John Wayne-John Ford Film Collection (The Searchers Ultimate Edition / Stagecoach Two-Disc Special Edition / Fort Apache / She Wore a Yellow Ribbon / The Long Voyage Home / They Were Expendable / 3 Godfathers / The Wings of Eagles)
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • What a collection
  • What a Deal.
  • Superb John Wayne
  • 8 Films By Two Screen Legends
  • SPANISH SUBTITLES MISSING - IT'S A PITY!!!!
John Wayne-John Ford Film Collection (The Searchers Ultimate Edition / Stagecoach Two-Disc Special Edition / Fort Apache / She Wore a Yellow Ribbon / The Long Voyage Home / They Were Expendable / 3 Godfathers / The Wings of Eagles)
Starring: John Wayne
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

GeneralGeneral | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video
GeneralGeneral | Westerns | Genres | DVD | Video
John WayneJohn Wayne | Western Stars | Westerns | Genres | DVD | Video
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Special EditionsSpecial Editions | Fully Loaded DVDs | Features | DVD | Video
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WesternsWesterns | Boxed Sets | Stores | DVD | Video
DramaDrama | Warner Home Video | Studio Specials | Stores | DVD | Video
WesternsWesterns | Warner Home Video | Studio Specials | Stores | DVD | Video
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Boxed Sets & CollectionsBoxed Sets & Collections | John Wayne Store | Stores | DVD | Video
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ASIN: B000F0UUI2
Release Date: 2006-06-06

Amazon.com

There may be no better representation of America's love of the old West than the 10-disc John Ford-John Wayne Collection. The iconic star and iconic director collaborated on 14 films, eight of which appear here. Four--Fort Apache (1948), The Long Voyage Home (1940), The Wings of Eagles (1957), and 3 Godfathers (1948)--are appearing for the first time on DVD, and the two most famous, Stagecoach (1939) and The Searchers (1956), are represented in brand-new two-disc editions that add new and old featurettes as well as the outstanding American Masters documentary John Ford/John Wayne: The Filmmaker and the Legend. (This Ultimate Edition of The Searchers adds a variety of printed materials as well, such as reproductions of press materials and a 1956 comic book.) Two other landmark films previously available on DVD, They Were Expendable (1945) and She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949), round out the set. The three non-Westerns in the set have military settings, with They Were Expendable arguably the greatest World War II picture ever.

The Movies:
A favorite film of some of the world's greatest filmmakers, including Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg, John Ford's The Searchers has earned its place in the legacy of great American films for a variety of reasons. Perhaps most notably, it's the definitive role for John Wayne as an icon of the classic Western--the hero (or antihero) who must stand alone according to the unwritten code of the West. The story takes place in Texas in 1868; Wayne plays Ethan Edwards, a Confederate veteran who visits his brother and sister-in-law at their ranch and is horrified when they are killed by marauding Comanches. Ethan's search for a surviving niece (played by young Natalie Wood) becomes an all-consuming obsession. With the help of a family friend (Jeffrey Hunter) who is himself part Cherokee, Ethan hits the trail on a five-year quest for revenge. At the peak of his masterful talent, director Ford crafts this classic tale as an embittered examination of racism and blind hatred, provoking Wayne to give one of the best performances of his career. As with many of Ford's classic Westerns, The Searchers must contend with revisionism in its stereotypical treatment of "savage" Native Americans, and the film's visual beauty (the final shot is one of the great images in all of Western culture) is compromised by some uneven performances and stilted dialogue. Still, this is undeniably one of the greatest Westerns ever made.

The landmark Western Stagecoach began the legendary relationship between Ford and Wayne, and became the standard for all subsequent Westerns. It solidified Ford as a major director and established Wayne as a charismatic screen presence. Seen today, Stagecoach still impresses as the first mature instance of a Western that is both mythic and poetic. The story about a cross-section of troubled passengers unraveling under the strain of Indian attack contains all of Ford's incomparable storytelling trademarks--particularly swift action and social introspection--underscored by the painterly landscape of Monument Valley. And what an ensemble of actors: Thomas Mitchell (who won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar as the drunken doctor), Claire Trevor, Donald Meek, Andy Devine, and the magical John Carradine.

Fort Apache stars Wayne as a Cavalry officer used to doing things a certain way out West at Fort Apache. Along comes a rigid, new commanding officer (Henry Fonda) who insists that everything on his watch be done by the book, including dealings with local Indians. The results are mixed: greater discipline at the fort, but increased hostilities with the natives. Ford deliberately leaves judgments about the wisdom of these changes ambiguous, but he also allows plenty of room for the fullness of life among the soldiers and their families to blossom. Fonda, in an unusual role for him, is stern and formal as the new man in charge; Wayne is heroic as the rebellious second; Victor McLaglen provides comic relief; and Ward Bond is a paragon of sturdy and sentimental masculinity. All of this is set against the magnificent, poetic topography of Monument Valley. This is easily one of the greatest of American films.

She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, the second installment of Ford's famous cavalry trilogy (which also includes Fort Apache and Rio Grande), continues the director's fascination with history's obliteration of the past. It features one of John Wayne's more sensitive performances as Capt. Nathan Brittles, a stern yet sentimental war horse who has difficulty preparing for his impending military retirement. It's a film about honor and duty as well as loneliness and mortality. And Oscar-winner Winton C. Hoch beautifully photographs it in Remington-like Technicolor tones. The combination of melancholy and farce (Victor McLaglen makes a perfect court jester) evokes comparisons to Shakespeare. Best of all, the scene in which Wayne fights back tears when receiving a gold watch from his troops is unforgettably bittersweet. If you view the whole trilogy, it actually makes sense to save this for last.

It's hardly shameful that Three Godfathers ranks as the slightest John Ford Western in a five-year arc that includes My Darling Clementine, Fort Apache, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, Wagon Master, and Rio Grande. The story had already been filmed at least five times--once by Ford himself. Just before Christmas, three workaday outlaws (John Wayne, Pedro Armendáriz, Harry Carey Jr.) rob a bank and flee into the desert. The canny town marshal (Ward Bond) moves swiftly to cut them off from the wells along their escape route, so they make for another, deep in the wasteland. There's no water waiting for them, but there is a woman (Mildred Natwick) on the verge of death--and also of giving birth. The three badmen accept her dying commission as godfathers to the newborn. Motley variants of the Three Wise Men, they strike out for the town of New Jerusalem with her Bible as roadmap. Ford's is the softest retelling of the tale, but it's all played with great gusto and tenderness--especially by Wayne, who's rarely been more appealing. Visually the film is one knockout shot after another. This was Ford's first Western in Technicolor, as well as his first collaboration with cinematographer Winton Hoch. What they do with sand ripples and shadows and long plumes of train smoke is rapturously beautiful. It's also often too arty by half, but who can blame them?

