Yahoo! Movies: New Western DVD Releases

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 08:22:53 -0000

A cashbox containing $200,000, that was stolen and hidden in an unmarked grave, is the focus of three men: two criminals and a stranger. (2 hrs. 41 min.) Release date: May 12, 2009

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 08:22:52 -0000

Two 19th-century train robbers keep one step ahead of the law until finally tracked down in Bolivia. (1 hr. 50 min.) Release date: May 12, 2009

Warlock

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 08:22:51 -0000

The outlaw-besieged mining town of Warlock hires a professional vigilante gunslinger named Clay (Henry Fonda) and his club-footed sidekick (Anthony Quinn) to clean up the streets and restore law and order. They tidy things up all right, but their brutal methods call the whole concept of law and order into question. Eventually a reformed outlaw in town named Johnny (Richard Widmark) is elected sheriff, and a showdown with Clay seems inevitable, especially after a beautiful woman (Dolores Michaels) arrives in town accusing Clay of murdering her fianc�.

This character-driven, thinking man's Western benefits from a cast of familiar supporting actors: Wallace Ford, Richard Arlen, Whit Bissell, DeForest Kelley (Bones from STAR TREK) and Frank Gorshin (The Riddler from TV's BATMAN). Director Edward Dmytryk successfully incorporates lofty issues of morality and masculinity into the traditional western trappings, and the result is a classic of the genre, both thoughtful and two-fisted. (2 hrs. 1 min.) Release date: May 12, 2009

El Dorado

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 08:22:50 -0000

In the town of El Dorado, wealthy landowner Bart Jason (Ed Asner) is embroiled in a struggle with the MacDonald family, who own a large amount of land just outside town lines. Jason hires gunman Cole Thornton (John Wayne) to scare the MacDonalds in hope that they'll back down. Cole is pleased to discover that his old friend J.B. (Robert Mitchum) is now the sheriff of the town. The sheriff warns Cole that involvement with the crooked Jason will get him arrested. Further circumstances entwine the hired gun with the MacDonald family, and he sets out to destroy Jason. Hawks' unheralded western, with a fine script by Leigh Brackett (THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK), features plot similarities to his earlier classic RIO BRAVO. (2 hrs. 6 min.) Release date: May 19, 2009

Stagecoach

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 08:22:49 -0000

Apache Indian Chief Geronimo and his war party are on a savage rampage across the countryside, prepared to massacre all who cross their path. Nine diverse travelers must journey over the dangerous terrain and their only hope is the stagecoach. Release date: May 12, 2009

The Magnificent Seven

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 08:22:48 -0000

A group of seven tough gunslingers are hired by a Mexican village to put a stop to the vicious bandit and his gang who have been pillaging it for years. (2 hrs. 6 min.) Release date: May 12, 2009

Valdez Is Coming

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 08:22:47 -0000

Bob Valdez (Burt Lancaster), a Mexican-American deputy sheriff, is forced to kill an accused murderer by ruthless land baron, Frank Tanner. When he discovers that the accused left behind a pregnant girlfriend, he asks around town for money to support her, and is severely beaten and left for dead by Tanner's posse. After his recovery, Valdez prepares for vengeance, sending the simple message to Tanner that "Valdez is coming." (1 hr. 30 min.) Release date: May 12, 2009

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 08:22:46 -0000

In John Ford's stark, melancholy swan song for the conventional frontier Western, aged Senator Ransom Stoddard (James Stewart) returns to the small town of Shinbone with his wife, Hallie (Vera Miles), for the funeral of his friend, Tom Doniphan (John Wayne), where he recounts for reporters his relationship with the man. His arrival in the town years earlier as a newly minted lawyer had been welcomed with a vicious beating by Liberty Valance (Lee Marvin), a flamboyant thug hired by powerful business interests fearful of the lawyer's intentions to stump for statehood. Doniphan, a rancher and feared gunman, finds Stoddard unconscious, takes him into town, and continues to protect him, particularly after coming to realize that the woman he loves cares more for the lawyer. Despite Doniphan's warnings that the only law in the region comes at the end of a gun barrel, the stubborn lawyer insists on teaching the illiterate townspeople about the rule of law in a democratic society. When Stoddard is elected as the regional delegate to the territorial convention, Valance baits the politician, a notoriously inept gunman, into a showdown.

