Well, we can cross one movie off our list of hoped-for DVDs! The Criterion Collection has had the good sense and taste to release director Anthony Mann’s magnificent western THE FURIES (1950). Whether you are a collector or a Netflix user, it’s one you should not miss. In my book SCREEN SAVERS, I focus on [...]

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In 1957, director John Sturges made a slick, Technicolor version of the story baldly titled Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, starring Burt Lancaster as Wyatt and Kirk Douglas as Doc. Lacking the artistry and textures of Ford’s film, it’s nonetheless a satisfying commercial entertainment, vitalized by its star power. With this muscular hit behind him, [...]

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Like John Ford and John Wayne on Stagecoach (1939), and Anthony Mann and James Stewart on Winchester ’73 (1950), something rare clicked when Budd Boetticher directed Scott for the first time in Seven Men from Now (1956). With a superior script and a director with gifts for visual expressiveness, dramatic fire, and unvarnished truthtelling, Scott, [...]

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The Big Country is best remembered for Jerome Moross’s instantly identifiable musical score, one of the greatest (and most hummable) ever written for a western. It’s also a score of surprising variety and texture, enhancing the visuals and the emotions so much so that it becomes an integral element of the film’s overall impact, in [...]

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With The Lusty Men, from RKO, director Nicholas Ray gave us a West in which the only way a cowhand can improve his lot is to bring his skills to the rodeo circuit, risking life and limb but possibly hitting the jackpot. The story could apply to race-car drivers or test pilots or any profession [...]

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