Product Description

Four western classics: Fighting Caravans, The Women of the Town, The Proud and the Damned, and The Old West Cowboy.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #58916 in DVD
• Released on: 2003-04-02
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Black & White, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 359 minutes

Customer Reviews

Tough Guys...And... The Women Who Tamed Them
This review refers to "The Great American Western - Volume 16"(Platinum Disc)

I really enjoyed this volume. It had some really good stuff on it.The films range from 1931 through a recent(made in the 90's) Documentary. Tough Guys seemed to be the theme of this one, and.. the women who tamed them.

A an early Gary Cooper film is up first. A "talkie" from 1931, Coop is quite a cad in "The Fighting Caravans". In order to avoid jail time for a misdemeanor in town, he pretends to be married to a French belle, and hooks up with a wagon train headed West. Sparks fly between the two, but he's a tough scout and not one to be shackled to no woman! Slowly he begins to warm to her, but first must save the Wagons from an Indian attack. The film looks pretty good for it's age, and what's really nice is watching the wonderful facial expresiions of many of the actors who came from the silent era.

"The Woman Of Town" (1944) is a real treat for fans of Claire Trevor. A saloon singer with a heart of gold, she's got the good guys, lead by Bat Masterson(Albert Dekker) and the bad guys headed by one King Kennedy(Barry Sullivan) shootin in out in Dodge City. Also look for Dewey Robinson. This film shows it's age. The film really needs to be cleaned up.

A recently made fabulous documentary, "Old West Cowboys", uses reenacted stills and some acutal photos, to tell of the hard life of the real cowboy. Those that drove cattle, lived, worked and played hard. It's wonderfully narrated as well. The box shows it as 70 minutes but I think it acutally ran about an hour and a half.

Lastly from 1969, tough guy, Chuck Conners, is the leader of a group of Civil War Vets, who head to South America for some adventure, and they find it! General Martinez has hired them to do a job, and on the way they meet with a gypsy caravan, and some beautiful women who sidetrack them, causing a big rift with the town and a shootout.It also stars Cesar Romero, and Jose Greco. Lots of wonderful Spanish Guitar music and some Flamenco dances as well. The color is a little washed out, but the picutre is quite clear.

Platinum has put together many volumes of these good ole oaters. The single volumes have 4 films each. They are all on one side, and all have about ten chapter stops. There are also several package deals ranging from a 2pack to 10 packs in a set. This can get really confusing, as the multi-packs are also called Volume 1 and 2 etc. You can usually tell by the price how many are in a set. Also the multi disc sets are called Great American Westerns(Plural) instead of Great American Western. The earlier single volumes 1-10 usually feature a specific actor, the later volumes seem to follow some sort of theme.

Don't expect a Criterion like transfers of these films. They often show their age, but for the price, and the fun of these, western lovers really cant go wrong. Each volume comes in a keep case, each with different cowboy artwok. Each film has been enhanced in DD5.1. There isn't anything about the films that will take away from your viewing pleasure.

Saddle Up and Happy Trails To You....Laurie