No Highway in the Sky
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1951 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 99 min. / Street Date February 7, 2017 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring : James Stewart, Marlene Dietrich, Glynis Johns, Jack Hawkins, Janette Scott, Niall MacGinnis, Kenneth More, Ronald Squire, Elizabeth Allan, Jill Clifford, Felix Aylmer, Dora Bryan, Maurice Denham, Wilfrid Hyde-White, Bessie Love, Karel Stepanek.
Cinematography: Georges Périnal
Film Editor: Manuel del Campo
Original Music: Malcolm Arnold
Written by: R.C. Sherriff, Oscar Millard, Alec Coppel from the novel by Nevil Shute
Produced by: Louis D. Lighton
Directed by Henry Koster
A few years back, whenever a desired title came up on list for a Fox, Columbia or Warners’ Mod (made-on-demand) DVD, my first reaction was disappointment: we really want to see our favorites released in the better disc format, Blu-ray. But things have changed. As Mod announcements thin out, we have seen an explosion of library titles remastered in HD.
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1951 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 99 min. / Street Date February 7, 2017 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring : James Stewart, Marlene Dietrich, Glynis Johns, Jack Hawkins, Janette Scott, Niall MacGinnis, Kenneth More, Ronald Squire, Elizabeth Allan, Jill Clifford, Felix Aylmer, Dora Bryan, Maurice Denham, Wilfrid Hyde-White, Bessie Love, Karel Stepanek.
Cinematography: Georges Périnal
Film Editor: Manuel del Campo
Original Music: Malcolm Arnold
Written by: R.C. Sherriff, Oscar Millard, Alec Coppel from the novel by Nevil Shute
Produced by: Louis D. Lighton
Directed by Henry Koster
A few years back, whenever a desired title came up on list for a Fox, Columbia or Warners’ Mod (made-on-demand) DVD, my first reaction was disappointment: we really want to see our favorites released in the better disc format, Blu-ray. But things have changed. As Mod announcements thin out, we have seen an explosion of library titles remastered in HD.
- 1/21/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
As if the film's dodgy dialogue and Dr Seuss suits weren't insult enough – casting John Wayne in the lead role really put the cowboy boot in the Mongol warrior's legacy
The Conqueror (1956)
Director: Dick Powell
Entertainment grade: D–
History grade: D+
Genghis Khan founded the Mongol Empire in the 12th century.
Casting
The Conqueror was written for Marlon Brando, but he dodged it thanks to his contract with another studio. Meanwhile, John Wayne was at the peak of his career – he made The Searchers soon afterwards – and producer Howard Hughes was inclined to give him whatever he wanted. What he wanted, apparently, was to be a 12th-century Mongolian warlord. Well, who doesn't? This is how one of the worst casting decisions of all time was made, and John Wayne became Genghis Khan.
Dialogue
The film opens with Temujin, as Genghis was originally known, intercepting a wedding procession of Merkits. No,...
The Conqueror (1956)
Director: Dick Powell
Entertainment grade: D–
History grade: D+
Genghis Khan founded the Mongol Empire in the 12th century.
Casting
The Conqueror was written for Marlon Brando, but he dodged it thanks to his contract with another studio. Meanwhile, John Wayne was at the peak of his career – he made The Searchers soon afterwards – and producer Howard Hughes was inclined to give him whatever he wanted. What he wanted, apparently, was to be a 12th-century Mongolian warlord. Well, who doesn't? This is how one of the worst casting decisions of all time was made, and John Wayne became Genghis Khan.
Dialogue
The film opens with Temujin, as Genghis was originally known, intercepting a wedding procession of Merkits. No,...
- 5/3/2013
- by Alex von Tunzelmann
- The Guardian - Film News
The Conqueror
Written by Oscar Millard
Directed by Dick Powell
USA, 1956
How bad a film is Howard Hughes notorious disaster, well it only managed to kill John Wayne is all. No not Wayne’s career, Wayne himself. The film was shot on location near St. George, Utah (obviously for its uncanny resemblance to that of northeast Asia), 137 miles from above-ground nuclear weapons testing. The filmmakers knew about the testing but were assured by the federal government that they caused no hazard. 91 out of the 220 cast and crew were diagnosed with some form of cancer within 15 years of filming and the death toll included the film’s director Dick Powell as well as the leads Pedro Armendáriz, Susan Hayward, Agnes Moorehead and of course The Duke himself. Producer Hughes so regretted his decision to film near a hazard site that he bought every copy of the film for $12 million and locked...
Written by Oscar Millard
Directed by Dick Powell
USA, 1956
How bad a film is Howard Hughes notorious disaster, well it only managed to kill John Wayne is all. No not Wayne’s career, Wayne himself. The film was shot on location near St. George, Utah (obviously for its uncanny resemblance to that of northeast Asia), 137 miles from above-ground nuclear weapons testing. The filmmakers knew about the testing but were assured by the federal government that they caused no hazard. 91 out of the 220 cast and crew were diagnosed with some form of cancer within 15 years of filming and the death toll included the film’s director Dick Powell as well as the leads Pedro Armendáriz, Susan Hayward, Agnes Moorehead and of course The Duke himself. Producer Hughes so regretted his decision to film near a hazard site that he bought every copy of the film for $12 million and locked...
- 3/3/2013
- by Matthew Younker
- SoundOnSight
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