50 westerns, seems like a bargain?! Well… maybe, depending on your tolerance for sub-par film transfers. There are some gigantic films here to be certain, but at least a third are dazzling abominable transfers, and the rest are mostly honest marginal at best. Virtually all of the more commonly available films offered here can be found in significantly better quality elsewhere.
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Virtually all of the half dozen or so of the films from the 1960’s are total trash - you can not search for these without getting a headache - totally unwatchable!!! For example, check out “The Immense Duel” starring Lee Van Cleef in the sixties - a totally washed out, blurry pain, probably one of the very worst film transfers I have ever seen on DVD (note: a considerable better film transfer of this movie is available on the Platinum issued Lee Van Cleef DVD) . On the other hand, in this collection you find an early 1940’s era film like Howard Hughes’ “The Outlaw” in come pristine condition. Most of the other films in this collection plunge somewhere in between quality wise.
But, you should be aware that in most cases these same films can be found in significantly better quality in other generally satisfactory DVD collections - peek my other Amazon reviews for several examples. Check out “Tough Guys of the West” for a noteworthy better collection of 20 similar B-Westerns or check out any of the Platinum issued DVDs included in “The Vast American Western” series.
Buy,Download, Or Stream Western Classics 50 Movie Pack Collection! Click Here
Included in this collection are several commonly found Roy Rogers and Gene Autry films - however, these are mostly fair copies from fuzzy VHS and as a result most of them have a exiguous out of focus scrutinize to them - you gather passe to it after awhile and you can spy them o.k., but fair be warned that the quality is somewhat lower than your average VHS tape. I have found that the Madacy or Platinum issued Roy Rogers films are generally as fine and in some cases better film transfers than what you earn in this collection (spy my review for the Madacy issued Roy Rogers DVDs) . Also, you might want to check out the Roan Group issued DVDs for some other Roy Rogers titles not included here in this collection (gaze my review for more details on those gigantic DVDs) .
And then you have the Tex Ritter and Bob Steele films - these appear to be actually mastered from current 16mm or 35mm film - the only predicament is that they tend to have a lot of scratches and splices at positive points. In one Tex Ritter film the soundtrack gets out of synch with the action and talking for about 20 minutes. But even so, you do obtain a reasonably involving image thunder from film instead of a third rate, fuzzy VHS copy. And often these films speed for quite a long time without any problems and when problems do pop up it’s only for a puny or two - in other words, you can mostly relish the films without scrutinize strain. Even so, I will warn you that these particular early Bob Steele and Tex Ritter films are not really that ample even considering the time period and the genre. Both Tex and Bob have made better films than the ones offered in this collection - these are mostly honest “o.k.” performances - nothing expansive.
If you like Bob Steele you should check out a gracious performance in the film credited to Roy Rogers, “The Carson City Kid” which is included in this collection. This is an early Roy Rogers (pre-Dale Evans) film which co-stars Bob Steele. “Carson City Kid” is very palatable, but again, as well-known above, the transfer of the Roy Rogers films here are not very piquant (the one do out by Madacy, for example, while peaceful not perfect, is far better than the transfer included in this collection, while the one issued by Platinum easily has the best best record of all, but that soundtrack is easily the worst! So, choose your grasp!) - but, in any case, my point is that Bob Steele’s performance as the dreadful guy in this film is worthy better than the other earlier films he stars in that are included in this collection.
“Vengence Valley” with Burt Lancaster is in color and a enormous movie, but the image here is not very intelligent and the color is severely musty out as if copied from a VHS copy someone left on the dashboard of the car a bit too long! I have the version issued by Platinum and it is nearly perfect with stunning righteous color and very interesting looking. Collect the Platinum version and avoid the one in this collection!
“The Kansan” and “Abilene Town” are both really gargantuan movies, but here they are both particularly fuzzy looking - again, another case of unpleasant transfers from VHS? “Abilene Town”, for example, can be found in mighty, considerable better quality on the “Tough Guys of the West” DVD collection (gape my review for “Tough Guys of the West”) . “The Kansan” is also available on Alpha Video and while Alpha has a very mixed track represent for some of these films, their version in this case is noteworthy better than the one in this collection - study my Amazon review) .
