Cowboy Legends Collector's Set [2 Discs]

MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

Yesterday's icons of the West-the singing cowboy, "The Duke," and more are featured in nine classic films. Featuring legends William Boyd, Gene Autry, John Wayne, and Roy Rogers.

DVD FEATURES:

• Number of Discs: 2
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 (Pre-1954 Standard)
• Screen: Black and White
• Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Cast:

  
       Gene Autry - Himself
       Andy Clyde - California Carlson
       Andy Clyde - California Jack
       Douglas Dumbrille - Henry Mitchell
       Claudia Drake - Inez
       Clayton Moore - Pete
       Charles Judels - Swartz
       Cliff Parkinson - Don Enrique
       Duncan Renaldo - Juan Morales
       Frederick Burton - Col. Ames
       Christine Maple - Elizabeth
       Bert Dodson - Bert
       Alan Ladd - Inspector
       Jack Daley - Gambler
       Britt Wood - Smith
       Al Taylor

• Director:

  Joseph Kane, William Witney, John English, Mack Wright, Charles Barton, Robert North Bradbury, Lesley Selander

• Producer:

  Harry Grey, Charles E. Ford, Edward J. White, Armand Schaefer, Nat Levine, Paul Malvern, Lewis Rachmil, Harry Sherman

• Screenwriter:

  Stuart Anthony, Robert Yost, Lindsley Parsons, Michael Wilson, J. Benton Cheney, Johnston McCulley, Bradford Ropes, Jack Natteford, Sloan Nibley, Jack Townley, Dorrell McGowan, Stuart E. McGowan

• Cinematographer:

  Devereaux Jennings, Louis Clyde Stoumen, Russell Harlan, Reggie Lanning, Ernest W. Miller, Jack A. Marta, William Bradford, Edgar Lyons, William Nobles

• Composer (Music Score):

  Irvin Talbot

• Musical Direction/Supervision:

  Irvin Talbot

• Songwriter:

  Hoagy Carmichael, Phil Ohman

• Composer (Music Score):

  Walter Scharf

• Musical Direction/Supervision:

  Morton Scott

• Songwriter:

  Ned Washington, Smiley Burnette, Edward Cherkose

• Composer (Music Score):

  R. Dale Butts, Morton Scott, Mischa Bakaleinikoff

• Musical Direction/Supervision:

  Mischa Bakaleinikoff

• Songwriter:

  Ted Koehler, Sam Stept

• Editor:

  John Link, Carl Pierson, Sherman A. Rose, Carroll Lewis, Tony Martinelli, Aaron Stell, Robert Jahns, Robert Johns

• Art Director:

  Lewis Rachmil, Fred A. Ritter, Frank Hotaling, Harold H. MacArthur

• Set Designer:

  George Milo, John McCarthy

• Costume Designer:

  Adele Palmer

• Makeup:

  Bob Mark

• Special Effects:

  Howard Lydecker, Theodore Lydecker

• Choreography:

  David Gould

• Short Story Author:

  Zane Grey, Clarence E. Mulford

REVIEWS:

• Alone among B-Western heroes, William Boyd's Hopalong Cassidy enjoyed the presence of strong women of a certain age. Clara Kimball Young and Evelyn Brent both appeared in the Hoppy series in their later years, offering solid performances and earning Hoppy's respect. Minna Gombell is added to the roster in Doomed Caravan, and she, too, brings some much needed ballast to a genre that all too often viewed women in decorative terms only. In addition to Miss Gombell and the usual strong work by Boyd, Andy Clyde, Morris Ankrum, and others, Doomed Caravan offers several good glimpses of Old Kernville, CA, a favorite location spot for the Hoppy unit that later gave way for the establishment of Lake Isabella. Leading lady Georgia Hawkins played Miss Kitty on the long-running CBS radio version of Gunsmoke. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi
• Anyone curious to learn what the German-accented Wiere Brothers were doing in a Roy Rogers Western should check out Hands Across the Border, restored to its full length after various television trimmings and released on DVD in 1999. Grandly awarded "introductory" billing, although they had appeared in films as far back as 1937, the Wieres take center stage near the end of the film performing the title-tune in drag. Part of Hollywood's ongoing "friendly neighbor" wartime policy towards Latin America, Hands Across the Border is filled with Latin rhythms performed not only by the Wiere Brothers, but also by leading lady Ruth Terry, Spanish-accented Janet Martin, the Guadalajara Trio, the Steve Condos dance team, and, of course, Roy himself. Add to that the presence of Duncan Renaldo, who, although Romanian by birth, typified the Hollywood "Latin lover" for decades, and a Mexican-flavored Busby Berkeley-style chorus line. With all this song and dance, it is a wonder that the scant 73 minute running time also leaves space for a little skullduggery by villainous Onslow Stevens and a Big Race featuring Roy on Trigger. With comedy relief supplied by Guinn "Big Boy" Williams and Mary Treen (when asked if she's afraid of Indians, Treen quips "not if there are cigar stores behind them"), the restored version of Hands Across the Border is a bright and entertaining package of wartime escapism, Republic Pictures style. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi
• John Wayne spends most of The Man from Utah with an embarrassed grin on his face as if Lindsley Parsons' simplistic dialogue was simply too much to handle, so what the heck! In contrast, George "Gabby" Hayes, still billed plain George Hayes, is visibly and audibly coming into his own, complete with ruffled appearance and such future trademark sayings as "tarnation" and "young whippersnapper." Only the standard complaint about those "durn persnickety females" is still missing. As he had in several of his early Westerns, John Wayne "performs" a little ditty, his singing voice, according to some sources, provided by future 20th Century-Fox B-Western crooner Smith Ballew. The jury, however, is still out on that. As a Western melodrama, The Man from Utah isn't much but it remains amusing to watch both Wayne and Hayes in their embryonic stages. And the Kernville River locations are picturesque as always. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi
• Who knew that legendary outlaw William Bonney was a dead-ringer for Roy Rogers -- or vice versa -- yet here they both are and so is Pat Garrett, impersonated by Wade Boteler. Billy and Garrett have their final fatal encounter, but the former is barely cold before Roy and Trigger turn up in New Mexico looking for work. Everyone mistakes Roy for Billy, of course, but, as Marshal Conway (Joseph Crehan) explains, Billy couldn't sing if his life depended on it, so go prove you're not him. Or words to that effect. Roy naturally doesn't waste any time, but happily strums his guitar, and, accompanied by old pal "Frog" Millhouse (Smiley Burnette), warbles "Sing a Little Song About Anything" by Burnette and Eddie Cherkose. That almost settles the matter once and for all and Roy can go on with the pleasant business of romancing Lynne Roberts, who, to her surprise and bewilderment, found herself billed as Mary Hart in this her first of eight films with Rogers. According to Roy, someone higher up at Republic Pictures had suggested that "Rogers & Hart in Billy the Kid Returns" would look just great on a theater marquee. Although not much of an actor this early in his screen career, Roy Rogers is a pleasing personality, and with him at the helm, Billy the Kid Returns makes an easy 58 minutes or so of musical Western entertainment. But don't forget the sight of the usually so stalwart Roy, as Billy the Kid, coolly killing a man whose horse he has just stolen. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi