Product Description

Featuring four John Wayne classics: Rainbow Valley, His Private Secretary, Paradise Canyon, and Shadow of the Eagle.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #137225 in DVD
• Released on: 2003-04-11
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 348 minutes

Customer Reviews

Includes The Entire "Shadow Of The Eagle" serial
This DVD is simply called JOHN WAYNE. It may be purchased on it's own, or in a 2 pack with the Great American Western Vol 24(5 Wayne Westerns from the 30's).That pack is under the title "John Wayne/Great American Westerns Vo". If you copy and paste or enter that title in the DVD search you will find it.It is part of the Platinum Disc series, although the studio listed in the buying info here is Echo Bridge Home Ent.(I'm not sure if they are one in the same, but this is a Platinum disc, and I entered the code # from the back of the package to get here.)
This DVD contains 4 films starring a very young John Wayne. Two are Western/Mystery, One is a Romantic/Comedy, and last and worth the price of admission all by itself, the entire mystery/suspense serial from 1932 "Shadow of the Eagle", which runs over 3 hours by itself.

These films are all from the early thirties. They are so old that even Gabby Hayes looks young(well young for Gabby, anyway). He's a great sidekick to Wayne in "Rainbow Valley" from 1935 The Duke plays a secret agent assigned by the government to break up a gang of bad guys, who will stop at nothing to get what they want...gold mines!

The other Western, "Paradise Canyon"(1935) is another mystery. Once again Our guy is a covert agent trying to track down a band of con men. A traveling medicine show may lead him to the prime suspects.Lots of great action scenes, suspense and stunts.

"His Private Secretary"(1933), has Wayne as the rich playboy who thinks of nothing but girls, girls girls!. His Father though decides to put him to work. It is then he meets the girl of his dreams(really, this time) and must prove himself worthy of her. Lots of fun! A very different look at The Duke! Evelyn Knapp co-stars and gets top billing over Wayne.

These three films all show there age, with sratches and dirt, but for the John Wayne fan, a real treat(and who can beat this price?).Early signs of what was about to become a legend are witnessed in these films. And watch out for that famous punch of his! They all run an hour or less.

Next up is something really special for fans. "The Shadow of the Eagle", runs complete, with no breaks between the chapters of this 12 part serial. For 3 hours, Craig McCoy(Wayne), a stunt pilot, will try to solve the mystery of who is The Eagle. Whos has been flying a skywriting plane and making threats in the sky. The upper hand goes back and forth throughout, and nearly everyone is suspect at different points. McCoy gets help from the traveling fair he is part of. Everyone from the ventriliquist to the strong man will help solve the case. It's a real nail-biter! Fans will love this stuff.

I was surprised that this film looked so good. It starts off pretty scratchy and grainy, but for the most part, had a nice picture, and very good sound.

All the films are on one side(no need to flip) and each film has about scene selection options. If you are looking for pristine transfers of these oldies, pass this one by.

Spend some time with the Duke, In the saddle, In a car, and in the air!....Laurie

Standard Wayne Output
I'm a big fan of John Wayne and have now seen roughly 115 of his roughly 152 movies thanks to the additional four that I saw in this collection. It's no secret that John Wayne became a greater actor beginning with his role in "Stagecoach". His second time around with John Ford turned him from a Saturday afternoon B movie star to an actor worthy of the feature film. Wayne wasn't bad in the sort of roles that this collection featured. Indeed, he was the able rival of the likes of Hopalong Cassidy and Gene Autry (without the singing). He might have retired into a status of a hero to pre-teen boys of a former generation.

Watching these movies is a reminder of that screen persona he had before stardom. It's actually a pretty good collection with a couple of Westerns, a non-Westrern romance, and the complete serial of "Shadow of the Eagle". It was "Shadow of the Eagle" that impressed me the most although not necessarily in a positive light. I had previously seen the first 4 of 14 chapters of Wayne's "The Three Musketeers". In the DVD I watched, each episode was introduced the way the audience would have seen it at the time; the introduction with the cast and characters, a recap of the story to date, and completing the episode with a cliffhanging situation. In the presentation of "Shadow of the Eagle" everything was run together as though it were an uninterrupted movie. Too bad, because, although I could generally tell where each segment might have ended, I was able to see the resolution to the crisis immediately appear on the screen. It made for one LONG movie. In the abbreviated version of "The Three Musketeers" I grew tired of the repeated intros. In "Shadow of the Eagle" I became confused by everything happening so fast. I couldn't tell who were the good guys and the bad guys (partly because that's what the writer wanted, partly because they all looked and acted alike). I wondered how many times our hero could have been knocked cold and still get out of bed and chase the bad guys. I'm glad I had the opportunity to understand this and, hopefully, come to appreciate that these hastily-made productions were meant to be seen one at a time and only on a weekly basis. All in all, though, I'd still probably rate it as better than "Rio Lobo".