I’ve just been made aware of the fact (courtesy of John Knight) that Delmer Daves’ superior western Jubal is on its way to Blu-ray in Europe via Explosive Media / Koch in Germany in late February. This is a wonderful movie that comes highly recommended – I wrote about it here years ago.
Riding the High Country 
A real corker of a western. It should look terrific on a BluRay.
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Yes, ‘Scope images generally fare particularly well in high definition.
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Don’t think I have ever seen it (heaven knows why!) but will look out for this blu Ray. Thanks for info.
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It’s an excellent film, full of all those touches that make Daves’ work such a pleasure.
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Thanks for the link to this film- somewhat before I rode The High Country and also the link to the two Brit Flicks I was very taken by the review of TURN THE KEY SOFTLY. I enjoyed reading them both enormously.
JUBAL sadly failed to make a star out of Valerie French she is wonderful as the Femme Fatale of the piece and was also excellent in follow up Westerns DECISION AT SUNDOWN and THE HARD MAN. The scenes when Glenn Ford rejects her obvious charms are very well acted by the pair. I think Daves himself felt that Steiger was unsuitable for Westerns, wouldn’t it have been sensational if Lee Marvin appeared in the Steiger role.
I always prefer Steiger when a director can get him to underplay as he did to great effect in CATTLE ANNIE & LITTLE BRITCHES. This most flamboyant of actors worked for the most flamboyant of directors in RUN OF THE ARROW,but for me it all seems to work somehow in what is surely a one of a kind Western,with again Fuller the journalist competing with Fuller the director. If Warner Archive can work the wonders they have with other vintage RKO films,then RUN OF THE ARROW when it finally appears on Blu Ray should be a real treat. Warner Archive’s recent restorations of GREAT DAY IN THE MORNING,UNDERWATER and FLYING LEATHERNECKS have indeed been a joy to behold especially compared to the washed out TV screenings we have suffered over the years. The Blu Ray really does justice to Daves wonderful landscapes, they are breathtaking. I already have the Carlotta, France Blu Ray’s of 3.10 TO YUMA and COWBOY and both as extras have interviews (in English) with Daves son, very informative with lots of insight on this truly great director. COWBOY I feel is underrated Ford and Jack Lemmon are sensational together-I’m very surprised Columbia never teamed up the pair in a comedy. Daves was the ideal director for Glenn Ford he is so good in the three films that they made together.
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John, I would very much like to see Cowboy on Blu-ray somewhere in region B territory that is both affordable and without forced subtitles.
I’m a huge fan of Daves’ work and it’s great to have so many of his best films looking so fine.
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Colin,
The Carlotta France Blu Ray of COWBOY does not have forced subs and also includes part 2 of the interview with Michael Daves. Part one of Michael’s interview appears on the Carlotta Blu Ray of 3:10 TO YUMA,which again does not have forced subs and the transfer is the best I’ve seen for a vintage black & white movie. I believe some Carlotta product did have forced subs so at the time I e-mailed them and they assured me both Delmer Daves films would not have forced subs. I presume if you shop around you should be able to get both at a decent price. I hope over time DRUM BEAT and THE BADLANDERS will eventually appear on Blu Ray.
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Interesting, I didn’t know that. I already have the Criterion Blu of 3:10 to Yuma though so I won’t be buying that one again.
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John,
Aldo Ray was supposed to play the part of Pinky but he was angry about not receiving bonuses for being lent out to other studios, so he opted out. Daves and Steiger clashed about how to play Pinky but the producer, William Fadiman, liked what Steiger was trying to do. This is pure speculation on my part but Fadiman was, among other things, a literary critic. Many see “Jubal” as a retelling of “Othello”. If it is, then Pinky represents Iago who is one of the great villains in literature — a real snake. Maybe Fadiman felt that Steiger’s wound up performance helped convey the presence of evil in the film. In any event, Fadiman sided with Steiger.
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Thanks Frank, Aldo Ray would have made sense,he certainly would not have sliced the ham as thick as Steiger, your comment made me recall how superb,
chilling (and non hammy) he was in THE NAKED AND THE DEAD.
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I’m a fan of “The Naked and the Dead” even though some critics dismiss it. Norman Mailer himself called it the “worst movie he had ever seen.” Of course, even though he wrote the novel, I wouldn’t call Norman the most objective or even-keeled personality of his time. I like the performances by Ray, Robertson, Massey, and the supporting cast. I also enjoyed the daydream sequences and the tension that builds during the trek across the island.