The film, which plays like a Western version of Freud's CIVILIZATION AND ITS DISCONTENTS, reflects the aging director's ambivalence about many of the beliefs that had animated his earlier work. Shot on two soundstages because of a limited budget and Ford's poor health, THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE blends a stripped-down look with an intentionally fractured, ambiguous narrative to stand as a haunting elegy for the fearless gunman, the endless wilderness, and the loss of freedom their vanishing betokens. (2 hrs. 2 min.) Release date: May 19, 2009

Hang 'Em High

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 08:22:45 -0000

The first spaghetti western made in America (sans Sergio Leone) and Clint Eastwood's first star vehicle made outside Europe. Eastwood's innocent cowboy miraculously survives his own hanging and then treks across the frontier to bring his hangmen to justice. Highly entertaining, featuring cameos by Bruce Dern, Dennis Hopper, and cowboy veteran Bob Steele as a dungeon prisoner. (1 hr. 54 min.) Release date: May 12, 2009

Guns of the Magnificent Seven

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 08:22:44 -0000

In this third remake of Kurasawa's THE SEVEN SAMURAI, the "seven" gunslingers free Mexican political prisoners, trains them as warriors and fights with them in an attack upon a Mexican fortress in an attempt to free a revolutionary leader. Filmed in Panavision with an Elmer Bernstein score, the film gives nothing new but is highly entertaining and spawned a sequel, THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN RIDE! Release date: May 12, 2009

Heaven s Gate

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 08:22:43 -0000

An epic post-Vietnam look at the Western genre and the exploitation of immigrant settlers, HEAVEN'S GATE is based on the historical 1890s Johnson County War incident in Wyoming. Visually remarkable sequences and a haunting score frame the story. Sheriff James Averill (Kris Kristofferson), educated in the east and full of idealism, attempts to protect immigrant farmers when wealthy land barons hire mercenaries to settle their scores. The hired guns, including Nathan Champion (Christopher Walken), plan to kill a number of farmers whose names appear on a death list and whom the farmers believe have been stealing their cattle. Backed by the army and the federal government, the mercenaries prepare to attack the farmers when Averill and Champion clash over the impending massacre and Ella Watson (Isabelle Huppert), a local prostitute and woman they both love. Shot right after Cimino's triumphant DEER HUNTER, the film is a violent, unsentimental look at the American frontier. (2 hrs. 29 min.) Release date: May 12, 2009

A Fistful of Dollars

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 08:22:42 -0000

The first true Spaghetti Western follows the exploits of a nameless drifter (Clint Eastwood) who wanders into a town torn apart by greed, corruption, and revenge. The clever, tough-talking gunslinger then plays the town's two feuding families off each other to his own benefit. As members of each family are planted in the ground, the gold in his pockets gets heavier and heavier.

This violent remake of Akira Kurosawa's YOJIMBO made Eastwood a star, and sparked two sequels--FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE and THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY--to form what is now referred to as the Man with No Name trilogy. All three films starred Eastwood, featured Ennio Morricone's distinctive musical compositions, and were directed--in a wonderfully gritty style--by Sergio Leone. Although the film was not released in the United States until 1967, it was produced and released internationally in 1964. (1 hr. 40 min.) Release date: May 12, 2009

Lonely Are the Brave

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 08:22:41 -0000

Jack Burns tries to spring his friend from jail and ends up on the wrong side of the law and on the run alone. The sheriff must bring him to justice even though his sympathies lie with Jack. (1 hr. 47 min.) Release date: Jul 7, 2009

Lawman

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 08:22:40 -0000

While in a neighboring town, some locals from Sheriff Maddox' domain accidentally kill a man. So the stern, unbending Maddox goes there to arrest the missing men, a task that proves much harder than he expected, thanks to his rude and arrogant manner. The residents quickly view him as an enemy, and demand that he leave. As a result, town boss Vincent Bronson (whom the fugitives work for) sends one henchman after another to kill Maddox. (1 hr. 38 min.) Release date: May 12, 2009

100 Rifles

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 08:22:39 -0000

Reynolds stars as Indian Yaqui Joe, a man who robs a bank to buy guns for his oppressed people. Lawman Jim Brown follows him to Mexico where they are both held prisoner by a corrupt official. They become allies and after their escape, work for the Indians' fight for freedom and dignity. (1 hr. 49 min.) Release date: May 12, 2009