Eugene O'Neill loved The Long Voyage Home, the feature-length adaptation of his one-act sea plays, with intelligent bridging material written by Dudley Nichols and a final movement, both hellish and elegiac, appropriate to the onset of World War II. John Ford directed, in his more self-consciously arty vein but with no loss of power or passion. The focus is on the working seamen aboard a merchant ship making its way from the Caribbean to New York harbor and then England, with dangerous cargo on the transatlantic leg. Thomas Mitchell (who had won a 1939 Oscar in Ford's Stagecoach) gives a career-best performance as Driscoll; Ian Hunter plays the enigmatic shipmate known only as "Smitty"; Ford regulars Barry Fitzgerald, John Qualen, Ward Bond, Arthur Shields, and Joseph Sawyer fill key roles; and the top-billed John Wayne contributes a surprisingly effective supporting performance as Ole, a gentle Swedish giant who really belongs on a farm somewhere. Although neglected in recent years, this movie has a permanent place of honor in one of the most amazing three-year creative streaks any director ever had.

John Ford had a big emotional investment in The Wings of Eagles, and his favorite star John Wayne rewarded the director with one of his strongest performances. The subject is Frank "Spig" Wead, Naval aviation legend turned Hollywood screenwriter, who had written Ford's very good 1932 movie Air Mail and his magnificent WWII elegy They Were Expendable (1945). Ford was fond of exploring the theme of "victory in defeat." Wead's life was made to order for that. The hell-raising flyboy shenanigans, and his flailing marriage to a scrappy Irish redhead (The Quiet Man's Maureen O'Hara reporting for duty), were abruptly curtailed by a fall that left him with severe spinal damage. He should never have been able to walk again, but he fought his way back to limited mobility and built a new career as a writer. And when WWII broke out, Wead made a key contribution to the Pacific air war. It would be satisfying to report that The Wings of Eagles is a triumph--that the broad comedy of the early reels cuts brilliantly against the raw pain of the Weads' marriage, the grief of a family broken and mended and broken again, the film's specters of death and deep frustration. There are powerful moments, but the low comedy is very low, the visual style sometimes stark but more often just drab, and the screenplay is very choppy about the passage of time.

They Were Expendable is the greatest American film of the Second World War, made by America's greatest director, John Ford, who himself saw action from the Battle of Midway through D-day. Yet it's been oddly neglected. Or perhaps not so oddly: for as the matter-of-fact title implies, the film commemorates a period, from the eve of Pearl Harbor up to the impending fall of Bataan, when the Japanese conquest of the Pacific was in full cry and U.S. forces were fighting a desperate holding action. Although stirring movies had been made about these early days, they were gung ho in their resolve to see the tables turned. They Were Expendable, however, which was made when Allied victory was all but assured, is profoundly elegiac, with the patient grandeur of a tragic poem. "They" are the officers and men of the Navy's PT boat service, an experimental motor-torpedo force relegated to courier duty on Manila Bay but eventually proven effective in combat. Their commander is played by Robert Montgomery, who actually served on a PT and later commanded a destroyer at Normandy (he also codirected the breathtaking second-unit action sequences). John Wayne's costarring role as Montgomery's volatile second-in-command initially looks stereotypically blustery, but as the drama unfolds, Wayne sounds notes of tenderness and vulnerability that will take Duke-bashers by surprise. They Were Expendable is a heartbreakingly beautiful film, full of astonishing images of warfare, grief, courage, and dignity. This is a masterpiece.

Description

John Ford was easily one of the greatest, most prolific and versatile directors Hollywood ever produced. Combined with a star of the caliber and magnetism of John Wayne, what emerges is pure cinematic magic. WHV now introduces a ten-disc set featuring eight of the team's finest collaborations: The Searchers: Ultimate Collector's Edition (1956) Stagecoach: Special Edition (1939) Fort Apache (1948) The Long Voyage Home (1940) Wings of Eagles (1957) She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1948) They Were Expendable (1945) 3 Godfathers (1948)

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars What a collection.......2007-08-29

John Ford and John Wayne had a true kinship with each other. This shows on the films featured in this collection. Ford could always bring out the best in Wayne and the proof of that is in "The Searchers". Probably the best role that Wayne ever played. This is a great collection and the films will remind you of when Hollywood still knew how to make films....

5 out of 5 stars What a Deal........2007-04-28

A lot has been said about this collection. I would just like to point out that the price can't be beat either. The Searchers disk alone would set you back 35 dollars. The Stagecoach another 20. The other six DVD's are free. About 60 to 70 dollars worth. Man you can't do any better. I already had The Wings of Eagles and The Long Voyage Home. The set DVD's are identical to the DVD's I already had, so this isn't a stripped down set at all.

5 out of 5 stars Superb John Wayne.......2007-03-22

An excellent selection of John Wayne movies. The Searchers has been rated one of his best with She Wore a Yellow Ribbon my all time favorite. Fort Apache is excellent also. The Long Voyage and They were Expendable were minor roles for him but all in all a great collection of films. The man became the all american hero even before his passing.

4 out of 5 stars 8 Films By Two Screen Legends.......2007-03-19

This is one of the larger collections that came out last year and whatever else you may think about John Wayne, he was the most prolific star of his (perhaps of all) time, twice the output of Humphrey Bogart, for example.

John Ford was also quite prolific but many of his early ones are lost. Still, his place and time as one of the great auteurs intrigues many of cinephile.

Some favorites are missing but are available, such as "Rio Grande", "The Quiet Man" and "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance". The extras for this set are in some cases, non existant, while some are repeats, but the main reason to own this set is for the films themselves.

"Stagecoach" - This 1939 Western stands as the turning point for both Ford's and especially Wayne's careers. This is also quite an ensemble piece for which Donald Meek, Thomas Mitchell (was Oscar for this), John Caradine, Andy Devine, George Bancroft, Louise Pratt and Berton Churchill spend much screen time as the occupants of the stagecoach along with JW and Clair Trevor. Wayne and Trevor provide the love story, she as the whore being run out of town, he the vengeful outlaw who Bancroft wants to lock up for Wayne's own good. But all are misfits in this journey and even though quite laughable today, a fun movie to watch. Alas, the native Americans are basically just ducks in a shooting gallery.

"The Long Voyage Home" is another ensemble piece and does have the odd casting of Wayne as the big Swede who doesn't hit back. Mitchell returns and is actually the main character in this movie, which does have the great bittersweet language of Eugene O'Neil. This offers what a good actor Ward Bond was when called to be when he has his death scene.