The early John Wayne films are also a mixed bag - most are fuzzy looking, but some might actually be from film instead of VHS copies - it’s hard to suppose. “McLintock” from 1963 is basically trash in this collection - very fuzzy and very ragged color. Please also notice that “McLintock” is being released very shortly (or has been released by the time you read this) by the John Wayne estate on DVD - you will probably want collect that one!
Better film transfers of some of these early Lone Star Production John Wayne films (at least not any worse and in some cases significantly better) can found on the Roan Group DVD, “The Early Years Collection.” I have a grand better, arrive perfect DVD transfer of “Angel and the Abominable Man” (from Obliging Times) compared to the fuzzy version you bag in this place.
A couple of other films are rare in that I have never seen them offered on DVD before, so you might need to gather this site for those. “Billy the Kid Trapped” and “Arizona Stagecoach” for instance are ones I had never seen before on DVD - I found both to be very palatable and are from film transfers, but again with a lot of splices and scratches at various points - but level-headed very savory and very watchable. I don’t believe any of the Tex Ritter films are available elsewhere. The same Bob Steele films in this collection are also offered on Alpha Video DVDs, but I don’t know if they are in any better condition on Alpha than what you procure here in this collection, but my guess is you would likely be better off with the Alpha versions.
So, the bottom line is that you should bag this if;
(1) You need a splendid copy of “The Outlaw” - it’s the only film here that is in pristine condition.
(2) You need to have the few films that only appear in this DVD collection and nowhere else.
(3) You don’t want to utilize a lot of money, and don’t care about quality, yet you want to sample a lot of early B-Westerns to gather some notion of what the genre looks like. Actually, on second idea, you would be far, far better off in getting the 10 DVD 20 movie collection “Tough Guys of the West” if that is your goal. That collection gives you a great better bargain in terms of quality than the “50 Western Classics.”
Here’s another tip for you. If you are looking at B-Westerns for the first time you might want to check out the Hopalong Cassidy films offered by Platinium - there are 40 films total on 5 DVD volumes that you can rep really cheap! Some vendors sell these for less than two dollars a disc (each disc has 5 films on it)! Do the math - with shipping you are looking at about $1 per film. And they are in absolute pristine condition! Check it out - the Hopalong Cassidy films are among the very best B-Westerns ever made. The Red Ryder series is also available on DVD issued by VCI and I have seen most of them - they are grand films with radiant obliging film transfers - you will not be disappointed in those.
Here is the complete list of films in this set:
John Wayne:
Angel and the Badman
Blue Steel
McLintock
Sagebush Trek
Hell Town
Roy Rogers:
The Carson City Kid
Colorado
Young Bill Hickok
In Old-fashioned Caliente
Rough Riders Round-Up
Sheriff of Tombstone
My Pal Trigger
Cowboy and the Senorita
Bells of San Angelo
Under California Stars
Tex Ritter:
Rollin Plains
Sing Cowboy Sigh
The Mystery of the Hooded Horseman
Arizona Days
Song of the Gringo
Springtime in the Rockies
Gene Autry:
Round-Up Time in Texas
Man of the Frontier
Riders of the Whistling Pines
Bob Steele:
Paroled To Die
The Oklahoma Cyclone
Bruce Bennett:
Daniel Boone, Streak Blazer
Vengeance Valley starring Burt Lancaster
Billy the Kid Trapped starring Buster Crabbe
Kentucky Rifle starring Chill Wills
Painted Desert starring George O’Brien
It Can Be Done Amigo starring Jack Palance
Gone with the West starring James Caan
The Outlaw starring Jane Russell
White Comanche starring Joseph Cotton
Phantom Rancher starring Ken Maynard
The Substantial Duel starring Lee Van Cleef
Mohawk starring Neville Sign
Abilene Town and 7th Cavalry starring Randolph Scott
Arizona Stagecoach starring Ray “Rupture” Corrigan
Broadway to Cheyenne starring Rex Bell
The Santa Fe Whisk starring Errol Flynn
American Empire starring Richard Dix
The Kansan starring Richard Dix
Gunfight at Red Sands starring Richard Harrison
Stagecoach to Denver starring Robert Blake
The Sundowners starring Robert Preston
China 9, Liberty 37 starring Warren Oates
Judge Priest starring Will Rogers
No, I’ve not picked this one up but been looking for a movie listing for this one…..Finally found one!
