Clark Gable Collection, Vol. 1 (Call of the Wild / Soldier of Fortune / The Tall Men)

Description

Bonus Features: **The Clark Gable Fox Classics Collection Volume One consists of Call of the Wild, Soldier of Fortune and The Tall Men.

**All for the first time on DVD, in a box set for $49.98 & $69.98.**

Episode Description: Disc 1: Call of the Wild (1935) Disc 2: Soldier of Fortune (1955) Disc 3: The Tall Men (1955)

Customer Reviews:

Nothing like an old western and a bowl of popcorn!.......2007-08-02

I remember watching these movies with my Grandfather, brings a smile to my face just thinking about it. Give it go, make a memory and a smile.

Clark Gable collection.......2007-07-06

Remastered version of Call of the Wild is improved from original, but not markedly. Still, this is a treasure to have.

An OK mix of prime and weathered Gable.......2007-05-14

This Fox series includes my favorite Gable film: "Call of the Wild". Some complain this film bears little resemblance to London's book of the same title. So what. That's Hollywood's license. London's story is just a yarn too, and not nearly as entertaining. Actually, I think of Loretta Young as being the dominant character in this film, as she largely controls the eventual relationships between the main characters. The relationship between Gable, Loretta and her husband near the end of the film is reminiscent of the later "Casablanca", but the emotional content is much more intense because of the personalities and physiques of this duo and the circumstance of appearance of Loretta's husband. Off the screen, Gable developed strong relationahips with both Loretta and Buck, which shows in the film. Gable offered as much as $2000. for the dog, but the owner wouldn't budge. Buck really hated the villain, Reginald Qwen, as he showed in the film. Unlike most of Gable's films, he had a strong sidekick in the form of Jack Oakie, which is one reason I like this film. Initially, Gable was reluctant to do a film with Oakie, a notorious scene stealer. Most people seem to miss the main lesson of this film. Gable, Oakie, and Buck represent a team of legitimate,if rather primitive, venture capitalists. They try to grab as much as they can, but within limits of respectability, and they are loyal to their partners. Villain Owens represents the worst type of pretentious cutthroat robber baron, who ruthlessly eliminates his competition and disposes of his associates when they are no long essential to his ambitions. Loretta's ethos is "You get what you disserve, and no more": Jack London's supposed socialist ethos. When it comes to the choice between Gable and her husband, she exercises this ethos, to Gable's chagrin. This is a fun film to watch: great adventure and comrady, unsurpassed romance and heartbreak.
"The Tall Men", made 20 years later and in color, is another frontier adventure-romance. In some repects, it echoes "Call of the Wild". We again have a beautiful woman rescued in a blizzard. At the film ending, she again has to choose between Gable and the other man. But the on again-off again romances between Jane Russell and these two men aren't nearly as convincing as in "Call of the Wild". In some respects, this film recalls "Red River", with its vast cattle herd, long trail drive, problems with Native Americans and jayhawkers and conflicts between its leaders. There is even an echo of director Raoul Walsh's earlier film "Dark Command", in that Gable and his brother evidently had spent some time riding with Quantrill's notorious raiders during the recent Civil War. The female lead again has to choose between a poor down to earth gunslinger and a sophisticated but overambitious rival who wants her for an ornament.
"Soldier of Fortune" just isn't my kind of movie. Too comtemporary and tame. However, I found the run with commentary worthwhile. The Gable-Harlow "China Seas", of the 1930s, is a much more entertaining yarn involving Hong Kong, if in B&W. Gable's 1957 MGM movie "Band of Angels" would have been much more desirable as another choice from his late career. This might be thought of as Raoul Walsh's version of "Gone with the Wind"

"They don't make them like these anymore".......2007-02-06

Three excellent Gable films with great stars, and well written story lines. A lot of action with captivating stories. You can't go wrong on purchasing these babies! These are Classics!

Enjoy!