"They Were Expendable" Ford won two Oscars for documentaries shot in World War Two. Wayne made many war pictures but this is my favorite one. The dialogue and settings are quite believable for the most part and Robert Montgomery displays dignity as the one in charge. A nice haunting scene is when Wayne gets caught off talking to Donna Reed with the realization he might never see her again. This also has none of the crazy heroics that many films had (Wayne guilty in many of those) and a good humor with the supporting characters.

"3 Godfathers" is truly an offbeat film. Wayne, Pedro Amadariz and Harry Carey, Jr., are actually bank robbers, quite likable though, who save a woman's baby while running away from sheriff Ward Bond. It is through this baby that the three find redemption though it's only Wayne who has the happy ending. In its way, this is a very spiritual film.

"Fort Apache" is actually my favorite film here. Fords prints the facts and shows them distorted by Wayne for his benefit who he can effectively lead the troop. Henry Fonda plays quite the unsympathic custer character who tricks Cochise to come back. The scene that Fonda has with Cochise, who laments in Spanish the deplorable conditions but chills the white man's chilling response, is brilliant. The adult Shirley Temple provides support here with the bland John Agar. Also very good, Ward Bond, Victor McLagden and Pedro Armandariz.

"She Wore a Yellow Ribbon" is quite a melodramtic film with Wayne talking to tombstones and weeping half the time. Still, great comedic support from Victor McLagden. "Don't apolagize, it's a sign of weakness" Wayne repeats over and over. However, both Agar and Carey, Jr., aren't given much to do. Ben Johnson does what he does best. It's interesting that George O'Brien was Ford's big star in the silent era and here and Fort Apache just strictly a sad character actor. Still, John Wayne makes this watchable and the gold watch scene quite effective.

"The Searchers" which along with "Stagecoach" gets a second disk of extras. This is the definitive Wayne-Ford movie, as good as any film noir as the antihero makes good. Wayne plays the racist Ethan Edwards and Jeff Hunter co stars as the other searcher who must accompany Wayne before Wayne finds and murders his niece, played by the beautiful Natalie Wood. The firing into the dead Indian's eyes, the shooting of buffalo, the shooting of Indians in the back, the digust of looking at white women are among the most powerful scenes Wayne or Ford have ever done. It would have been interesting if Wayne actually killed Wood because that's the actual story, but thank God he didn't. This film is not a comfortable film to watch and it's not intended to be. The race issues it addresses still hold true today.

"The Wings of Eagles" is in my opinion, the weakest Wayne-Ford movie. There's no sense of period. The slapstick doesn't work for me and Maureen O'Hara's character's alcoholism is never addressed. However, Wayne's determination to move that toe, strongly assisted by Dan Dailey, makes up for a lot. Also, way too briefly, Ward Bond as John Ford. Also fun is hearing Wayne's comment of bringing in the seventh calvary when viewing an early Clark Gable movie.

4 out of 5 stars SPANISH SUBTITLES MISSING - IT'S A PITY!!!!.......2007-03-11

Despite the DVD label states subtitles available in English, French and Spanish, NO SPANISH SUBTITLES ARE AVAILABLE IN THIS FILM. Unbelievable such a top level collection with this mismatch!

I would have enjoyed a complete understanding of the film, given I am an enthusiastic cinematography student, and even worse: I am a Spanish speaker!!! My sister is now writing for me!!

Thanks to Amazon for its fine service in Argentina.

PABLO GALARZA

The Rescuers Down Under (Disney Gold Classic Collection)
Average customer rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
  • If you dont like this, your no true Disney fan.
  • sooooooooooooooo good
  • Happy with my order
  • I remember this better
  • Ok sequel
The Rescuers Down Under (Disney Gold Classic Collection)
Starring: Bob Newhart , Eva Gabor , John Candy , Tristan Rogers , and Adam Ryen
Director: Mike Gabriel , and Hendel Butoy
Manufacturer: Walt Disney Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

AnimationAnimation | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video
GeneralGeneral | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video
AdventureAdventure | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video
3-6 Years3-6 Years | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video
7-9 Years7-9 Years | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video
Daring RescuesDaring Rescues | By Theme | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video
FantasyFantasy | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video
GeneralGeneral | Animation | Genres | DVD | Video
Feature FilmsFeature Films | Animation | Genres | DVD | Video
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Animated MoviesAnimated Movies | Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment | Stores | DVD | Video
Gold CollectionGold Collection | Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment | Stores | DVD | Video
3-6 Years3-6 Years | By Age | Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment | Stores | DVD | Video
7-11 Years7-11 Years | By Age | Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment | Stores | DVD | Video
For the Whole FamilyFor the Whole Family | By Age | Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment | Stores | DVD | Video
Barty, BillyBarty, Billy | ( B ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Candy, JohnCandy, John | ( C ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Firth, PeterFirth, Peter | ( F ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Fox, BernardFox, Bernard | ( F ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Gabor, EvaGabor, Eva | ( G ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Newhart, BobNewhart, Bob | ( N ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Robson, WayneRobson, Wayne | ( R ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Ryen, AdamRyen, Adam | ( R ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Scott, George CScott, George C | ( S ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Seale, DouglasSeale, Douglas | ( S ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Welker, FrankWelker, Frank | ( W ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
ChildrenChildren | By Theme | Foreign & International | Stores | DVD | Video
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ASIN: B00004R99O
Release Date: 2000-08-01

Amazon.com

No, this isn't a quickie, direct-to-video sequel, cashing in on the success of the 1977 animated hit about adventurous mice, but a full-blown theatrical effort. This time around, Bernard (voiced by Bob Newhart) is trying to pop the question to Bianca (Eva Gabor) when they're summoned to Australia, where a young boy has been kidnapped by a pallid, gray-faced poacher (who looks like and is voiced by George C. Scott). Wilbur, a chatterbox of an albatross (John Candy, replacing the late Jim Jordan's character Orville), and Jake (Tristan Rogers), a kangaroo mouse--Bernard is jealous of the dashing rodent--assist the Rescuers in saving the day and imparting a mild environmental message. The film opens with an absolutely breathtaking aerial sequence--this was made near the beginning of Disney's animation renaissance--so impressive it would seem the story, literally, has nowhere else to go but down, but some smart gags, excellent animation, and rollicking adventures ensue. So why isn't it better known? It had the bad luck to open, in 1990, opposite another kids' film--Home Alone. --David Kronke

Description

Hold on tight for a thrilling, fast-paced adventure unlike any other with THE RESCUERS DOWN UNDER! The world's bravest mice, Bernard and Miss Bianca, answer a call for help from deep in the heart of Australia's vast and unpredictable Outback! With a crazy crew of local critters, these top mouse agents rush to the aid of Cody, a young boy struggling to save a magnificent eagle from a ruthless poacher. But with restless natives and unexpected dangers popping up at every turn, who knows if they'll come to the rescue in time! Say "G'Day" to a classic Disney adventure full of unforgettable characters and incredible animation in this down-under delight you'll cherish for years to come!

