Boetticher, Budd

Seven Men From Now (Special Collector's Edition)

Not many Westerns can claim to be original. Seven Men from Now can. Its making, for the B-picture arm of John Wayne's Batjac company, was a modest enterprise. The screenwriter, Burt Kennedy, was just starting out; the director, Budd Boetticher, was a matador-turned-filmmaker with only one film of distinction (The Bullfighter and the Lady) in a journeyman career; the star, Randolph Scott, was regarded as "over the hill." Yet the three men's talents blended uncannily, producing not just a terrific Western but a cinema masterpiece--an ironical, beautifully spare bit of storytelling that became the ideal showcase for Scott's sandy reticence.

You don't want anybody synopsizing the story for you; there's little of it, really, yet how it's told makes it complex and compelling. We know, from a memorable first scene, that Scott is hunting down seven men who did something terrible. He will be thrown together with several other characters, including Lee Marvin as an affable but deadly rascal with whom he shares some history. Everybody has private reasons to be traveling through Apache country. Savor every syllable of the laconic dialogue, what people say and what they don't quite say--what they think they understand about one another's motives, except that that understanding keeps getting rearranged.

Seven Men from Now went missing after Wayne's death in 1979 threw the Batjac library into limbo. (Its success had inspired Scott, Boetticher, and Kennedy to collaborate on three other remarkable Westerns--The Tall T (1957), Ride Lonesome (1959), and Comanche Station (1960)--which, because they weren't made for Batjac, we've had little trouble seeing over the years.) The movie became legendary, a Holy Grail for film buffs. Now, with a beautiful restoration on DVD, it gets to be a movie again. A great one. --Richard T. Jameson

Classic Western Round-Up, Vol. 2 (The Texans / California / The Cimarron Kid / The Man from the Alamo)

This collection presents four classic Westerns. In THE TEXANS (1938) an ex-Confederate soldier helps a beautiful spirited woman drive 10000 head of cattle to Abilene Texas. In CALIFORNIA (1946) three wagon-trainers make their fortunes during the Gold Rush. In THE CIMARRON KID (1952) a young outlaw joins the infamous Dalton Gang. And in THE MAN FROM THE ALAMO (1953) a group of men draw straws to see which of them will leave the fort to save their families from bandits marauding the countryside.Runtime: 352 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: WESTERN/MISC. Rating: NR UPC: 025193311627 Manufacturer No: 61033116

The Rifleman (Vol. 1)

A widower rancher and single father ain't your typical TV Western hero. But put a Winchester in his hands and he becomes the Rifleman. Chuck Connors may have struck out as a major-league baseball player, but he was a hit as Lucas McCain in this classic 1958-1963 series that was reportedly Leonid Brezhnev's favorite American TV show. When the former Russian leader visited the U.S. in the early 1970s, he requested to meet Connors. This DVD contains the series' first four episodes, in which McCain and his idolizing son Mark make a fresh start in the "new and mighty fine country" of North Folk, New Mexico. The Wild Bunch director Sam Peckinpah wrote the first two episodes. In "Sharpshooter," McCain takes on the corrupt businessman who has rigged a turkey shoot (that's Dennis Hopper as McCain's competition). In "Home Ranch," henchmen of cattleman Oat Jackford drag McCain from a horse and burn his ranch to run him off his property. Peckinpah is at the reins of the episode "The Marshall," which introduced series regular Paul Fixx as redeemed sheriff Micah Torrance. The Peckinpah touch: one character is blown away with wind-tunnel force, and McCain himself is gunned down. "End of a Young Gun" guest-stars a pre-Bonanza Michael Landon as a bank robber who re-evaluates his life while recuperating from an injury at McCain's ranch. A bonus episode features veteran character actor Jack Elam as a local bully who is taught a lesson by a visiting Italian count. These episodes are surprisingly gritty and brutal. When McCain gets fired up, he goes ballistic. "I'll kill your stock and burn your barns," he threatens Jackford in "Home Ranch." But when things really get tough, he still takes time to teach Mark the story of Job. --Donald Liebenson

Grab your boots and saddle and get ready to ride. Lucas McCain (Chuck Conner) is a widower who guides his son Mark (Johnny Crawford) through the hardships of maintaining a ranch in New Mexico in the late 1880's. Courage, justice, fairness and a modified rifle are McCain's weapons. The Rifleman ranked as the #1 half hour program during its time slot on ABC for the duration of its run form 1958 - 1963.

