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John Wayne: 4 Essential Westerns on DVD

TRUE GRIT: In 1970, John Wayne won an Academy Award. For his larger-than-life performance as the drunken, uncouth and totally fearless one-eyed U.S. Marshall, Rooster Cogburn. The cantankerous Rooster is hired by a headstrong young girl (Kim Darby) to find the man who murdered her father and fled with the family savings. When Cogburn's employer insists on accompanying the old gunfighter, sparks fly. And the situation goes from troubled to disastrous when an inexperienced but enthusiastic Texas Ranger (Glen Campbell) joins the party. Laughter and tears punctuate the wild action in this extraordinary Western which features performances by Robert Duvall and Strother Martin. SHANE: Acclaimed director George Stevens' legendary rendition of the quintessential Western myth earned six Academy Award. #nominations, and made Shane one of the classics of the American cinema. The story brings Alan Ladd, a drifter and retired gunfighter, to the assistance of a homestead family terrorized by a wealthy cattleman and his hired gun (Jack Palance). In fighting the last decisive battle, Shane sees the end of his own way of life. Mysterious, moody and atmospheric, the film is enhanced by the intense performances of it's splendid cast. HUD: Having been burned by compromises to censors on his earlier films Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and Sweet Bird of Youth, Paul Newman decided to star in as uncompromising a property as he could find. That property was Hud, inspired by a portion of Larry McMurtry's novel, Horseman Pass By. Hud Bannon (Newman) is a young Texas rancher who lives with his cattleman father Homer (Melvyn Douglas) and his hero-worshipping nephew Lon (Brandon DeWilde). Hud is an amoral, cold-hearted creature; his father, who holds Hud responsible for the death of his other son, tries to imbue Lon with a sense of decency and responsibility to others, but Lon is devoted to Hud and isn't inclined to listen. When hoof-and-mouth disease shows up in one of the elder Bannon's cows, Hud is all for selling the herd before the government inspectors find out. But Homer orders the cattle destroyed (the film's most harrowing sequence), driving an even deeper wedge between himself and Hud. Finally, Hud steps over the line by attempting to rape Alma (Patricia Neal), the earthy but warm-hearted housekeeper. Paul Newman was so repellantly brilliant as an unregenerate heel that his Oscar nomination for Hud was a foregone conclusion. Although Newman lost the Oscar to Sidney Poitier in Lilies of the Field, Oscars did go to Neal for Best Actress, Douglas for Best Supporting Actor, and cinematographer James Wong Howe. CHUKA: Throughout the West, one name means action: Chuka! Tension builds for soldiers guarding a besieged prairie fort against Indian attacks. Their nerves are frayed and their spirits are dying. But there's a glimmer of hope: the lone gunfighter who's come to help them is the man called Chuka! Rod Taylor straps on his six-gun in this heroic, hard-hitting western about Chuka, a man of war who's seen enough fighting to know he must keep the brushfires of hatred and violence from erupting again. Acclaimed actors Ernest Borgnine, John Mills, James Whitmore and Louis Hayward join Taylor in this taut tale that emphasizes strong characterizations and meaningful action. GUNFIGHT AT THE O.K. CORRAL: Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas star as larger-than-life heroes in this classic Western epic directed by John Sturges. Frontier lawman Wyatt Earp (Lancaster) joins his three brothers in their feud against the villainous Clanton gang, a local clan of cattle thieves in Tombstone, Arizona. When Earp defends the sickly gambler John Doc Holliday (Douglas) and puts a stop to the Clanton's lawlessness, the ruthless outlaws seek revenge and murder one of Earp's brothers. This leads the men into the most devastating showdown in Wild West History! Gunfight at the O.K. Corral is a timeless, cinematic tale of good versus evil. WILL PENNY: Hollywood legend Charlton Heston stars as Will Penny, an aging cowboy on a hard-luck streak. He's out of work, out of money, and staked out to die in the desert by a gang of ruthless outlaws. Moments before death, Will is taken in by a beautiful young woman named Catherine (Joan Hackett), who is heading west with her young son to join her husband. As Catherine nurses Will back to health, he catches a glimpse of a lifestyle he's never known. Suddenly, Will has two more problems to deal with: He's madly in love with another man's wife, and the outlaw gang is on it's way back to finish him off... JOHNNY RENO: One man stands alone against the fury of mob justice. Threats. Fists. Bullets. Fire. By one means or another, riled-up folks at Stone Junction are going to have their way. They're dead set on inflicting their brutal vigilante justice on the accused killer held in the town's jailhouse. But there's an immovable object in their path. His name is Johnny Reno. Dana Andrews (Laura, The Best Years of Our Lives) portrays Reno, a U.S. Marshal armed with his gun and the unflinching courage of his beliefs. Jane Russell (The Outlaw, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes), Lon Chaney (The Wolf Man) and Tom Drake (Meet Me in St. Louis) join Andrews in this character-driven Western that fires off round alter round of hard-fought heroics. POSSE: Texas Marshal Howard Nightingale (Kirk Douglas) aspires to become a U.S. senator and believes that to do so, he must capture the gunslinger Jack Strawhorn (Bruce Dern). Recognizing a dangerous foe, Nightingale gathers a posse of ruthless law enforcers to track him down. His triumph seems imminent after the posse apprehends the outlaw's gang, though Strawhorn himself escapes. Nightingale's confidence is shaken, however, when arresting the elusive bandit proves politically complicated. THE SHOOTIST: About ten minutes into The Shootist, Doctor Hostetler (James Stewart) tells aging western gunfighter John Bernard Books (John Wayne) You have a cancer. Knowing that his death will be painful and lingering, Books is determined to be shot in the line of duty. In his remaining two months, Books settles scores with old enemies, including gambler Pulford (Hugh O'Brian) and Marshall Thibido (Harry Morgan) and reaches out to new friends (including feisty widow Lauren Bacall and her hero-worshipping son Ron Howard). In the end, is shot to death, but in so doing he is able to dissuade another from following his blood-stained example. Throughout the film, Book's imminent demise is compared with the decline of the west, as represented by the automobiles and streetcars that have begun to blight the main street of Wayne's home town. It is unknown if John Wayne was aware that he was dying of cancer when he agreed to film The Shootist; whatever the case, the film is a powerful valedictory to a remarkable man and a fabulous career.