John

anamorphic or not.......2006-12-29

Seeing as 20th Century Fox is advertising The true Story of Jesse Jaemes in its upcoming release in March as 1.33 ratio I would like to know from anyone if The Tall Men and Soldier of Fortune are Anamorphic as the info on here states all 3 films are 1.33. I collect all CinemaScope films from 1953 to 1967 but why does Fox have to release in 1.33?

Average customer rating:

good film
Top-notch entertainment
Shadow Propaganda
Quote:
Excellent movie, a must see for everyone

Shadow Company DVD Special Edition
Director: Nick Bicanic , and Jason Bourque
Manufacturer: Purpose Films
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Special Editions | Fully Loaded DVDs | Features | DVD | Video
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Product Features:

2 hours of special features
Full length commentary with Jason Bourque and Nick Bicanic
Full length commentary with Robert Young Pelton and Nick Bicanic
Washington DC premiere Q&A session
Exclusive additional scenes

ASIN: B000J55YLQ

Product Description

This year thousands of private soldiers will be deployed in conflicts worldwide. These individuals, known as private security contractors, are changing the face of modern warfare. But to those at home, their world and influence remains a mystery. Who are these security contractors? What do they do? Why do they do it? Shadow Company, by Nick Bicanic and Jason Bourque, is the groundbreaking feature-length documentary that reveals the origins and destinations of these modern-day mercenaries. The rules of war have changed.

Customer Reviews:

good film.......2007-07-23

If you need to understand how the PMF operated in the history, you need this film. This film did not bash anyone, just laid out the facts, so you could decide yourself.

Top-notch entertainment.......2007-07-05

Is the journalism biased? Yup. Don't put Nick Bicanic down for journalist of the decade or anything, but he did an excellent job of following the members of merce... oh, sorry, we're not supposed to used the pejorative "mercenary" anymore. We're supposed to say Private Military Company. The people he interviewed come across very candidly and Bicanic really doesn't pull any punches when discussing an industry that is still in its adolescence. Based on the information presented in this film, it will be extremely interesting to see where the industry goes from here. It was very informative, cleverly done, and definitely keeps your attention. Might be a little dry for non-military or history afficionados, but if you're not into either of those, you probably aren't watching this movie anyway.

Shadow Propaganda.......2007-03-19

Objectivity is a curious word indeed, and describing this documentary as an "objective and balanced" look at the issue of "mercenaries for hire" requires that one subjectively persuade one's Self to ignore the core issues inherent in the profitable business of war.

Any overt discussion of personal and corporate MOTIVES is avoided in this film, and one is carried along on a seemingly placid wave of purely intellectual 'detachment' carefully crafted into the pacing of the documentary. All seems calm, rational, and objective (despite the 'action sequences' and 'war toys') until the last half of the tale. Then, suddenly, we are 'treated' to a few moments of subjective feeling by way of an interview with an attractive white woman recounting the tragic story of her love for a hired contractor who is killed protecting his 'client'. She struggles hard and succedes at holding back her tears as she tells her tale in close up to the camera. We see the charred and mutilated remains of her lover/husband (?) laying on the desert road in Iraq.

This scene is the only scene in the entire film that calls our attention to personal feelings, but they are the personal feelings of a white woman for her lover/husband (?) -a white man (I couldn't be sure whether they were married to each other or not, but I do know that HE was married and 'loved his family' because this 'objective' film told me so!) Now, call me subjective or crazy but I found this to be a highly "unbalanced" approach to the death that often permeates the film. No tender feelings of compassion are ever elicited from me regarding all the mangled bodies of Iraqis floating past the camera, and I never witness ANY Iraqi (whether man or woman or child) being shown even a moment of human compassion. I guess that's what "objective" and "well balanced" means.