Volume 1:
Sharpshooter - Starring Dennis Hopper, Leif Erickson and Sidney Blackmer
Home Ranch - Starring Harold J. Stone and Lee Farr
End of a Young Gun - Starring Michael Landon
The Marshall - Starring Paul Fix, Warren Oates and Robert Wilke Bonus Episode: Duel of Honor - Starring Cesare Danova and Jack Elam

The Rifleman

The Rifleman Box Set Collection 5

Widower Lucas McCain (Chuck Connors) guides his son Mark (Johnny Crawford) through the often-difficult trials and tribulations of maintaining a small ranch in New Mexico during the late 1880s. This tremendously popular 1958-1963 TV series teaches the values of courage and justice, tempered with tolerance and understanding.

Behind Locked Doors

No Description Available.
Genre: Feature Film-Drama
Rating: NR
Release Date: 18-JUL-2000
Media Type: DVD

Rifleman

The Rifleman: Boxed Set Collection 6

Widower Lucas McCain (Chuck Connors) guides his son Mark (Johnny Crawford) through the often-difficult trials and tribulations of maintaining a small ranch in New Mexico during the late 1880s. This tremendously popular 1958-1963 TV series teaches the values of courage and justice, tempered with tolerance and understanding. The Vision Woman from Hog Ridge Sins of the Father The Illustrator Baranca The Actress A Time for Singing Seven The Long Trek Flowers by the Door Face of Yesterday Miss Millie The Pitchman The Promoter Silent Knife Six Years and a Day Strange Town The Second Witness And Devil Makes Five Anvil Chorus

The Man from the Alamo [Region 2]

The Rifleman (Vol. 2)

What happens when "a poor, raggedy-old private from the Confederates" and "a big important general from the North" spend the night at McCain's ranch, stop being polite, and start to get real? You get "The Sheridan Story," one of five vintage, black and white 1958-'59 episodes from this classic Western series' first and second seasons. Chuck Connors stars in his signature role as Lucas McCain, who settles down on a North Fork, New Mexico, ranch with his son Mark (Johnny Crawford). In these episodes, outlaws and hired guns keep McCain and his trusty Winchester busy, while Mark learns about manhood ("It's staying alive and in your right senses," McCain explains). A highlight of this collection is Vic Morrow doing his Brando bit as Johnny Cotton, who buys himself a lot of trouble when he robs McCain and steals his rifle in "The Angry Gun." Sam Peckinpah directed "The Money Gun," in which ornery cuss and McCain nemesis Oat Jackford stands up to a gunman hired to kill him. "The Mind Reader" boasts appearances by John Carradine, as a traveling showman, and Michael Landon, as a young man falsely accused of murder. But the best is saved for last. "Bloodlines," directed by Arthur Hiller, stars Buddy Hackett--yes, Buddy Hackett-- in a guest appearance as the brutal patriarch who comes gunning for McCain when one of his three psychopathic sons is killed in a bar shootout. For Rifleman fans, these episodes are of the highest caliber. --Donald Liebenson

Grab your boots and saddle and get ready to ride. Lucas McCain (Chuck Conner) is a widower who guides his son Mark (Johnny Crawford) through the hardships of maintaining a ranch in New Mexico in the late 1880's. Courage, justice, fairness and a modified rifle are McCain's weapons. The Rifleman ranked as the #1 half hour program during its time slot on ABC for the duration of its run form 1958 - 1963.

Volume 2:
The Angry Gun - Starring Vic Morrow and Leo Gordon
The Sheridan Story - Starring Lawrence Dobkin and Royal Dano
The Money Gun - Starring John Dehner and Bert Freed
The Mind Reader - Starring John Carradine and Michael Landon
Bonus Episode: Bloodlines - Starring Buddy Hackett, Rhys Williams, Warren Oates and Denver Pyle