The Dodgers’ home opener at Dodger Stadium is today (against the Tigers). As is customary around here, let’s take a look at John Ford in his Dodgers cap.
Have a feeling this is gonna be a good season.
Archive for March, 2025
Play ball!
Posted in John Ford, Peter Bogdanovich on March 27, 2025| 7 Comments »
DVD Review: Johnny Reno (1966).
Posted in AC Lyles, Dana Andrews, DVD/Blu-Ray Reviews, Jane Russell, John Agar, Lyle Bettger, Paramount, R.G. Springsteen on March 16, 2025| 7 Comments »
Directed by RG Springsteen
Produced by A. C. Lyles
Screenplay by Steve Fisher
Story by Andrew Craddock & Steve Fisher
Director Of Photography: Harold E. Stine
Edited by Bernard Matis
Music Composed by Jimmie Haskell
Cast: Dana Andrews (Marshal Johnny Reno), Jane Russell (Nona Williams), Lon Chaney (Sheriff Hodges), John Agar (Ed Tomkins), Lyle Bettger (Mayor Jess Yates), Tom Drake (Joe Conners), Richard Arlen (Ned Duggan), Robert Lowery (Jake Reed), Tracy Olsen (Marie Yates), Reg Parton (Bartender)
It’s a shame A.C. Lyles’ Westerns of the mid-60s aren’t available on DVD or Blu-Ray. Near as I can tell, the only one to see a DVD release in the States is Johnny Reno (1966). While the Lyles pictures aren’t gonna make any AFI 100 list, the casts are terrific — work for older stars and good-sized parts for character actors, and they’re a good way to spend 80-something minutes on a Saturday morning. Which is exactly what I did with Johnny Reno.
Marshal Johnny Reno (Dana Andrews) is riding past Vasquez Rocks (looking great in Technicolor and Techniscope) on his way to Stone Junction, when he gets sucked into a conflict between the Conners brothers, the citizens of Stone Junction and Chief Little Bear.
And it turns out the local saloon is run by Reno’s old flame Nona (Jane Russell).
It’s obvious the fine people of Stone Junction (John Agar, Lyle Bettger, Lon Chaney, Richard Arlen) have a dirty, dirty secret — and feel the best way to handle it is to make sure certain people stop breathing. Reno throws a monkey wrench into their plans.
You can see the influence of spaghetti westerns in these Lyles pictures, from the camerawork to the bloodletting, but for the most part, they play like it’s 1956 again (which is fine by me). The script for Johnny Reno, by Andrew Craddock & Steve Fisher, does some rather interesting things within a fairly standard storyline. RG Springsteen’s direction is as solid as you’d expect.
Dana Andrews has plenty to do. Lon Chaney is quite good as a sheriff who eventually decides to get out from under the thumb of the town’s movers and shakers. Lyle Bettger gets to be a real slimeball.
Jane Russell, one of my favorite actresses, gets the prize here, though. Miss Russell is always terrific when she gets tough, and she’s plenty tough here. Plus, she gets into another bathtub on the Paramount lot.
Just like she did in Son Of Paleface (1952).
There’s a pretty good shootout in the last reel, after the town’s secret is spilled, with everyone concerned blasting away in the middle of town. I would’ve like for Jane Russell to do some shootin’, but it was not to be. And while you knew an hour earlier that Andrews and Russell would get back together at the end, it’s nicely written and works just fine.
The DVD of Johnny Reno has been out for quite a while, and it’s a pretty solid presentation. The color is excellent and the widescreen image is bright and sharp. (Blu-Rays of things like Ghost And Mr. Chicken and The Good, The Bad And The Ugly show how good Technicolor/Techniscope can look in high definition.)
While Kino Lorber’s release of the Gordon Kay – Audie Murphy Westerns on Blu-Ray urges a reappraisal of those often-dismissed pictures, the Lyles Westerns remain what they always were: low-budget Westerns made to fill out double bills for Paramount — allowing Lyles to give work to his friends, some real pros. There’s nothing wrong with that, and I urge you to give Johnny Reno another look if you come across the DVD.
You can’t go wrong with the others, either, but promise me you won’t watch ’em if you can’t see them widescreen!
Blu-Ray News #387: Springfield Rifle (1952).
Posted in 1952, Alan Hale, Andre de Toth, DVD/Blu-Ray News, Fess Parker, Gary Cooper, Phil Carey, Warner Archive, Warner Bros. on March 12, 2025| 3 Comments »
Directed by Andre de Toth
Starring Gary Cooper, Phyllis Thaxter, David Brian, Paul Kelly, Philip Carey, Lon Chaney Jr., James Millican, Guinn ‘Big Boy’ Williams, Alan Hale Jr., Fess Parker
A Civil War picture starring Gary Cooper — directed by Andre de Toth. Count me in! Springfield Rifle (1952) is coming to Blu-Ray from Warner Archive.
Gary Cooper plays a Union soldier, exposed as a Confederate spy. Or is there something else going on? Cooper’s as great as ever, and here he’s got a great 50s Western cast along for the ride (even a pre-Them Fess Parker). And nobody could make something out of a mediocre script quite the way Andre de Toth could. It’s a picture more than deserving a second look.
In the late 1920s, cinematographer Edwin B. Dupar was one of the key DPs figuring out how to shoot sound movies. He also experimented with WarnerColor (Eastmancolor) in the early 50s on films like this — “Mr. Dupar, can you make this not look terrible?” Andre de Toth wrestled with the process on Carson City (1952).
It’ll be interesting to see what a nice Warner Archive Blu-Ray of this will look like (and the announced extras sound like a lot of fun). Recommended. (OK, so how about Carson City on Blu-Ray?)
50 Westerns From The 50s.