In fact, this viewer found the film to be highly enamored of these Private Military Companies and their spotlighted "Soldiers of Fortune". They are depicted (quite one-sidedly) as rather noble if sometimes confused chaps just doing their jobs as the hired guns and dogs of war. After all, we are treated to a Lady Scholar with a British seeming accent informing us that "Mercenaries are the oldest profession" (though I always heard that the 'whores' were the oldest profession -but, then again, I suppose there might be some sort of unspecified connection between hired, mercenary 'dogs of war' and whores.) So yeah, this British seeming Lady informs us that as the great Medieval Wars came to a close there were "companies" of soldier-mercenaries who wandered down into Italy and proved to be "a stimulus to the economy." They practically "gave us the Rennaisance" itself, single handedly! Ah, the glories these poor, misunderstood (but thoroughly 'professional') thugs up for sale to the highest bidder have wrought upon this Earth! Can you say Amen, Brothers and Sisters?

Don't get me wrong, while I think that 'Shadow Company' could more accurately be titled 'Shadow Propaganda' I'm not at all certain that Nick Bicanic deliberately crafted it to be propaganda. It's just that his unconscious, subjective side got the better of him and he inadvertently made this very minor little masterpiece as a euphemistic employee or consultant for the mercenaries.

Somehow, the scene that stays longest with me after having viewed the film is the one where a fat faced, blue eyed white guy dressed in suit and tie opines thusly: "We believe that peace keeping, peace ENFORCEMENT is probably the biggest market for the private sector in the future".

Mister Bicanic went shopping to make a documentary. I think he may have stumbled upon the rather mercenary "Coalition of the Billing" who provided the subtitle for this objective and well balanced masterpiece: "Shadow Propaganda; The Coalition of The Billing".

But hey, don't take my word for it, I'm thoroughly subjective and congenitally allergic to anything posturing as "objective". I felt the film to be "asset stripping" as well as a kind of subtle "corporate raid" on my psyche. Rather like a "hostile takeover". Whew! Glad that's over with and done.

PS: I give it 3 stars for its technical competence and the director's skill at aping objectivity. Don't neglect to view the extra added attraction billed as a "conference" on the DVD: it's Nick and an illustrious company of three other white men: a certain "Senior Fellow From Center For American Progress, a guy from the "Brookline Institute", and the "Director, US Operations, Hart Group Security." Hired guns, all.

Quote:.......2007-03-19

"If looks could kill they probably will in games without frontiers, war without tears". - Peter Gabriel

Excellent movie, a must see for everyone.......2007-01-29

Every time I watch a documentary these days I can feel myself anticipating the moment when I really get the point the film makers are trying to Convince me of. It's like when I'm driving and I get that first little bit of road rage and suddenly I can feel myself looking for more reasons to get angrier and angrier. A lot of film makers play to your emotions, anger and fear being the best ones in my opinion, and I know I often get hooked in and by the end of the documentary I definitely have an opinion that was formed by the presentation of the info. It has made me biased.

SHADOW COMPANY is different. The info is presented in a way that plays to a person's intellect, not to their emotions. They carefully examine the information and allow you to make a decision for yourself.

The quality of the interviews is incredible. They are honest, heartfelt and true, not directed by the film makers to make a point. Having read some of Robert Pelton's books I can appreciate his knowledge and really enjoyed hearing his opinion.

The directing and editing is amazing. Early on I got a feeling of the vision that went into the creation of this film and felt how it carried through right through to the credits.

Overall this was a very well made film and I think that everyone should see it and recommend it to their friends. I really hope to see more from Purpose Films in the future.

Average customer rating:

Hong Kong is the real star of the movie...

Soldier Of Fortune (Region One USA DVD)
Director: Edward Dmytryk
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

ASIN: B000M69SJG

Product Description

Special Features: Commentary by Author Danforth Prince, Restoration Comparison, Photo Gallery, Original Theatrical Trailer

Customer Reviews:

Hong Kong is the real star of the movie..........2007-01-14

In search of her missing photographer husband, Jane Hoyt (Susan Hayward) arrives in Hong Kong and learns at the U.S. Consulate that her mission is futile, that neither the United States nor the British government can help her...

She turns in despair to Hank Lee (Clark Gable), an American soldier of fortune who runs a profitable smuggling business on each side of the bamboo curtain...