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars If you dont like this, your no true Disney fan........2007-05-01

This was a superb entry in the Disney canon. The best sequel to a animated feature as well. Faithful and underrated. This is great people, Walt Disney would have been proud.

5 out of 5 stars sooooooooooooooo good.......2007-04-21

the picture and the sound was soooooooooooo good and clear also the price was good

5 out of 5 stars Happy with my order .......2007-03-12

I received my DVD in a timely manner and was package so it would not get damage, i would differently order again from the sender

3 out of 5 stars I remember this better.......2007-01-15

Released a full 13 years after the original, The Rescuers Down Under was the first Disney sequel, but was also considered a failure at the box office, which stopped Disney releasing later sequels theatrically. Hence, the reason why Disney now have a long line of straight-to-DVD sequels, which no one ever buys, and all end up in the bargain bin.

This is definitely my favourite out of the two Rescuers movies, mainly cos I was going through a fascination with Australian accents at the time - and why I later moved on to watching Home & Away and Neighbours - but it was so colourful, and bright. And the Australian accents. I remembered this more before seeing it than I did the original, even though it must have been the same amount of time (years) since I'd seen them.

It's a shame there were never more in the series, but because of the death of Eva Gabor (Miss Biana) in 1995, they were never made, and the two movies never became Disney classics.

Listen out also for the late and sorely missed John Candy, voicing Wilbur, the brother of Orville from the first one. He's hilarious as Wilbur.

Other reviewers have mentioned various flaws in the film (Cody's lack of Australian accent for example), but for me, I have to remain loyal. You can keep your Emperor's New Groove, Brother Bear, and the awful sequels to Cinderella & Little Mermaid (which are now two a piece by the way!), I'll have this over the rest of them any day.

4 out of 5 stars Ok sequel.......2007-01-12

Not as good as the first, but still a good movie. A few scary parts for small children.
The Black Cauldron (Disney Gold Classic Collection)
Average customer rating: 3 out of 5 stars
  • Whatta great movie
  • doesn't deserve the reputation it's received...
  • Sort of a let down
  • Disney could of done better....
  • I wish Disney would release an Un-Cut/Remastered version of this...
The Black Cauldron (Disney Gold Classic Collection)
Starring: Grant Bardsley , Susan Sheridan , Freddie Jones , Nigel Hawthorne , and Arthur Malet
Director: Ted Berman , Richard Rich , and Jack Hannah
Manufacturer: Walt Disney Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

GeneralGeneral | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video
Sword & SorcerySword & Sorcery | By Theme | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video
HeroesHeroes | By Theme | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video
Race Against TimeRace Against Time | By Theme | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video
AnimationAnimation | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video
GeneralGeneral | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video
AdventureAdventure | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video
7-9 Years7-9 Years | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video
10-12 Years10-12 Years | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video
Daring RescuesDaring Rescues | By Theme | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video
Heroic MissionsHeroic Missions | By Theme | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video
FantasyFantasy | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video
GeneralGeneral | Animation | Genres | DVD | Video
Feature FilmsFeature Films | Animation | Genres | DVD | Video
GeneralGeneral | Fantasy | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Genres | DVD | Video
All Disney TitlesAll Disney Titles | Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment | Stores | DVD | Video
Animated MoviesAnimated Movies | Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment | Stores | DVD | Video
Gold CollectionGold Collection | Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment | Stores | DVD | Video
7-11 Years7-11 Years | By Age | Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment | Stores | DVD | Video
For the Whole FamilyFor the Whole Family | By Age | Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment | Stores | DVD | Video
Byner, JohnByner, John | ( B ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Fondacaro, PhilFondacaro, Phil | ( F ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Hawthorne, NigelHawthorne, Nigel | ( H ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Hurt, JohnHurt, John | ( H ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Jones, FreddieJones, Freddie | ( J ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Malet, ArthurMalet, Arthur | ( M ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Merin, Eda ReissMerin, Eda Reiss | ( M ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Berman, TedBerman, Ted | ( B ) | Directors | Stores | DVD | Video
Rich, RichardRich, Richard | ( R ) | Directors | Stores | DVD | Video
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ASIN: B00004R99W
Release Date: 2000-10-03

Customer Reviews:

3 out of 5 stars Whatta great movie.......2007-08-09

The Black Cauldron is a VERY quick synopsis of the books it was based on, The Chronicles Of Prydain. The movie could have done to be a bit longer - it was edited so tight that the story beats come at you like rapid-fire. But it is still such a neato movie with all of its dark and occult imagery. I love it. BUT I would love it even more if Disney were to release a true Special Edition or even a Director's Cut. There is so much of the story and character development left out that some extra scenes would be nice. This DVD has nothing, really, that adds to the back story of the film or the filmaking process. Disappointing that this particular movie recieves so little consideration from Disney but at least it's available.

4 out of 5 stars doesn't deserve the reputation it's received..........2007-04-04

THE BLACK CAULDRON has continually been dismissed by Disney enthusiasts and moviegoers since it was originally released in 1985. It was definitely one of the more ambitious animated projects undertaken by the studio. Ten years in the making, it was also the most expensive project since 1940's "Pinocchio" and the first 70mm widescreen movie since "Sleeping Beauty" in 1959. In THE BLACK CAULDRON, Disney attempted to cram Lloyd Alexander's densely-written "Prydain Chronicles" books into one movie, and the result was hardly a hit, but it's not a flop, either.

Taran (voiced by Grant Bardsley) is a dreamer, looking to find his place in the adventurous world beyond the cottage of his master, Dallben (Freddie Jones). Taran spends his days tending to a mystical clairvoyant pig called Hen Wen. The life of Hen Wen hangs in the balance when the evil Horned King (John Hurt) decides to use her powers to find the location of the Black Cauldron, where all the evil forces of the world are kept. Hen Wen is spirited away to the Horned King's castle with Taran in hot pursuit. Once at the castle, Taran teams with young Princess Eilonwy (Susan Sheridan), eccentric musician Fflewddur (Nigel Hawthorne), and a cute little furry creature called Gurgi (John Byner). Their only hope lies in finding the Black Cauldron before it's evil powers fall into the wrong hands...

This is not your usual Disney fare. It's very dark, there are no musical numbers, no real "happily ever after" ending, and the overall tone of the piece does not sit well with the previous Disney animated movies. I believe the animators were trying to capture a feeling and mood that had been earlier established in other animated films of the period (Don Bluth's "The Secret of NIMH" and Ralph Bakshi's "Lord of the Rings" immediately spring to mind). Elmer Bernstein's music perfectly underscores every mood.

