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DVD Vengeance Valley
The charms of DVD sometimes passeth understanding. Vengeance Valley is an 83-minute B Western directed (barely) by the dullest of MGM hacks, Richard Thorpe, and based on one of the genre's hoariest formulas--the bad natural son (Robert Walker), the good foster son (Burt Lancaster), and the range empire they respectively imperil and rescue. Everyone on board was marking time: Walker, who otherwise spent 1951 playing Bruno Anthony in Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train, and who would be dead within the year; Lancaster, whose glum performance hints at neither the gusto of his early-'50s swashbucklers nor the fact that he would soon be collecting Oscar nominations; Joanne Dru (playing Walker's recent bride), who only a year earlier was working for John Ford; and screenwriter Irving Ravetch, who would draw a much more auspicious ranch-land assignment a decade later with Hud (1963). No, we can't make exalted claims for Vengeance Valley--but that's just the point: this is an absolutely typical slice of moviegoing life in 1951, and watching this DVD is as uncanny as a trip in a time machine. The aura is perfected by the true three-strip Technicolor print, not a latterday Eastmancolor approximation of the real thing. Throw in a supporting cast of such sagebrush perennials as John Ireland, Will Wright, Glenn Strange, Jim Hayward, and TV's Wyatt Earp-to-be, Hugh O'Brian, and you've got a quintessential Saturday at the Bijou. Now if only the great color films of the period could all look this good.... -- Richard T. Jameson
I purchased Front Row Entertainment's VHS version of "Vengeance Valley" and was bitterly disappointed. The video quality is poor and the sound track is no better. The story, from what I could make of it, is humdrum. If you're a Lancaster fan, however, the movie is worth having in your collection. And if you're a fan of wasting 20 bucks on a poor quality video, this is a tape for you!
A Good Cast in an Average Western
Vengeance Valley is an average Western. Its best feature is a remarkably strong cast. This alone means that it ought not to be classified as a B film, for second features could not afford so many familiar faces, nor could they afford the fine location shooting which is to be found in Vengeance Valley. The cast perform quite well. Robert Walker always makes a better villain than a good guy. He portrays both weakness and malevolence in a performance which bears comparison with his more celebrated role in Strangers on a Train. It is always a pleasure to watch Burt Lancaster, but his acting lacks the authority which would be present in his later films. I always look out for Joanne Dru films, but this is not one of her best. The feisty and beautiful heroine of She Wore a Yellow Ribbon and Red River seems to have faded somewhat and it is possible to see in this film the seeds of her decline as a star. She would make no more important films after this.
The story is interesting without being original. Walker and his foster brother Lancaster fight it out over Dru and Cattle. Strangely the 'vengeance' of the film's title does not refer to this aspect of the plot, but to a sub-plot in which two cowboys seek vengeance on the man who made their sister pregnant. Still Vengeance Valley makes a more snappy title than Battling Brothers.
This is by no means a classic Western, but it is perfectly competent. It may not linger long in the memory, but fans of the genre will certainly enjoy the ride while it lasts.
Sturdy Western
This is a sturdy western featuring beautiful color photography, and an interesting character study. Burt Lancaster plays a stolid, depedable foster son who reluctantly has to face down his reckless foster brother played by Robert Walker. Walker and Lancaster play off each other well, their naturally opposing acting styles heightning the conflict between these two. Unfortunately, Robert Walker, who made quite an impression in his short film career -- especially in Hitchcock's "Strangers on a Train" -- would be dead shortly after this film was released. A sad footnote to an overlooked but interesting film.