Duel in the Sun

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 08:22:38 -0000

Dubbed "Lust in the Dust" by Hollywood wags and, at $5 million, the most expensive film made up to that time, DUEL IN THE SUN stars Jennifer Jones as Pearl Chavez, a stunning young half-breed. After her father's death, she's taken in by distant relative Laura Belle McCanles (Lillian Gish), whose husband, Senator (Lionel Barrymore), is a Texas cattle baron of immense wealth. She soons finds herself attracted to the two McCanles sons: the magnetic hell-raiser Lewt (Gregory Peck) and the educated, restrained Jesse (Joseph Cotten). Since Pearl is presumed to have inherited her mother's hot-blooded disposition, she's tagged as a bad girl by Lewt, who quickly makes a pass at her without success. But with Jesse away on business, she and Lewt eventually become lovers, although she still can't decide which of the two she loves. Meanwhile, Senator is embroiled in a dispute over the invasion of his property by railroad interests, becoming enraged when Jesse chooses the pen over the shotgun as a negotiating tool. Saturated in sexual innuendo, this fabulously overripe, overproduced melodrama, which constantly teeters on the edge of camp, is, more than anything else, the product of David O. Selznick's megalomaniacal desire to top his earlier epic, GONE WITH THE WIND. That said, the acting is very good, as is Dimitri Tiomkin's score, and the crowd scenes are superbly orchestrated. (2 hrs. 18 min.) Release date: May 12, 2009

Along Came Jones

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 08:22:37 -0000

Gary Cooper (who also produced) takes a sly shot at his laconic, Western-hero image as a somewhat less-than-fearless cowboy mistaken for vicious killer Duryea. He ends up on the lam from outlaws and the law with only cranky Demarest and lovely Young to protect him. Release date: May 12, 2009

A Duck, You Sucker

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 08:22:36 -0000

Sergio Leone, famous for his "spaghetti westerns," directed this humorous tale about an Irish terrorist obsessed with explosives who teams up with a down-to-earth peasant during the Mexican Revolution. A FISTFUL OF DYNAMITE (aka DUCK, YOU SUCKER) stars James Coburn and Rod Steiger. (2 hrs. 30 min.) Release date: May 12, 2009

Hour of the Gun

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 08:22:35 -0000

John Sturges revisits a subject that he had explored a decade earlier with GUNFIGHT AT THE O.K. CORRAL, and this more melancholy version reflects the troubled period in which it was made. Set in 1888 in the aftermath of the historic gunfight, it stars James Garner as legendary sheriff Wyatt Earp. The surviving Clanton, Ike, has Wyatt and his brothers, Virgil (Frank Converse) and Morgan (Sam Melville), and their alcoholic, gunslinger friend, Doc Holiday (Jason Robards Jr.) arrested for murder. The charges are quickly dismissed, and Virgil accepts an offer to run for marshal of Tombstone. But he's trapped by some of Clanton's men and is so seriously injured that he has to step down. After Morgan offers to take his brother's place on the ballot, he's killed. Wyatt is appointed as federal marshal, and he and Doc round up a posse to go after Ike Clanton. Wyatt now displays a grim ruthlessness that disturbs even his hard-bitten friend, while Doc suddenly begins hemorrhaging and realizes that he has to go to a sanatorium or die. This inspired look at Western vengeance features a terrific cast, including Garner, Robards, Robert Ryan, Albert Salmi, and a young Jon Voight, in his film debut. (1 hr. 40 min.) Release date: May 12, 2009

Navajo Joe

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 08:22:34 -0000

In NAVAJO JOE, a sole survivor of a bloody massacre vows revenge on his attackers. Burt Reynolds stars in this Spaghetti Western from director Sergio Corbucci (DJANGO). (1 hr. 30 min.) Release date: May 12, 2009

Chato's Land

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 08:22:33 -0000

After killing a man in self-defense, Chato (Charles Bronson), a half-breed Apache, is on the run from a 13-man posse, because that man was the town Sheriff. Vowing to avenge the death of their fallen constable, they follow Chato into the wilderness. Living off the land, he outwits the riders tracking him, picking them off one by one. Release date: May 12, 2009

The Scalphunters

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 08:22:32 -0000

Sydney Pollack directs this comic Western in which fur trapper Joe Bass (Burt Lancaster), following a successful expedition, is ambushed by a small group of Indians. The Indians force Joe to trade his pelts for an educated, runaway slave, played brilliantly by Ossie Davis. Things get flipped again when the Indians themselves are ambushed by a gang of scalphunters. This band of outlaws, led by Jim Howie, once again take Bass's pelts, after murdering the tribe. (1 hr. 42 min.) Release date: May 12, 2009