Hank is attracted to Jane's sultry red-haired beauty... He develops a personal interest in the lady, but when she repulses his advances, he realizes that the only way to win her over is to rescue her husband... Aided by an incorruptible English harbor policeman, Inspector Merryweather (Michael Rennie), he discovers that her husband is being held prisoner near Canton, where he is being brainwashed...

Hank prepares to rescue Hoyt in his powered junk, Chicago, and is annoyed to find Inspector Merryweather aboard... Since the inspector knows the nature of Hank's merchandise, he was held prisoner aboard the sailing vessel... Later, however, when Hank's crewmen desert rather than enter Red China, Merryweather, realizing that this is a rescue mission, offers his help...

Clark Gable was getting a little too old for these kinds of actions, but the film holds attention with its good yarn and its interesting locations...

Hayward looks different without her famous long tresses... This was her second movie with the tall, gaunt Michael Rennie... She had one scene with him in 'Demetrius and the Gladiators.'

Ironically, this anticommunist adventure film was directed by Edward Dmytryk, one of the 'Hollywood Ten.'

Average customer rating:

Best action
PICTURE IN THE BASEMENT!!!!
ACTION WAR with A Bit of a Twist.

Soldier of Fortune, Inc
Starring: Tim Abell , Mindy Clarke , Real Andrews , Brad Johnson , and Sebastian Apodaca
Director: Peter Bloomfield
Manufacturer: Avalanche Home Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00001U0NG
Release Date: 2007-05-01

Customer Reviews:

Best action.......2006-07-12

Loved the TV series - wouldn't mind getting all of them on disk.
This is better than nothing.

PICTURE IN THE BASEMENT!!!!.......2006-07-10

IT'S HARD TO BELIEVE THAT THIS IS THE SAME BRAD JOHNSON THAT PLAYED THE DEPUTY SHERIFF IN THE TV SERIES "ANNIE OAKLEY" WITH GAIL DAVIS.... UNBELIEVABLE!!!!

ACTION WAR with A Bit of a Twist........2005-01-04

Enjoyed watching Brad Johnson star in a war hero movie! Looked everywhere to find movies he's been in. Finally, on amazon found this one! Great movie, good dialogue and acting. I hope to see him in more movies. A gotta see movie.

Soldier Of Fortune (Il Soldato di ventura) [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.2 Import - Netherlands ]

Average customer rating:

Soldier Of Fortune (Il Soldato di ventura) [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.2 Import - Netherlands ]
Director: Pasquale Festa Campanile
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

ASIN: B000EHJVWC

Product Description

Netherlands released, PAL/Region 2 DVD: it WILL NOT play on standard US DVD player. You need multi-region PAL/NTSC DVD player to view it in USA/Canada. Language Options: Dutch (Subtitles) English (Mono) Italian (Mono) Synopsis: Medieval soldier of fortune Ettore is travelling through Europe with his partners looking for fight where they can earn some money. When they come across a Spanish castle under siege by the French army, Ettore first bides his time to determine which side is the winning one (and thus more likely to pay his fee). This is as first the French, but the treatment he receives from them is unpleasant enough to make him change his mind and turn to the Spanish side. Somehow, Ettore must rally the weakened Spanish troops to battle their enemy long enough for reinforcements to arrive. Special Features: Biographies Interactive Menu Scene Access Trailer(s)

Average customer rating:

Worth Watching Agreed
Worth Watching
JERRY'S MACHINE NEEDS A LITTLE OIL

Soldier of Fortune, Inc.
Starring: Brad Johnson (II) , Tim Abell , Sebastian Apodaca , Réal Andrews , and Melinda Clarke
Manufacturer: Platinum Disc
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000059ZTH
Release Date: 1999-06-22

Customer Reviews:

Worth Watching Agreed.......2005-06-15

This is hardly the best representation for the series, but the episodes were good. It's a little hard to follow whats going on at first, but overall, I enjoyed the experience. I also have to agree in saying, the day season one of Soldier of Fortune hits the shelves, it will be added to my collection. It still stands out as one of the best action television shows Ive ever seen, even if there was really only one season to it. The second season changeup is in my opinion what killed it, and it's a shame.

