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Universal will be releasing two Classic Western Round Up sets on May 8th.

Volume 1 will include: The Texas Rangers (King Vidor, 1936), Canyon Passage (Jacques Tourneur, 1946), Kansas Raiders (Ray Enright, 1951) and The Lawless Breed (Raoul Walsh, 1952).

Volume 2 will include: The Texans (James Hogan, 1938), California (John Farrow, 1946), The Cimarron Kid (Budd Boetticher, 1952) and The Man From Alamo (Budd Boetticher, 1953)

I can't say that I have seen any of these films (that I am aware of). However, personally I would probably pick up any film directed by Vidor, Tourneur and Walsh, and, even if these are not the most coveted westerns by Boetticher, they still hit a dry spot.

On the talent side, Man From Alamo stars Glenn Ford, Dana Andrews heads up Canyon Passage, Barbara Stanwyck and Ray Milland are in California, Rock Hudson in Lawless Breed, Fred MacMurray in Rangers, The Texans is a Randolph Scott western, and Raiders and Cimmaron Kid both star Audie Murphy.

I would be interested in comments from people who have seen any of these films, but the little hillbilly in me is really excited about them here sets, and, heck, at $20 a pop, this is almost like stealing candy from kids.

You're sure to get some comments about Lawless Breed. I know there are some big fans around here, but it's been too long since I saw it.

Although the two Boetticher films are not as celebrated as his collaborations with Randolph Scott, there still very worthwhile. Like Tourneur and Anthony Mann, Boetticher seemed incapable of making an uninteresting film. The Man from the Alamo is probably the better of the two, and it offers a classically Boetticherian exploration of the perceptions of honor and masculinity.

Canyon Passage is one of my two or three favourite Tourneurs and one of the best westerns ever made. I'm thrilled that this is finally coming to dvd.

Canyon Passage is a masterpiece, and the real gem of these releases.

fred wrote:Canyon Passage is one of my two or three favourite Tourneurs and one of the best westerns ever made. I'm thrilled that this is finally coming to dvd.

It is arguably THE greatest western ever made. It's a shame that it doesn't get an individual release, it will remain an underrated gem forever. But it's a gem in every department, acting screenplay, directing, colour photography.

lubitsch wrote:It's a shame that it doesn't get an individual release

At $26.99 the box is practically priced as an individual release, cheaper than a lower-tier Criterion. Just pretend the other three films are extras.

lubitsch wrote:It is arguably THE greatest western ever made.

A case could certainly be made. I'd probably give a very slight edge to Rio Bravo, but throw in The Naked Spur and I'd be happy to call it a three-way tie.

The Lawless Breed doesn't often come down from my shelves for viewing, but I always enjoy it when I do. It's a very typical Walsh western: visually beautiful, wearing its moralizings lightly and contemplating its tragedies serenely, with an almost classical Greek concentration on its chosen subject (outlaw looks back on his rebellious life) and a positively Shakespearean disregard of historical "fact" (the outlaw in question is John Wesley Hardin). Anyone allergic to Rock Hudson's acting should avoid it; otherwise I think any Walshian would enjoy it.

denti alligator wrote:At $26.99 the box is practically priced as an individual release, cheaper than a lower-tier Criterion. Just pretend the other three films are extras.

The only problem is these are two-disc sets, so they're cramming double features onto each disc. I have no complaints about the price, but I'm getting mighty sick of this practice. It's bad enough putting unrelated films in the same set, but each of these films deserves its own disc!