THE BLACK CAULDRON is a thrilling medieval adventure, and will appeal to those with a taste for that. Disney purists are sadly always going to have a problem with it, but hopefully it will be appreciated for what it is.

The DVD includes a set-top game called "Quest for the Black Cauldron"; the vintage Donald Duck cartoon "Trick or Treat"; still galleries, and the trailer.

3 out of 5 stars Sort of a let down.......2007-03-09

I'm a big fan of Disney movies and when I heard this one was for sale, I had to see it - the rumors of the forgotten/hidden/canned Disney film, maybe because of that infamous PG rating, were far too tempting. It turns out, there are some scary images (the Horned King is not exactly the prettiest burning eyed skull you've ever seen), but that's cool. Now I understand the rating. But the story line leaves a lot to be desired. I can't say how close the movie followed the books by Lloyd Alexander (despite being an avid reader as a kid, I somehow missed this series), but as a film, there didn't seem to be a good reason for any of the characters' actions. The first scene was pretty dull and from there it just got weird. You never really get a good sense of the world around the characters (it's like extras were at a premium, and yes, it's animated). When the princess appeared pretty much out of nowhere, I found her moderately annoying and pointless. Our hero, Taran, had so many wacky sidekicks that none of them really had the chance to be developed. And the ending is strangely unsatisfying.

Pros: the pig is really cute. Cons: everything else. I would recommend The Sword in the Stone over this one for a tale of a boy and his sword, but if you really want to see it, borrow it or rent it. It's probably not one you'll want to keep.

2 out of 5 stars Disney could of done better...........2007-02-27

Okay, I made that mistake and read the Prydain Chronicles before actually seeing this movie. Honestly I didn't think Disney did a good job on this film. Characters were left out and I didn't like how they merged "The Book of Three" and the "Black Cauldron" together. They changed some of the events a bit which didn't make sense to me and the movie seemed rushed, especially when it came to finding the black cauldron. I think this film would of done better as a live action movie, such as Disney's sucsessful "Narnia". And it could have been done in parts, since the Prydain Chronicles by Lloyd Alexandre consists of 5 books. 6 including "The foundling". Another thing I didn't like was that the movie was too dark, too scary for children to enjoy.

I think I would of enjoyed the film more if I have never read the books. XD

4 out of 5 stars I wish Disney would release an Un-Cut/Remastered version of this..........2007-02-15

I saw this when I was a kid and loved it because it wasn't your typical Disney flick; it was dark and it didn't have any stupid musical numbers. Now that I'm older, I still believe that this is a cool flick, but after doing some investigation on Wikipedia I found out that this movie has a lot of scenes cut out because it wasn't Kosher for children. Also, this version is not anamorphic or re-mastered. Disney may see this as a stain in their career, but there are many people who would love to see this movie uncut and cleaned up. I'm pretty sure that Disney will bury this gem again, so I would snatch it up before they lock it up in the vaults forever.
History on Film, Vol. 2
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • Michael Jackson's History of Films
  • Michael Jackson - History on Film
  • Still The King of Pop!
  • Greatest Collection
  • GET THIS!!
History on Film, Vol. 2
Starring: Paula Abdul , Mayim Bialik , Jackie Collins , Richard Dreyfuss , and Lou Ferrigno
Director: Michael Jackson , Nick Brandt , Colin Chilvers , Bob Giraldi , and Wayne Isham
Manufacturer: Sony
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: 1573300403
Release Date: 1998-03-03

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Michael Jackson's History of Films.......2007-08-26

I love all of the music videos that appear on the DVD, and I like the music. Good value for the money.

5 out of 5 stars Michael Jackson - History on Film.......2007-01-25

I received what I ordered, to the correct ship address, on time and in good condition.

5 out of 5 stars Still The King of Pop!.......2007-01-10

Whether or not you like Michael Jackson as a person NO ONE can deny that he was then, is now and will always be the King of Pop! This DVD proves why all of todays current artists still look up to him!

5 out of 5 stars Greatest Collection.......2006-11-03

This collection is a masterpiece. You do not have to be a fan to like this greatest collection. In this collection you get songs like Liberian girl, Blood on the Dance Floor, You are not alone, Earth Song, etc. Highly recommended. Michael Jackson is really the King of Pop.

5 out of 5 stars GET THIS!!.......2006-02-25

I CAN'T EVEN EXPLAIN HOW GREATLY APPRECIATED MICHAEL IS IN THIS FILM. ANY MJ LOVER NEEDS TO ADD THIS TO THEIR COLLECTION
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.)
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 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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  5. The John Wayne Western Collection (The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance / True Grit / Hondo / McLintock! / Big Jake / The Shootist / Rio Lobo / The Sons of Katie Elder / El Dorado) The John Wayne Western Collection (The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance / True Grit / Hondo / McLintock! / Big Jake / The Shootist / Rio Lobo / The Sons of Katie Elder / El Dorado)

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:

5 out of 5 stars 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.

3 out of 5 stars 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

5 out of 5 stars 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!

5 out of 5 stars 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.

5 out of 5 stars 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.
TCM Archives - Forbidden Hollywood Collection, Vol. 1 (Waterloo Bridge [1931] / Baby Face / Red-Headed Woman)
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • Excellent collection of its kind.
  • Three great movies and three great performances
  • Forbidden Pleasures !
  • An Informative Analysis/Comparison (Babyface, pre- and post-Code)
  • No virgins here. It's neck & neck
TCM Archives - Forbidden Hollywood Collection, Vol. 1 (Waterloo Bridge [1931] / Baby Face / Red-Headed Woman)
Starring: Barbara Stanwyck , George Brent , Donald Cook , Alphonse Ethier , and Henry Kolker
Director: Alfred E. Green , Jack Conway , and James Whale
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

GeneralGeneral | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video
ClassicsClassics | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video
Brennan, WalterBrennan, Walter | ( B ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Brent, GeorgeBrent, George | ( B ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Cook, DonaldCook, Donald | ( C ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Dumbrille, DouglassDumbrille, Douglass | ( D ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Hohl, ArthurHohl, Arthur | ( H ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Kolker, HenryKolker, Henry | ( K ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Lindsay, MargaretLindsay, Margaret | ( L ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Pendleton, NatPendleton, Nat | ( P ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Stanwyck, BarbaraStanwyck, Barbara | ( S ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Wilson, HarryWilson, Harry | ( W ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Conway, JackConway, Jack | ( C ) | Directors | Stores | DVD | Video
Green, Alfred EGreen, Alfred E | ( G ) | Directors | Stores | DVD | Video
Whale, JamesWhale, James | ( W ) | Directors | Stores | DVD | Video
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ASIN: B000I2JDF8
Release Date: 2006-12-05

Amazon.com

Here are three films that couldn't and wouldn't have been made at any other time. Contrary to popular belief, the history of Hollywood permissiveness, what filmmakers could "get away with" on screen, is not a steadily rising graph from puritanical early days to the party-hearty present. In the early 1930s, a national mood of shock over the stock market crash and impatience with Prohibition licensed a relaxation of the movie industry's self-censorship policies. Sexuality--always a driving force in movie plots and characterizations, even when repressed--became a more explicit presence, with costuming that sometimes pushed the envelope for exposure of epidermis and dialogue that could be shockingly blunt.