Worth Watching.......2005-01-17

This movie version of two episodes (Deja Vu and Apres Vu) from the tv show Soldier of Fortune Inc. was not a failed pilot for the series. The pilot episode was entitled "Genesis" and there were 20 awesome episodes, including "Deja Vu" and "Apres Vu". (The second season was a major disappointment. They changed the series name to Special Ops Force, canned two of the actors, replaced them with none other than Dennis Rodman (need I say more) and generally wrecked the show...) However, back to the DVD.

The show starred Brad Johnson, Tim Abell, Melinda Clarke, Real Andrews, and Mark Shepard as ex-military and CIA types, and David Selby as their "boss". They became "Soldiers of Fortune" and conducted various black ops missions around the globe. In these two episodes, they were sent on a mission to rescue someone who they believed had been kidnapped, but discover that their intel was "flawed" and the mission goes really really bad. This is portrayed through two perspectives, first by Major Shephard's point of view (Brad Johnson) and by what really happened. If you watch carefully, it is not confusing, it is an interesting, creative way of presenting an action-packed story.

I really wish that Jerry Bruckheimer would release the whole season one series of Soldier of Fortune, Inc. on DVD. I would be first in line to buy it, it will always be one of my all time favorite tv shows! And by the way, Jerry Bruckheimer has had several successful tv shows since then, ever hear of CSI and Without A Trace?

JERRY'S MACHINE NEEDS A LITTLE OIL.......2004-09-23

This was one of Jerry Bruckheimer, the movies' premier action scions, first t.v. ventures. A pilot for a failed series, SOLDIER OF FORTUNE INC. tries to use slow motion action sequences to further its plot. While not a bad movie, it is derivative and offers little new for the genre.
Brad Johnson (Always) stars as the leader of a special ops group who is critically wounded in a botched Mexican raid. The opening sequences are confusing, and redundant, done from each character's prospective fate. The misleading technique doesn't do much but confuse the viewer as to what's really going on. Johnson uses his macho presence to good effect and gets able support from Real Andrews and Tim Abell. David Selby (Dark Shadows, Falcon Crest) is even on hand as the by the books commander.
Entertaining but not stimulating. One can see why the pilot didn't sell and why Bruckheimer and company didn't do too much t.v. work afterwards.

Soldier Of Fortune [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.2 Import - Netherlands ]

Average customer rating:

Soldier Of Fortune [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.2 Import - Netherlands ]

ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Biographies
Interactive Menu
Scene Access
Trailer(s)

ASIN: B000CQBW1S

Product Description

Netherlands released, PAL/Region 2 DVD: it WILL NOT play on standard US DVD player. You need multi-region PAL/NTSC DVD player to view it in USA/Canada. Languages: English Mono Italian Mono Dutch Subtitles Synopsis: Medieval soldier of fortune Ettore is travelling through Europe with his partners looking for fight where they can earn some money. When they come across a Spanish castle under siege by the French army, Ettore first bides his time to determine which side is the winning one (and thus more likely to pay his fee). This is as first the French, but the treatment he receives from them is unpleasant enough to make him change his mind and turn to the Spanish side. Somehow, Ettore must rally the weakened Spanish troops to battle their enemy long enough for reinforcements to arrive. Extras: Biographies Interactive Menu Scene Access Trailer(s)

Average customer rating:

The One-Eyed Soldiers
Starring: Guy Deghy , Andrew Faulds , Luciana Paluzzi , Dale Robertson , and Dragan Nikolic
Director: Jean Christophe
Manufacturer: Telavista
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0002J4ZRI
Release Date: 2006-09-12

Description

A body falls from a church parapet to the cobbles below. Police Chief Ferrer arrives at the scene of the 'accident' in time to hear the last gasps of the dying man. He is unaware that he has heard the 'key' to the location of a fabulous hoard of hidden treasure. However, the sinister observers have more than a passing interest and the event is to trigger a series of chilling occurrences. Suspense intrigue and the threat of ruthless violence increase as the pursuers close in on the treasure.

DVD:

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