I have them all already in another RANDOLPH SCOTT set , but this set is blu-Ray with lots of extras, so how could I resist!
Powerhouse Films brings out this new box set on 21 May,2018. Extras include an 80 page booklet and audio and TV interviews with BUDD BOETTICHER who directed all 5 films.
The five Scott/Boetticher films cover 1957 to 1960, a golden period for their collaboration. Good scripts, direction ,spectacular scenery at Lone Pine and the Alabama Hills. And Scott leading great supporting casts including PERNELL ROBERTS, CLAUDE AKINS, RICHARD BOONE, KAREN STEELE, JAMES BEST, NOAH BEERY.
I’d have picked a better picture of Scott for the cover – think that one comes from “The Tall T.”
Scott plays an unusually lighter character in the THE TALL T and BUCHANAN RIDES ALONE, but the other three are intense.
Looking forward to the set arriving next month.
The stark ending of RIDE LONESOME. Scott sets fire to the hanging tree.
With L.Q.Jones.BUCHANAN RIDES ALONE
Richard Boone THE TALL T
Pernell Roberts , James Coburn
With Nancy Gates.COMMANCHE STATION
Pernell ROBERTS, Randolph Scott,James Coburn, Karen Steele, James Best.
THE TALL T
That scene at the end of DECISION AT SUNDOWN. Scott as we hardly ever see him. He may have saved the town of Sundown, but he’s had his illusions about his wife shattered and lost his best friend. A bitter man.
Vienna's Classic Hollywood
Vienna, Randolph Scott is my favorite Western star and he never disappoints. Yes, Indicator Company could have used a better picture of Scott. What more can be said about these Scott Westerns directed by Budd Boetticher, they are great. My personal favorite is THE TALL T(1957). Yes, Scott plays an unusually lighter character in this movie, until he finds out the fate of the boy, then the mood of the movie changes. Richard Boone was a great villain.
You’re right about The Tall T , and I agree Boone ( like Lee Marvin in earlier Scott films, was a great villain.
Yeah. I was all set with the “I’ve already got the Boetticher set”, but you say it’s blu-ray, you say it’s got extras. Oh, lordy, what’s a girl to do? We all know the answer to that.
You need to keep a plentiful supply of Scott westerns, thanks all I’m saying!
Too bad they couldn’t have acquired the rights to Seven Men From Now and Westbound to complete the duets Scott and Budd made together. Seven Men being a superior effort makes it doubly disappointing.
Maybe it’s a copyright issue. I agree the extra two would make it complete. I think Westbound is the weakest of all of them.
Agree on Westbound which is out via the Warner Archive Collection. Seven Men is owned by Duke’s BATJAC company as it was originally intended for him.
Thank goodness the Duke handed it over to Scott!
At the October 1996 Lone Pine Film Festival screenwriter Burt Kennedy and director Budd Boetticher were guests of honor at A SALUTE TO RANDOLPH SCOTT AND HIS LONE PINE MOVIES THAT WERE WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY BURT KENNEDY AND BUDD BOETTICHER. According to Burt and Budd, during the panel question and answer session, John Wayne initially didn’t read Burt’s SEVEN MEN FROM NOW script. Nate H. Edwards, a production manager at Batjac did. Burt said that Edwards liked it, because it had a typical shoot-out in the rocks. So, Burt was paid $1,500 and the script went into a storage closet. A year or so later, Burt heard that Robert Mitchum’s agent was looking for a script for his client. Burt took his script to Mitchum’s agent and he liked it and offered him $15,000 for it. Problem was that Wayne’s Batjac Company owned it. Burt said that he would talk to Wayne about it, and that he would probably sell it. Needless to say, when Burt approached Wayne about selling the script, he said, “Let me read that.” He liked it and so did Jack L. Warner at Warner Bros. It has been written that Jack Warner wanted Wayne to do it, but Wayne was working on THE SEARCHERS(1956). Here is where the discrepancies come in, or maybe the “When the legend becomes fact, print the legend” factor. Most repeated sources say that Wayne couldn’t do SEVEN MEN FROM NOW because he was busy on THE SEARCHERS. Looking at the filming schedules of THE SEARCHERS, which was from mid June-mid August, 1955 and SEVEN MEN FROM NOW, which was late September–late October, 1955, it was possible for Wayne to do both movies. That is. if he really wanted to, because he was the boss at Batjac Company. He didn’t start filming on THE WINGS OF EAGLES(1957) until late July, 1956.
Back to Lone Pine Film Festival with Burt and Budd. Apparently they said that Wayne agreed that the part wasn’t right for him. So, Wayne and Batjac offered it to Joel McCrea, who turned it down. Then it was offered to Robert Preston, who Burt thinks didn’t read the script, because he was on the outs with the Hollywood movie industry, at the time. Then Wayne offered it to Randolph Scott and he liked it and accepted the part. The rest is movie history.
The question is did John Wayne ever intend to play the part of Ben Stride in SEVEN MEN FROM NOW? Burt and Budd’s recollections have been different over the years, so you have variations of the story. If Wayne had played the part, it would have been a bigger budget movie and it would have been different. All I know is that Burt Kennedy wrote the script with John Wayne in mind. After all is said and done, Randolph Scott was great in the role.
Thanks for this information. Oh to have been at that Lone Pine Festival with Kennedy and Boetticher. I’d love just to visit Lone Pine.
Interesting to think of McCrea or Preston in the role.
At that point in his career, I can’t see Wayne doing Seven Men From Now – maybe not a big enough scale for him, and just coming off The Searchers.
Vienna, I agree with you about not seeing Wayne doing SEVEN MEN FROM NOW, especially after THE SEARCHERS. Yes, wouldn’t it be great to visit Lone Pine and attend the film festival. I’m envious of Laura G. and others who live close enough to attend.
Yes, I’ll be reading all the reports on the TCM festival .