Baby Face (1933) was made at Warner Bros., the golden-age studio with the grittiest style and the most street cred. The gutsy Barbara Stanwyck stars as a young woman from a factory town who hops a boxcar to the big city and sleeps her way to the top--a progress famously indexed by a camera ascending floor by floor outside a Gotham office building as she trades up, one corporate suitor after another. No other major-studio film was more explicit about sex as a tool and a commodity, yetBaby Face is curiously less sexy than any number of movies that weren't so outspoken about it. This TCM collection features both the theatrical-release version familiar for decades and a recently rediscovered preview version that is markedly superior, runs five minutes longer, and includes more sexual liaisons. It also happily lacks an absurd final scene that got tacked onto the release version to explain how the heroine learned to be content with a modest lifestyle.

Red-Headed Woman (1932) is arguably the raunchiest movie Jean Harlow made at MGM (though not as raunchy as her scenes in Howard Hughes' 1930 Hell's Angels). Unlike Stanwyck in Baby Face--a proletarian heroine grimly selling herself to beat capitalism and the patriarchy at their own game--Harlow's character brazenly relishes both the sex and the posh life it wins for her. The lion's share of this sardonic comedy, scripted by Anita Loos and an uncredited F. Scott Fitzgerald, focuses on Harlow's seduction of her married boss (Chester Morris) and the havoc she wreaks in his upper-crust world. Charles Boyer has a role (his first Hollywood credit) as a French chauffeur who knows how to give satisfaction, and the film's air of breezy ribaldry even allows the star a casual flash of bare breast.

The rarest item in the collection, the 1931 Universal version of Waterloo Bridge, has long been unseen because MGM bought the film in order to do a 1940 remake (starring Vivien Leigh) and locked the original away in the vault. Directed by James Whale the same year he did Frankenstein (1931), the picture charts the romance of a chorus-girl-turned-streetwalker (Mae Clarke) and a well-born young soldier (Kent Douglass) on brief furlough from the trenches during WWI. Apart from a zesty prelude in a London music hall and two scenes on the titular bridge, the film remains yoked to its talky theatrical source, a Robert E. Sherwood play flogging the hoary conceit that no fallen woman, however pure of heart, could be permitted to marry into a good family. Unlike the Hays Code-compliant remake, the film leaves no doubt how the heroine makes her living. --Richard T. Jameson

Product description

Includes: Waterloo Bridge (1931), Baby Face (1933), and Red-Headed Woman (1932).

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Excellent collection of its kind........2007-06-27

The three films in this collection are fine examples of pre-code Hollywood. In this edition the prints are at release quality. It's wonderful to be able to travel back to the period and experience the movie industry back then. Of the three Baby Face is the superior film, perhaps so because Barbara Stanwyck was so outstanding even back then in her mid-20s.

5 out of 5 stars Three great movies and three great performances.......2007-06-11

These movies are outstanding in many ways, but in two especially. First they let us know that our grandparents and parents had just as many conflicts with romance, love and sexual congress as we do. Second, they may help to bring recognition to two largely forgotten actresses, Jean Harlow and Mae Clarke.
A few days ago, after watching China Seas with a friend he asked me, "what is the whole Harlow Legend about" I told him to watch Red Dust, or better still Red Headed Woman. In her early movies Jean was young healthy and full of sass. In her later films as illness overtook her the light was gone. Miss Harlow was always best in comedy. The dramatic roles assigned to her were generally so one dimensional that no actress could have made anything of them. Red Headed Woman is a comedy and Jean sparkles. The movie was a 'succes de scandale' in 1932 and audiences were laughing despite themselves. The kind of raw-naked ambition Jean gives Lill has now become so familiar to us that some people may not get the point. Please bear in mind that in 1932 girls like Lill could not have careers in Law or Politics. Remember, this is a comedy.
Mention Mae Clark and if people know who you are talking about they will probably recall Jimmy Cagney and the grapefruit. There was so much more and Waterloo Bridge will introduce you to it. Miss Clarke as Myra Deauville is always genuine in a role that could easily become maudlin, cloying and artificial. James Whale created a movie that was sixty or seventy years ahead of it's time. And yes, that is Bette Davis before the wiggling, grimacing and scene-stealing took over.

5 out of 5 stars Forbidden Pleasures !.......2007-05-31

Oh man ! What a treat to have these movies together. And the knockout punch was having BOTH versions of "Baby Face". The quality was excellent and I am thrilled with my purchase. I am looking forward to Volume 2.

5 out of 5 stars An Informative Analysis/Comparison (Babyface, pre- and post-Code).......2007-05-13

Exactly what I was looking for. While taking a law in literature course in law school this past year, the professor directed the class to watch Babyface and observe how it was transgressive in light of the Hays Production Code. Pretty neat that one's able to watch both the pre- and post-Code versions of Babyface and see how the versions essentially reflected the prevailing moral code at the time, and how that moral code differed depending on other related socio-economic factors (e.g. the Great Depression). Anyway, I'd recommend this set for the sole reason stated above. I did also think Babyface pre-Code was an extremely intelligent and witty movie and thoroughly enjoyed watching it although it was required as an assignment. I also enjoyed the other films included in this set.