As far as Rod Steiger goes, I said in an earlier thread that I found his early performances interesting and somewhat amusing. My wife and I get a chuckle when he goes over-the-top in, say, “The Big Knife”. “Jubal” is a very, very good film and Rod’s performance is part of the package. I think Glenn Ford sums up the situation diplomatically:
“About working with Rod Steiger, Glenn Ford said, “Rod, well, in kindness, I think I should say he did a great job with his role. However, the ‘Method’ got a little too much for some of us, especially the wranglers. Look, Rod won an Academy Award, didn’t he? And so did Ernie (Ernest Borgnine), so whatever Rod was doing in his role for ‘Jubal’ probably worked for him. He was intense, I’ll tell you that.”
(Quote from IMDB Trivia)
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Interesting feedback Frank,love the Ford quote.
Steiger actually underplays in 13 WEST STREET as the cop
on Alan Ladd’s case when he turns vigilante.
13 WEST STREET is an underrated little thriller and the “twist”
is that all of the teenage punks come from upper middle
class backgrounds.
Norman Mailer could not have seen that many bad movies,
for me THE NAKED AND THE DEAD was the last truly great
Raoul Walsh picture.
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Norman Mailer was the biggest cultural pontificator of my lifetime. In an age of egoists, his ego soared above all others. Have you ever heard about the fight he had with the hammer-wielding Rip Torn during the filming of “Maidstone” which Mailer directed? Check this out.
Since we’re talking about Demer Daves and hamming it up, the most audacious over-the-top performance I’ve ever seen is Jay Robinson’s portrayal of Caligula in Daves’ “Demetrius and the Gladiators” (1954). Now Robinson originated his insane Caligula in “The Robe” (1953) but in “Demetrius and the Gladiators” he takes his ham job into the stratosphere. I actually like Daves’ film much better than Koster’s “The Robe”.
Sorry, Colin, for riffing.
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Frank, you are onto something. Demetrius was far more successful than The Robe. Oh, and Victor Mature far more effective than Burton or anyone else in it.
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This weekend the films included…
1- UNDERWATER 2019 First time watch This sci-fi film is more or less a remake of Alien than anything new. Not something I would ever watch again. The whole film is made in the dark and is hard to watch on a television. Not for me, and I am a Sci-Fi fan..
2- THE HIRED GUN 1957 Rory Calhoun First time watch. Our man Rory is a gunman hired to bring a woman on the run back to go on trial for murder. On the trip back he realizes that the woman is not guilty of the deed. What does he do? A quite watchable duster made on a low budget that gets the job done.
3- A QUIET PLACE -2018 Emily Blunt First time watch An excellent bit of Sci-Fi film making. A real diff take on the alien invasion type story. If you are a sci-fi fan like I am, I would give this one a watch. Looks far better and plays out far better than the partly 18 million budget would suggest.
4- MR SOFT TOUCH 1949 Glenn Ford First time watch. Ford is a club owner who lost his club to the mob. He robs the mob of 100 grand and goes into hiding. Enter Evelyn Keyes a social worker type who runs a homeless shelter type house. Needless to say Ford falls for Keyes and the mob comes a calling. Not bad, but I wish they would have decided to play it straight up noir instead of mixing in some comic bits.
5- I SPY 1955 Tv episode of series of same name. Raymond Massey First time watch Pilot episode. This series deal with spies and such throughout history. Ray Massey is the host and gives a brief bit of history on the episode at the start. This particular episode is about Prussia setting up a spy network in France several years before stomping all over the French in the Franco-Prussian War. I found it interesting but I need to watch a few more of the episodes to get a true take on the series.
6- I LED THREE LIVES 1953 Tv ep of same name series pilot episode Richard Carlson. Carlson stars as
Herbert Philbrick, Philbrick was a member of the communist party and was also a counter spy for the FBI. This was the first episode and we get to find out just how far the Reds have infiltrated America. The series ran 117 episodes from 1953 to 56.
7- FRANKENSTEIN CREATED WOMAN 1965 Peter Cushing. I never found the time to get into this one so nothing to report.
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What films do you have lined up for this weekend, Gord?
I have recently watched two films (actually a lot more than that) that are so completely different in scale, production values, top names etc yet are both enjoyable.
1) “JUDGMENT AT NUREMBERG” (1961). A big cast of top names – Spencer Tracy, Burt Lancaster, Richard Widmark, Marlene Dietrich, Judy Garland, Maximillian Schell, Montgomery Clift and even a really decent role for our old buddy, Ray Teal! 3 solid hours of fantastic film-making. Yet strangely I had never seen it before.
