Showing posts with label Howard Hawks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Howard Hawks. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

A duo of Duke double-disc DVDs

New in video stores this week: Double-disc DVD editions of two classic Westerns starring John Wayne, John Ford’s The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (co-starring James Stewart and Lee Marvin) and Howard HawksEl Dorado (with Robert Mitchum and James Caan). Released as part of Paramount Home Video’s “Centennial Collection” series, each film comes complete with photo galleries, souvenir booklets, optional commentary soundtracks, and behind-the-scenes documentaries. Director-historian Peter Bogdanovich contributes to the commentary tracks of both films – and, on Liberty Valance, shares archival recordings of interviews he did back in the day with Wayne and Ford. And Hawks biographer Todd McCarthy figures into the mix on the El Dorado commentary.

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Rio Bravo: 50 years young



Wall Street Journal writer Allen Barra celebrates Howard Hawks' classic Western, which he claims may be the most popular cult movie ever made. Seriously. "The phrase 'cult favorite' conjures up images of wobbly hand-held camera shots and little-known actors," Barra admits. "But Rio Bravo was shot in glorious Technicolor and starred perhaps the most popular star in movie history. Most cult films are too hip to be popular, and most big hits are too popular to be hip. But Rio Bravo is that rarest of films -- both popular and hip."