The Missouri Breaks

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 08:22:31 -0000

THE MISSOURI BREAKS is a big-event picture starring Jack Nicholson and Marlon Brando as men on opposite sides of the law. Brando plays Lee Clayton, hired gunman and bounty hunter, sent to track down a gang of cattle thieves led by Tom Logan (Nicholson). The cattle thieves are stealing stock from rancher David Braxton. On top of that, Logan is having a love affair with Braxton's daughter. Braxton wants Clayton to bring the gang to justice, but Logan is not about to run from trouble. (2 hrs. 6 min.) Release date: May 12, 2009

Support Your Local Gunfighter

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 08:22:30 -0000

Although SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL GUNFIGHTER features the same director and many of the same cast members as SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL SHERIFF, the film isn't a sequel to the latter movie. Instead, it's another delightful collaboration between director Burt Kennedy and leading man James Garner. This time around Garner plays Latigo Smith, a wandering con man who arrives in the town of Purgatory. When two competing mine owners mistake him for a hired gunman, Latigo sees a chance to get his hands on some of their ill-gotten gains. Trouble arises, however, when the real gunslinger comes to town. (1 hr. 32 min.) Release date: May 12, 2009

Man Without a Gun

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 08:22:29 -0000

Clint Tollinger (Mitchum) is a stranger in a small western town looking for his estranged wife who left him. During the search he consequently gets wrapped up in the troubles of the townsfolk who are living in constant fear of an intimidating landowner who rules the people through his rough and tumble henchmen. A town tamer by trade, Clint accepts a commission from the town sheriff to help the people get their lives back and to set things straight. (1 hr. 23 min.) Release date: May 12, 2009

Comes a Horseman

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 08:22:28 -0000

Lavishly photographed, COMES A HORSEMAN is a dramatic Western set in the post-World War II "new West". Jane Fonda stars as Ella, a stubborn rancher who will not surrender her land to the local land baron (Jason Robards). Robards yearns for the good old days when land owners were kings and the past romantic history between him and Ella seems to have given him a proprietary sense in more ways than one. War veteran Frank (James Caan) teams up with Ella to help save her ranch and her heart. (1 hr. 58 min.) Release date: May 12, 2009

Junior Bonner

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 08:22:27 -0000

Mc Queen is Junior Bonner, an aging rodeo champ who returns to his home town to participate in the annual rodeo. He finds his family estranged, does what he can to help, and then moves on...after some good rodeo riding and a few brawls. (1 hr. 40 min.) Release date: May 12, 2009

The Magnificent Seven Ride

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 08:22:26 -0000

Lee Van Cleef stars as Marshal Chris Adams in this rollicking continuation of the popular "Magnificent Seven" series. This time around, Chris has lost his wife and is on a new mission to rescue a group of women who have been captured by evil bandits. With the help of a motley group of convicts, Chris embarks on his latest battle with danger. (1 hr. 40 min.) Release date: May 12, 2009

Doc

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 08:22:25 -0000

The story of notorious criminals Wyatt Earp (Harris Yulin) and Doc Holliday (Stacy Keach) in a revisal fashion. (1 hr. 35 min.) Release date: May 12, 2009

Apache

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 08:22:24 -0000

In Robert Aldrich's stirring film, an indominable Apache fighter, Massai (Burt Lancaster), refuses to accept the defeat of his people signaled by the surrender of his legendary chief, Geronimo (Monte Blue). Likewise, he will not swallow the pronouncement of a foe, Indian scout Al Sieber (John McIntyre), who tells Massai (with the latter securely bound in chains), "You're not a warrior, just a whipped Indian." Massai escapes a train headed for a reservation in Florida and resumes his quest to find a way of life beyond the suffocating subjugation of the white man. Sieber comes after him, as does a fully assimilated Indian, Hondo (Charles Bronson), who has been whipped into a murderous rage because Massai has stolen the heart of his woman, Nalinle (Jean Peters). Lancaster delivers a passionate performance, and Aldrich girds his tale of the defiant warrior with powerful, iconic imagery worthy of myth, making for a film that ventures into the genre of the Western but stakes out a spacious territory all its own. (1 hr. 31 min.) Release date: May 12, 2009