2) “NIGHT FREIGHT” (1955). Forrest Tucker, Barbara Britton, Keith Larsen & Thomas Gomez for Allied Artists. You really cannot compare the two films; it would be unfair to do so. I enjoyed both very much.
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I haven’t seen Nuremberg for quite a few years now but I agree that it’s an absorbing piece of cinema and the three hour running time is never an issue.
Personally, I haven’t been watching all that much, largely due to my insane work schedule. However, I did manage to fit in a revisit to a John Ford movie. I haven’t featured his work on this site for a long time now but that oversight is soon to be remedied. Stay tuned…
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Jerry
You have a couple of top flight films with JUDGMENT AT NUREMBERG and “NIGHT FREIGHT” 1955.
Here I was thinking I might be the only one here to have seen “NIGHT FREIGHT”. Look on IMDB and there is only one review up, and it happens to be mine from back in 2008.Good low budget noir with fine work from all involved from the cast and crew. Gomez really shines here as the rackets man. Good starring role for Tucker as well.
Gord
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Your work schedule sounds tough, Colin. Better of course too much work than no work or income but still……
Funny you should mention John Ford. My wife and I watched (re-watched) “3 GODFATHERS” (1948) a few nights ago. I had not watched it in many years actually and I seem to recall stating (maybe here??) some time back that I had now seen the 1936 version and actually preferred it. Well, I won’t revise that opinion BUT the Ford version is terrific also. The beautiful vistas and scenes created by Ford and his camera maestro, Winton Hoch, are magnificent and the Duke is…..well, the Duke.
Coming up for me – another Allied Artists 80 minute gem, “THE HUMAN JUNGLE” (1954) with a terrific turn from Jan Sterling. Some time in the late 70s or early 80s I found myself seated next to her in a crowded bar at London’s National Film Theatre. We got chatting and I found her a delightful lady.
Also coming up is a DVD I have juist purchased of “THE BEST MAN” (1964) with Henry Fonda and Cliff Robertson as Presidential candidates, one a man of principle and the other a hustler and nasty piece of work. Haven’t seen this in decades and am looking forward to it, timely and relevant (and familiar) as it is currently!!
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The Best Man is a fine movie, and indeed a timely choice.
When you mentioned The Human Jungle I thought for a moment it was the TV show with Herbert Lom, which I rather liked, but then realized it’s the Joseph M Newman movie. I’ve never seen that, and would be keen to hear your thoughts when you see it, and what the image quality is like too.
As for work matters, what can I say? Despite living in the land of Aristotle I don’t seem to have absorbed much about moderation and the Golden Mean!
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This weekend I shall be taking in …
1 – CONVICTED WOMAN – 1940 – Glenn Ford – A first time watch
2 – EMMA – 2019 UK A first time watch
3 – THE WARPED ONES – 1960 Japan first time watch
4 – CRUNCH AND DES – 1955 Episode of the Forrest Tucker and Sandy Kenyon tv series- First watch
5- A BULLET IS WAITING -1954 Re-watch- Stephen McNally, Rory Calhoun and Jean Simmons.
6 – DANGEROUS ASSIGNMENT – 1952 Tv episode – Brian Donlevy First time watch
Gord
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I might feature A Bullet is Waiting before the year is out. We’ll see how things go…
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Colin
I enjoyed it the first time I saw it.
Gordon
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Colin
Liked it the first time I saw it.
Gordon
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All
Anyone have any comments on MAN ON A TIGHTROPE 1953? Stars, Fredric March, Terry Moore, Gloria Grahame, Cameron Mitchell, Robert Beatty, Richard Boone and directed by Elia Kazan. Had a copy sitting around for years and have never gotten to it. Worth a gander?
Gord
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Gordon,
I haven’t seen it but I’ve come close to watching it on several occasions. There’s a lot of talent there — Elia Kazan, Robert E. Sherwood, Franz Waxman, plus a good cast headed by Frederic March. The storyline seems very interesting. If you watch it, tell us what you think.
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Same here. The cast and crew brought it to my attention and I’ve had a copy for ages but it remains buried in the unwatched pile.
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Colin and Gord,
Now seen “THE HUMAN JUNGLE” (1954) and it is another from Allied Artists, whose turnout of westerns and crime films in the 1950s were often superior programmer fare and certainly the types of film I go for.