"Both Burt Lancaster and Jean Peters give outstanding performances" - wrote Variety in 1954 - and after watching this movie for the umpteenth time I believe they do deliver great performances in APACHE. It was the first one made by Holywood that dared to portray a movie from the Indian's point of view; and that alone deserves some credit. A bit of TRIVIA Jean Peters's performance in Apache, according to director Robert Aldrich, is even more outstanding because she had a personal dislike of Lancaster as a person and had to show complete devotion towards him throughout the entire film. Despite this fact, the two actors had some sort of chemestry in their scenes together that comes accross on the screen. On top of that, both these actors were made up to look their worst in rags and... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Burt Lancaster - Jean Peters Director(s): Robert Aldrich DVD Release Date: Released the 08 May 2001 Usually ships within 24 hours
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The prime minister of Eritrea is assassinated by political opponents, setting off a chain of events with global repercussions in the intelligence community. Burt Lancaster plays Cross, a CIA operative who dates back to the agency's earliest days as the OSS. Scorpio (Alain Delon) is a protégé of Cross, and one of Cross's best friends in a netherworld where everyone's allegiances, personal and political, are in question. Higher-ups within the intelligence agency decide that Cross knows too much and is better off eliminated; at first, Scorpio refuses the job until the CIA frames him on a phony narcotics bust and coerces him into the assignment. The two men play a game of global cat-and-mouse as Cross consorts with his Russian counterparts--fellow aging dinosaurs in a young... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Burt Lancaster - Alain Delon - Paul Scofield Director(s): Michael Winner DVD Release Date: Released the 04 June 2002 Usually ships within 24 hours
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Cagney is a crusading newspaper editor in 1930s Japan who's come into possession of the "Tanaka Plan" for world domination. Amidst political intrigue and crossed loyalties, Cagney must now find a way to warn the outside world. A fine, entertaining melodrama that's based in fact, with Cagney as good as ever, but this time with judo chops. If only the Japanese knew some kind of hand-to-hand combat, they might be able to stand a chance against Cagney. Dated only by its condescension toward the Japanese, Blood on the Sun never slacks its pace, providing quick-witted patter all along in the mark of the classic Hollywood style. It seems peculiarly American (in an inadvertent way, of course) that in the film's final moments the day should be saved by none other than Ward Cleaver (Hugh... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): James Cagney - Sylvia Sidney Director(s): Frank Lloyd DVD Release Date: Released the 22 July 2003 THIS TITLE IS CURRENTLY NOT AVAILABLE. If you would like to purchase this title, we recommend that you occasionally check this page to see if it has become available.
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Released well after Douglas Fairbanks's and Errol Flynn's heydays, this good-natured Burt Lancaster vehicle is, nevertheless, a superior example of the classic swashbuckler: set in the 16th century, along the Spanish Main, this lusty adventure both expands on and explodes genre conventions. Lancaster, a circus acrobat before turning to movies in the '40s, gives what may be his most physical performance as sword-for-hire Captain Vallo, a.k.a. the Crimson Pirate.
Nick Cravat, Lancaster's real-life circus buddy, matches the star leap for leap, somersault for somersault as Vallo's mute sidekick. The fetching Eva Bartok causes Vallo to throw over the Spanish for rebel forces, and a young Christopher Lee demonstrates the swordsmanship that would later make him a natural in Richard Lester's... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Burt Lancaster Director(s): Robert Siodmak DVD Release Date: Released the 01 July 2003 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Rage At Dawn": From 1955, this one is in technicolor and is based on the Reno Brothers. Robbing banks, terrorizing the good townspeople, and just being a general menace to society, these guys needed to be stopped! Enter one brave lawman James Barlow( Randolph Scott), who infiltrates the outfit and tries to restore law and order to the community. It's not easy though, as the town leaders are getting kick backs from the bad guys are are not willing partcipants to seeing justice done! More wonderful stars include Forrest Tucker and an appearance by Edgar Buchanan. Directed by Tim Whelan.
This film may also be purchased in a set of 4 other "oaters" by Platinum disc. The set is called "Great American Western Vol 1". The other films included are "To The Last Man"/1933,"The Fighting... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Tim Whelan DVD Release Date: Released the 18 June 2002 Usually ships within 10 to 11 days
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