "Western"

Hatari! [Region 2]
Starring: John Wayne , Hardy Krüger , Elsa Martinelli , Red Buttons , and Gérard Blain
Director: Howard Hawks
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00009PBRP

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Customer Reviews:

Long, but lots of fun.......2007-07-05

Hatari is a classic movie setting cowboy John Wayne in the wilds of safari land. Especially delightful for those who love animals.

Hatari!.......2007-06-27

More of the Duke doing what he does best.......2007-06-08

Hawks just hanging out with the boys.......2007-05-08

An African "Western".......2007-04-10

DVD:

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