Red River

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 08:22:23 -0000

RED RIVER, Howard Hawks's masterpiece, is one of the greatest Westerns ever filmed, a saga of obsession and rivalry between a man and his adoptive son amid an epic struggle for survival in the Old West. Tom Dunson (John Wayne) journeys west to Texas to build a cattle empire and adopts Matthew Garth, a young boy orphaned by an Indian raid. Years later, Matthew (Montgomery Clift) returns from the Civil War and joins Dunson on a massive cattle drive north undertaken to avoid financial ruin. Stampedes and Indian attacks build tension, but it is Dunson's ironfisted leadership that causes the most problems, finally bringing the action to a boiling point that pits father against son. This bold canvas of the American frontier features stirring performances, including Clift in his first film and Wayne in one of his finest and most complex roles, stunning photography shot on location in Arizona, and a perfect balance of action, drama, romance, and comedy from one of Hollywood's greatest directors. (2 hrs. 5 min.) Release date: May 12, 2009

Breakheart Pass

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 08:22:22 -0000

A muscular Western featuring the fisticuffs of Bronson. In 1870, the soldiers at an Army outpost in Utah are supposedly suffering from a diphtheria epidemic. A train heads toward the fort filled with soldiers, medical supplies and Bronson, an undercover agent posing as an arrested criminal. There, he makes a stunning discovery: there is no epidemic, but there is a conspiracy between a group of killers and a tribe of Indians. Fabled stunt man Yakima Canutt helped out, and boxer Archie Moore shows his stuff. (1 hr. 35 min.) Release date: May 12, 2009

Young Billy Young

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 08:22:21 -0000

When Ben Kane (Robert Mitchum) sets out to avenge his murdered son, he partners up with sharp shooting YOUNG BILLY YOUNG (Robert walker Jr.) and together they become deputies in the small town of Lordsburg. As they settle into their new professions, Kane becomes infatuated with the town bar maid Lily Beloit (Angie Dickinson) and Young crosses paths with his old partner, Jesse Boone. Angry at Young over old business affairs, Boone has turned jaded, and plans to kill Kane. But when the fiery Kane finds out that Boone's father killed his son, arresting him becomes all the more imperative as he is the one link to catching the child murderer. Using their judicial sway, Kane and Young set a guileful trap for the Boone family and things heat up in the little old town of Lordsburg.

Based on Will Henry's novel, YOUNG BILLY YOUNG exceeds the psychological content of most westerns. It questions the relationships between fathers and sons (Kane's and Young's relationship is similar to that of Stephen Daedelus and Henry Bloom in James Joyce's epic novel ULYSSEUS) and examines the orphans search for surrogate family members in the old lonesome West. Including the hit theme song sung by Robert Mitchum, YOUNG BILLY YOUNG is an intelligent and compelling Western. (1 hr. 28 min.) Release date: May 12, 2009

Broken Lance

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 08:22:20 -0000

Edward Dmytryk directed this literate Western, a remake of THE HOUSE OF STRANGERS, which is itself loosely based on Shakespeare's KING LEAR. Tyrannical cattle baron Matt Devereaux (Spencer Tracy) has raised his older sons harshly, leaving them neglected and bitter, particularly Ben (Richard Widmark). Matt's youngest son, Joe (Robert Wagner), however, receives the most attention from Matt's wife, a Comanche indian (Katy Jurado). Joe remains loyal, even taking the rap when the old man gets hauled up on charges of launching a raid on a nearby copper mine. After spending three years in jail, Joe comes home to find his dad dead from a stroke, his mother back with her tribe, and his brothers running the ranch into the ground. Joe, understandably shocked and enraged, then plots his revenge.

The film features a solid script by Richard Murphy and strong supporting performances by Hugh O'Brien, Eduard Franz, Earl Holliman and E.G. Marshall. It's interesting to see Spencer Tracy in such an unsympathetic light as the patriarch; his scenes with Jurado comprise some of the film's best moments. (1 hr. 36 min.) Release date: May 12, 2009

The Westerner

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 08:22:19 -0000

In 1940, THE WESTERNER was underrated--regarded simply as an amusing diversion from director William Wyler. Time has passed and it emerges in the 2000s looking like one of the great Westerns. It begins with a hanging in Vinegarroon, where the self-styled "Judge" Roy Bean (Walter Brennan) holds sway. Cole Harden (Gary Cooper) rides into town on, what proves to be, a stolen horse. Entering Bean's saloon, which doubles as a courtroom, Cole is soon on trial--with his horse as a witness. The case is summarily concluded, the jury convenes in the poker room with a bottle of whiskey, and while they drink, Cole has a little time to think of how to save his neck. The judge seems to like him, and maybe likes English actress Lily Langtry even more. Maybe if Cole has seen, or even met, the legendary Lily....