4 out of 5 stars No virgins here. It's neck & neck .......2007-04-21

between the two tramps most likely to "sleep" their way to the top. There's Jean Harlow as Lil in Red Headed Women & Barbara Stanwyck as Lily in Baby-Face, the movie with the famous song of the same name. Mae Clark as Myra, trolling for men off of Waterloo Bridge, completes this trio of trollops. She is out of the running simply because she's lovable & sympathetic as a World War I hooker in London, trying to keep it together. She actually falls in love with a GI. I give it by a lovely nose to Barbara. The movie is simply better & made better. At this point, she is a better actress that Jean. Lily's been damaged by her barkeep father who pimps her out in steel town. He dies in a fire that burns the saloon down & she heads for NYC. There she selects a high rise bank & goes to work. She has a plan. It's simple. Use sex to work her way up the corporate ladder. She disposes of a young, love-struck John Wayne early on. There is a long list of leading men & I'm sorry I lost count & track. But she works her way thru lots of men discarding each as she moves up the hierarchy. Men die & kill for her. She doesn't appear to like sex that much, only to use it. Rich & notorious, she reaches the top & marries the CEO. But the company is headed for the rocks & her husband is broke & in trouble with the law. She is rich & at first refuses to help. He shoots himself. At this point, she suddenly realizes that she loves this man. That should be the end of the movie, Lily wallowing in the grief she deserves. But the brains at Warner couldn't leave it alone. They tagged another ending on it. Lily's husband recovers from a bullet in the head & they return to poverty & happiness in steeltown. Stanwyck did not appear in that scene. which was obviously shot later. There's a little S&M in Red Headed Women if that's your taste but Baby-Face is still slightly better. You can get all three together, & you should. Together they are *****.
John Wayne: Screen Legend Collection (Reap the Wild Wind / Rooster Cogburn / The Hellfighters / The War Wagon / The Spoilers)
Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
  • Grab this supervalue!
  • Very good collection HUGE difference in quality to note!!
  • Very nice collection
John Wayne: Screen Legend Collection (Reap the Wild Wind / Rooster Cogburn / The Hellfighters / The War Wagon / The Spoilers)
Starring: John Wayne , Ray Milland , Paulette Goddard , Susan Hayward , and Charles Bickford
Director: Cecil B. DeMille
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

GeneralGeneral | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video
Bickford, CharlesBickford, Charles | ( B ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Dietrich, MarleneDietrich, Marlene | ( D ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Douglas, KirkDouglas, Kirk | ( D ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Goddard, PauletteGoddard, Paulette | ( G ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Hayward, SusanHayward, Susan | ( H ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Hepburn, KatharineHepburn, Katharine | ( H ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Keel, HowardKeel, Howard | ( K ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Miles, VeraMiles, Vera | ( M ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Milland, RayMilland, Ray | ( M ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Ross, KatharineRoss, Katharine | ( R ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Scott, RandolphScott, Randolph | ( S ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Demille, Cecil BDemille, Cecil B | ( D ) | Directors | Stores | DVD | Video
DramaDrama | Boxed Sets | Stores | DVD | Video
All Universal Studios TitlesAll Universal Studios Titles | Universal Studios Home Entertainment | Studio Specials | Stores | DVD | Video
DramaDrama | Universal Studios Home Entertainment | Studio Specials | Stores | DVD | Video
Boxed SetsBoxed Sets | Universal Studios Home Entertainment | Studio Specials | Stores | DVD | Video
ClassicsClassics | Universal Studios Home Entertainment | Studio Specials | Stores | DVD | Video
All TitlesAll Titles | John Wayne Store | Stores | DVD | Video
Boxed Sets & CollectionsBoxed Sets & Collections | John Wayne Store | Stores | DVD | Video
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ASIN: B000NNUWZC
Release Date: 2007-06-12

Description

John Wayne is one of the most popular and recognizable leading men ever to hit the silver screen. Five memorable films capture his unforgettable career in the John Wayne: Screen Legend Collection. Co-starring an impressive roster of talent including Katharine Hepburn, Kirk Douglas, Marlene Dietrich and Randolph Scott, these films highlight an American icon who will always be remembered as a true screen legend. Reap the Wild Wind Cecil B. DeMille directs John Wayne and Ray Milland as two sailors battling pirates and competing for the affections of a southern belle (Paulette Goddard) in 1840s Key West. The Spoilers John Wayne joins Marlene Dietrich and Randolph Scott in an all-star adventure classic about gold and greed in an Alaskan boomtown during the 1890s. The War Wagon A rancher (John Wayne) recruits a brash gunslinger (Kirk Douglas) along with a raucous crew of misfits and readies them to pull off one of the most impossible heists of all time. Hellfighters A Texan demolition specialist (John Wayne) battles a perilous oil-well fire and hopes to reunite with his daughter and the wife who left him 20 years ago. Rooster Cogburn The saga of True Grit continues as John Wayne reprises his role as a Deputy Marshall who helps a missionary (Katharine Hepburn) bring justice to the Wild West.

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Grab this supervalue!.......2007-09-09

Not a dud film here. Includes a good share of my favorite Wayne films(even if he didn't get top billing in the two from 1942) All are in color except for "The Spoilers", which should have been, to show off Marlene Dietrich's outfits, if for no other reason. No other woman, given the opportunity, came close as the ultimate dancehall queen(I'm sure Wayne would agree). "Reap the Wild Wind" and "Rooster Cogburn", made 33 years apart, are two of my favorite Wayne movies. Wayne seemed way too old and slow to be playing his character in "The War Wagon" This was after his one lung had been removed. But, Kirk Douglas, no spring chicken himself, helped make up for the Duke's relative lethargy. I found it an entertaining film. "Hellfighters" brought home the dangers and challenges of putting out oilwell fires, which became very relevant during the first Gulf War. Sure burned up a lot of fuel in that one! The DVD quality of all was excellent. My only regret is the lack of commentary features, but I can't really quibble for the price.

5 out of 5 stars Very good collection HUGE difference in quality to note!!.......2007-07-11

Hello Folks,

This is a collection of films that have been out on DVD...being a fan of the Duke ..I just bought it anyway. I can say I am glad already because although Universal doesn't tout this...the print of ROOSTER COGBURN is a revelation compared to the previous available editions! The previously available DVD of that fine film had noticable grain , color problems, and annoying dirt etc. The transfer/print of Rooster Cogburn on this collection is striking in its improved look ( a tribute to legendary Cinematographer Harry Stradling Jr who photographed this splendid movie). I haven't compared The War Wagon and others yet but I wouldn't be surprised if they also were an improvement. I picked this up for under $20...and 5 John Wayne films for $4 each is a no brainer...
Happy 100th Duke ..long may you ride!!
Yeeehaaaaa
UPDATE: I just compared the War Wagon with the previously available edition and like Rooster..its a HUGE upgrade in picture quality...this set gets better and better...snap it up!

5 out of 5 stars Very nice collection.......2007-07-10

For those wondering, I can confirm that Hellfighters, War Wagon, and Rooster Cogburn are all presented in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen. That makes this collection a nice improvement over the previous non-anamorphic standalone versions of those DVDs. The other features (Reap the Wild Wind and The Spoilers) are in full-frame (1.33:1) format, which I believe was their original theatrical format.