A tough police procedural with Gary Merrill, the afore-mentioned Jan Sterling, Chuck Connors, Emil Meyer….. Nothing particularly original or earth-shattering so what critics call ‘routine’, a term from them that usually means I’ll like it! Colin, the image I watched was just fine and came from the same source as we previously covered (same price too).
Gosh, Gord, “CRUNCH AND DES” tv series with Forrest Tucker. I remember it was shown on UK TV (BBC) in 1961.
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Thanks for the feedback, Jerry – much appreciated.
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Jerry
“CRUNCH AND DES” series is a nice light comedy in my humble opinion. I have most of the series but have only watched a couple of the episodes. Going to take in a new one tonight.
Gord
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Most welcome, Colin. You mentioned the Herbert Lom TV series “THE HUMAN JUNGLE” earlier, a fine series of dramas from Julian Wintle. The guy who wrote the review of it on IMdb can not have been watching the same show as me! Nice set available from Network, I believe.
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Yes, I have that Network set – got it at a very good price in one of their sales in the past – and it’s a keeper in my opinion.
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Jerry, Colin
Seen a few of the Herbert Lom TV series “THE HUMAN JUNGLE”. Good stuff. There is an American series that is very similar called, THE BREAKING POINT 1963-64 with Paul Richards in the lead. Guest stars include Robert Ryan, Henry Silva and Edmond O’Brien.
Gord
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I don’t believe I’ve heard of that series, Gord. Paul Richards usually played bad, or at least troubled, guys.
Today I have lined up a Republic feature starring Marie Windsor, “NO MAN’S WOMAN” (1950).
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Sorry, correction. That Republic film date is 1955.
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Although i haven’t seen it, I’m pretty sure I have a copy of that one somewhere.
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Very nice print from Olive Films.
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That’ll be the same one I have.
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I watched Bryon Haskins’ “Warpath” (1951) featuring Edmond O’Brien, Dean Jagger, and Forrest Tucker. All three turn in fine performances. It’s a revenge story that has O’Brien’s character (John Vickers) tracking down the men who are responsible for his fiancé being killed in a bank robbery shootout. After 8 years Vickers finds and kills his first quarry who tells him with his dying breath that his two partners “joined the calvary”. Vickers, a lawyer who was once a war hero and an officer, joins in the 7th Calvary as a buck private in order to continue his hunt. The story concept is intriguing, but I think the script gets away from writer Frank Gruber. There are too many redemptions at the close of the film as well as an unbelievable happy ending. Polly Bergan provides the love interest who also adds a significant twist to the plot. While “Warpath” was shot largely on location in Montana, there are some really chintzy fake exterior backgrounds that stick out like a sore thumb. There seem to be several Forrest Tucker fans among the RTHC community; they will definitely enjoy his performance in “Warpath”.
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Thanks for that. This one came up in some chat maybe a year or so back and it’s remained lurking just below the horizon of my attention ever since. I’ll have to try and get around to it.
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As far as my own viewing is concerned, I had and still have a piece on a John Ford movie prepped and ready to go but Gordon’s mention of A Bullet Is Waiting spurred me on to watch that and there should be something on it posted tomorrow. I’m leaving the Ford piece in the bank for the moment but it’s coming soon too.
Tonight, if everything goes as planned, I hope to settle down with Joshua Logan’s Picnic.
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I’ve seen “Picnic” several times and like it. Amazingly, Betty Field who plays Kim Novak’s mother in “Picnic” played Daisy Buchanan just six years earlier in “The Great Gatsby”. I love the “Moonglow / Picnic” piece from the movie. In case you haven’t seen “Picnic”, I won’t include a visual link to the movie but just an audio link to the hit single version.
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Since we don’t know if Colin plans to write a piece on “Picnic” when he sees it I’ll limit any comments for the moment except to strongly agree with Frank about the beautiful “Moonglow/Picnic” music that is played in the sequence in which William Holden and Kim Novak dance, a mesmerizing and magical moment in that movie. Interestingly, Columbia’s music director Morris Stoloff himself is playing the piano there, very beautifully too. The “Picnic” theme was composed by Columbia mainstay George Duning who I consider to be very underrated. Just for one example, he composed the haunting music for “3:10 to Yuma” (1957) including for one of the greatest ever title songs, which plays as an instrumental theme too at key moments within the movie.
There are things about “Picnic” specifically and writer William Inge more generally that continue to mean a lot to me, and if it comes up I’ll do my best to articulate at least a little of that. For a lot of folks, I guess this was a long time ago, but not for me.
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