As THE WESTERNER moves from its laconic opening to its climactic opera house showdown, it crosses its buddy-rivalry story, with a homesteaders-versus-cattlemen subplot and the story of Bean's fascination with Lily Langtry. It does all this with economy, wonderful deep-focus photography by Gregg Toland, deft direction by Wyler, and beautiful understated acting by Cooper and Brennan. Release date: May 12, 2009

Terror in a Texas Town

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 08:22:18 -0000

A wealthy oil baron finds his strong-arm plans thwarted by a Scandinavian whaler who comes to town to visit his father's ranch. (1 hr. 20 min.) Release date: May 12, 2009

Black Cyclone

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 08:22:17 -0000

This silent western penned and produced by the great Hal Roach features Rex the Wild Horse doing stunts the ASPCA would go bonkers over in the modern day. The story follows Rex as he meets Lady, another horse, and finally befriends and rescues a man from wolves and dangerous outlaws. Release date: Jun 21, 2009

The Ride Back

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 08:22:16 -0000

Deep central characters place this 1957 western ahead of many of its contemporaries. A sheriff (William Conrad) catches an outlaw (Anthony Quinn) and must travel with him back through rough terrain and Indian territory to bring the suspected murderer to justice. (1 hr. 19 min.) Release date: May 12, 2009

Five Guns West

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 08:22:15 -0000

An early Roger Corman film, FIVE GUNS WEST is a classic western tale of outlaws who are pardoned if they will take on a mission for the Confederacy. (1 hr. 18 min.) Release date: May 12, 2009

The Indian Fighter

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 08:22:14 -0000

In Andr� de Toth's rough and tumble Western, Kirk Douglas stars as Johnny Hawks, a cocky, brash cowboy notorious as the Indian fighter throughout the Oregon territories. Captain Trask (Walter Abel), commander of the local fort, calls in Hawks due to trouble with the neighboring Sioux tribe, lead by Chief Red Cloud (Eduard Franz). Hawks visits the Chief to threaten and cajole for peace, and falls for his striking daughter, Onahti (Elsa Martinelli), who resists Hawks' lusty advances. Tensions mount when gold-hungry settlers Chivington (Lon Chaney) and Wes Todd (Walter Matthau), enrage the Chief's brother, Grey Wolf (Harry Landers), by attempting to trade whiskey for the Indian's gold. Hawks must broker a peace treaty, however, so the Sioux will allow a wagon train to pass through their land unharmed. Hawks accompanies the wagon train by the side of widowed mother, Susan Rogers (Diana Douglas), who hopes Johnny will marry her. Hawks, however, is preoccupied with his love for Onahti and with Chivington and Todd's dangerous quest to locate the Sioux gold. De Toth's colorful, action-packed tale of cowboys and Indians features a tense final standoff and strong performances by the dynamic Douglas and Matthau, in his sophomore film role. (1 hr. 28 min.) Release date: May 12, 2009

The King and Four Queens

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 08:22:13 -0000

While staying in a desert ghost town whose only inhabitants are four young widows and their mother-in-law, a man who shoots fast and thinks quick sets his sights on this harem and $100,000 in gold. (1 hr. 26 min.) Release date: May 12, 2009

Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 08:22:12 -0000

Robert Altman revisits American history--following the critical smash NASHVILLE--with this scathing indictment of celebrity and politics in the Wild West. Paul Newman (BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID) stars as Buffalo Bill Cody, a man who has parlayed his legend into a grand moneymaking scheme. Employing a group of talented gunslingers and horseback riders, Bill's carnival show promotes an exaggerated view of American history. However, when the company recruits equally legendary Native American Chief Sitting Bull (Frank Kaquitts) and his interpreter, William Halsey (Will Sampson) to appear as defeated victims in the show, the lies begin to catch up with Buffalo Bill. While the appearance of President Grover Cleveland (Pat McCormick) further helps carve Bill's name in history, it is revealed that Sitting Bull is not completely done with Bill. Altman's adaptation of Arthur Kopit's play contains his signature roaming camera and sprawling cast, as well as conveys a sarcastic, cynical tone that aims to debunk myths created by the real-life legends on which the film is based. As the manipulative Buffalo Bill, a man whose conscience finally catches up with him, Newman delivers a comical and impassioned performance, adding yet another memorable character to his, and director Altman's, oeuvre. (2 hrs. 3 min.) Release date: May 12, 2009