so here ya go:
Rollin’ Plains (Tex Ritter) B&W (1938)
Sing Cowboy Notify (Tex Ritter) B&W (1937)
The Mystery of the Hooded Horseman (Tex Ritter) B&W (1937)
Arizona Days (Tex Ritter) B&W (1937)
Song of the Gringo (Tex Ritter) B&W (1936)
Round-Up Time in Texas (Gene Autry) B&W (1937)
Springtime in the Rockies (Tex Ritter) B&W (1937)
The Carson City Kid (Roy Rogers) B&W (1940)
Colorado (Roy Rogers) B&W (1940)
Young Bill Hickok (Roy Rogers) B&W (1940)
Phantom Rancher (Ken Maynard) B&W (1940)
Broadway to Cheyenne (Rex Bell) B&W (1932)
Stagecoah to Denver (Robert Blake) B&W (1946)
Angel and the Badman (John Wayne) B&W (1947)
Paroled -To Die (Bob Steele) B&W (1937)
The Oklahoma Cyclone (Bob Steele) B&W (1930)
Daniel Boone, Drag Blazer (Bruce Bennett) COLOR (1956)
Kentucky Rifle (Chill Wills) COLOR (1955)
American Empire (Richard Dix) B&W (1942)
Billy the Kid Trapped (Buster Crabbe) B&W (1942)
Vengeance Valley (Burt Lancaster) COLOR (1951)
The Sundowners (Robert Preston) COLOR (1951)
Man of the Frontier (Gene Autry) B&W (1936)
Riders of the Whistling Pines (Gene Autry) B&W (1949)
Painted Desert (George O’Brien) B&W (1938)
Gunfight at Red Sands (Richard Harrison) COLOR (1964)
China 9, Liberty 37 (Warren Oates) COLOR (1978)
Gone with the West (James Caan) COLOR (1978)
The Outlaw (Jane Russell) B&W (1949)
Arizona Stagecoach (Ray “Demolish” Corrigan) B&W (1942)
Blue Steel (John Wayne) B&W (1934)
The Santa Fe Rush (Richard Arlen) B&W (1930)
McLintock (John Wayne) COLOR (1963)
Sagebush Scurry (John Wayne) B&W (1933)
In Musty Caliente (Roy Rogers) B&W (1939)
Rough Riders Round-Up (Roy Rogers) B&W (1939)
Hell Town (John Wayne) B&W (1937)
The Kansan (Richard Dix) B&W (1943)
White Comanche (Joseph Cotton) COLOR (1968)
Mohawk (Neville Sign) COLOR (1956)
Sheriff of Tombstone (Roy Rogers) B&W (1941)
The Spacious Duel (Lee Van Cleef) COLOR (1974)
It Can Be Done Amigo (Jack Palance) COLOR (1973)
Abilene Town (Randolph Scott) B&W (1946)
7th Cavalry (Randolph Scott) COLOR (1956)
My Pal Trigger (Roy Rogers) B&W (1946)
Cowboy and the Senorita (Roy Rogers) B&W (1944)
Bells of San Angelo (Roy Rogers) COLOR (1947)
Under California Stars (Roy Rogers) COLOR (1948)
Foo I’m peaceful going to have to recall up Robin Hood Of the Pecos….I was hoping that Rogers one would have been on here!!
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