The five films come on three disks:
1. Reap the Wild Wind
2. The Spoilers and The War Wagon (both on side A)
3. Hellfighters (side A) and Rooster Cogburn (side B)

The only extras are trailers (except for Hellfighters) and some John Wayne trivia on the inside of the packaging.
John Wayne - An American Icon Collection (Seven Sinners/ The Shepherd of the Hills/ Pittsburgh/ The Conqueror/ Jet Pilot)
Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
  • Great American at some of his best
  • Not Iconic but Interesting
  • The Shepherd of the Hills
  • J.W. an american icon
  • The Shepherd of the Hills
John Wayne - An American Icon Collection (Seven Sinners/ The Shepherd of the Hills/ Pittsburgh/ The Conqueror/ Jet Pilot)
Starring: John Wayne
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

GeneralGeneral | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video
John WayneJohn Wayne | Action Stars | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video
GeneralGeneral | Westerns | Genres | DVD | Video
ClassicsClassics | Westerns | Genres | DVD | Video
John WayneJohn Wayne | Western Stars | Westerns | Genres | DVD | Video
( J )( J ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
All Universal Studios TitlesAll Universal Studios Titles | Universal Studios Home Entertainment | Studio Specials | Stores | DVD | Video
Action & AdventureAction & Adventure | Universal Studios Home Entertainment | Studio Specials | Stores | DVD | Video
ClassicsClassics | Universal Studios Home Entertainment | Studio Specials | Stores | DVD | Video
WesternsWesterns | Universal Studios Home Entertainment | Studio Specials | Stores | DVD | Video
All TitlesAll Titles | John Wayne Store | Stores | DVD | Video
Boxed Sets & CollectionsBoxed Sets & Collections | John Wayne Store | Stores | DVD | Video
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ASIN: B000EQHXMI
Release Date: 2006-05-30

Amazon.com

He was no one's (including his own) idea of a great actor--one senses that the one Oscar he won, for True Grit in 1970, was as much for his longevity as his talent--but "icon" is an apt description for John "Duke" Wayne, who starred in scores of movies in a career that spanned 50 years. Five of them are collected on John Wayne - An American Icon Collection, a two-disc, no-frills (as in no bonus material) set offered at a very reasonable price. Ranging from 1940 to 1957, these items reveal that although he didn't have a lot of range ("I play John Wayne in pretty much every film I do," he once admitted), Wayne was at least willing to tackle other genres besides the Westerns with which he's so closely identified; here he portrays a coal miner, a moonshiner, and a legendary warrior, along with the more expected military roles. As for the quality of the films, let's just say that "good" and "entertaining" don't always go on the same page, and the set at least has plenty of the latter. Seven Sinners ('40) is the best of the lot, with Marlene Dietrich sly and radiant as the delightfully named Bijou Blanche, a South Pacific cabaret singer who tantalizes naval officer Wayne. At the other end of the spectrum is The Conqueror ('55), generally regarded as Wayne's worst feature ever, but even it is a campy hoot. Sporting a Fu Manchu 'stache and many silly hats and delivering some preposterously stilted dialogue ("Hi, Mom" becomes "I greet you, my mother!"), Wayne plays Mongol warlord Temujin, soon to become Genghis Khan, who's obsessed with a beautiful princess (Susan Hayward as a Tartar? Mayonnaise is more like it) who just happens to be the daughter of the man responsible for the death of Temujin's father. Pittsburgh ('42), again pairing Wayne with the luminous Dietrich, is considerably better, charting the rise, fall, and redemption of miner-turned-captain-of-industry Charles "Pittsburgh" Markham in a story that's both humorous and dramatic before devolving into flag-waving World War II propaganda. Neither The Shepherd of the Hills ('41), sentimental hokum about a clan of drawling, superstitious Ozark hicks, nor Jet Pilot ('57), with a pre-Psycho Janet Leigh as a Russian spy (!), ranks as what you'd call a classic--indeed, there are no classics to be found anywhere here--but the Duke, always a man's man, probably wouldn't mind. "When people say a John Wayne picture got bad reviews," he said, "I always wonder if they know it's a redundant sentence, but hell, I don't care. People like my pictures and that's all that counts." --Sam Graham

Description

John Wayne remains, without a doubt, a legend of the silver screen and one of Hollywood's most talented and versatile leading men of all time. See "The Duke," with his rugged good looks and undeniable charm, take command of the screen in the amazing collection of five unique films from his long and illustrious film career. This must-own set confirms John Wayne's status as a true American icon!

Customer Reviews:

4 out of 5 stars Great American at some of his best.......2007-06-27

Movies used to be great, John Wayne truly was a great icon of American bigscreen, movies then always defeated the evil forces, good always triumphed. I guess, we had real writers then, who knew what people wanted to see. I highly reccommend this. The DVD got here in a timely fashion.

4 out of 5 stars Not Iconic but Interesting.......2007-06-11

This collection fills in another void in available John Wayne films. Most of these movies, save Shepherd, have not been seen on TV for decades, if ever and none of them are his best work. But these movies span the War years, during Wayne's transition into a star.

In the "Seven Sinners" - 1940 - Wayne plays second fiddle to Marlene Dietrich, a cabaret singer for whose love Wayne is willing to sacrafice his Naval career. Made a year before Pearl Harbor, the movie shows a strangely innocent view of the service - where chasing chorus girls and visiting native bars seemed to be the sole occupation of the Navy.

The "Shepherd of the Hills" - 1941 - is the gem of this collection, in which Wayne plays an Ozark orphan who is manipulated by his aunt to murder his absent father. Harry Carry, as Wayne's long-lost father, who is willing to kill his own son rather than see him branded a murderer, steals the show.

Pittsburgh - 1942 - Wayne stars with Randolf Scott and Marlene Dietrich (again) in this "Horatio Alger" story about two coal miners with an idea that make them rich. Along the way, Wayne loses his moral center and loses the girl and his friends. This movie almost turns into a pro-industry/anti-labor propoganda piece in support of the war effort.

The Conqueror - 1955 - This is one of the worst movies John Wayne ever made. It is worth watching just to see how bad an actor he could be. Wayne plays Genghis Khan, and Susan Hayward plays a mongol princess. The costumes are ridiculous, the acting awful, and the results are tragic, as Howard Hughes filmed the movie out in the Nevada desert in a region polluted by above-ground nuclear testing. Worse yet, when the production moved into the studio, Hughes had tons of the red, radioactive dirt trucked into the set. Many of the actors in the movie, including Wayne, eventually died of various cancer. No doubt Wayne's lifetime of cigarette smoking was the main factor in his death, but the fact that he spent months, during the filming of the Conquerer, breathing radioactive isolotes did not help.

Jet Pilot - 1957 - is another forgettable Wayne film, in which he plays a pilot who defects to Russian (but not really) for love of a female Russia pilot who defects to the U.S., turns out to be a spy, but not really. The only virtue of this film is that it is marginally better than The Conquer