Product Description

Journey back to the Old West for timeless adventures in the Classic Western Round-Up: Volume 1! Relive all the gunfights, barroom brawls and romance with The Texas Rangers, Canyon Passage, Kansas Raiders and The Lawless Breed. Starring Hollywood favorites Rock Hudson, Fred MacMurray, Audie Murphy and Dana Andrews, this action-packed collection features some of the most exciting films ever to hit the silver screen! The Texas Rangers (1936) Two crooks (Fred MacMurray and Jack Oakie) reluctantly enlist in the Texas Rangers as a means of staying one-step ahead of the law. Canyon Passage (1946) Adventure awaits when a pack-mule express owner (Dana Andrews) escorts a young woman (Susan Hayward) home to a remote Oregon town. Kansas Raiders (1950) Jesse James (Audie Murphy) and his brothers join William Quantrill (Brian Donlevy) and his vengeful raiders in an effort to save the Confederacy. The Lawless Breed (1953) When famed outlaw John Wesley Hardin (Rock Hudson) is released from prison, he gives an in-depth account of his scandalous life to a local newspaper.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #19035 in DVD
• Brand: UNI DIST CORP. (MCA)
• Released on: 2007-05-08
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Color, Dolby, DVD, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, French
• Number of discs: 2
• Dimensions: .25 pounds
• Running time: 354 minutes

Amazon.com
This DVD set indeed qualifies as a "round-up," gathering a quartet of otherwise unrelated Westerns on two discs. Despite its seeming randomness, this set has a fine pedigree (three excellent directors are represented) and offers good value for fans of the oater.

The Texas Rangers is a 1936 Paramount picture (the other titles are Universal) from director King Vidor, working from a story of his own concoction. Two shady characters, Fred MacMurray and Jack Oakie, join the Rangers as subterfuge, but slowly find themselves cottoning to the idea of nobility. Although it's a minor effort in the director's career, Vidor shows his feeling for the American land (he'd just come off the salt-of-the-earth classic Our Daily Bread) and the redemptive plot is hard to resist. Lloyd Nolan, in one of his early roles, makes a very offbeat bad guy--eventually named "The Polkadot Bandit"!

The gem of the collection is Canyon Passage, a relaxed 1946 Northwestern directed by Jacques Tourneur. Dana Andrews plays an Oregon frontier entrepreneur who keeps getting dragged into romantic triangles, Indian reprisals, and bailing out his irresponsible best friend (Brian Donlevy). He's a little like Rick in Casablanca, allegedly out for himself but thawed by the needs of his friends. Tourneur's use of color and forest-y locations is beautiful to behold, and the movie has a wry Greek chorus in the form of Hoagy Carmichael's mandolin-strumming shopkeeper (he sings "Ole Buttermilk Sky," among others). Susan Hayward and Patricia Roc provide the lingering looks toward Andrews, and Ward Bond makes a particularly brutal bad guy.

Kansas Raiders (1950) weds two popular Western subjects: the James gang and Quantrill's Raiders. The film's story tracks the arrival and disillusionment of Jesse and Frank James (and the Younger brothers) into the service of Rebel agitator William Quantrill (Brian Donlevy). The movie pretty thoroughly romanticizes Jesse James and co. (a narrator has to remind us at the end that these future bank robbers were "warped" individuals), but it's an enjoyable enough Western outing. Audie Murphy, the Texas war hero, brings his sullen charisma to the role of Jesse, and the gang includes Tony Curtis and Richard Long.

Even more historical whitewash is applied to the legend of John Wesley Hardin in The Lawless Breed (1953), starring Rock Hudson as the notorious killer. The film bends over backwards to prove that Hardin killed in self-defense, which might be why it feels so flavorless (the usually robust director Raoul Walsh is defeated here by the blah conception of the character and Hudson's stolid performance). Quintessential Universal babe Julia Adams is Hardin's showgirl ladyfriend.

This is a no-frills package, which works out just fine. Most importantly, the films look very good, especially the three color pictures. Canyon Passage has a few moments of wobbly color separation, but is otherwise a particularly vivid transfer. --Robert Horton

Customer Reviews

Great Western fare, thanks to Universal
This is volume I of the two volume set of Classic Westerns to be issued by Universal, and it includes four excellent oaters, and if past history is any guide, Universal will give us great transfers in excellent color (where the movies are in color). Fred MacMurray (THE TEXAS RANGERS) was an accomplished Western actor, with not only THE TEXAS RANGERS to his credit but classics such as AT GUNPOINT, GUN FOR A COWARD, GOOD DAY FOR A HANGING, QUANTEZ, and others demonstrating his prowess in the genre. He doesn't disappoint here. CANYON PASSAGE was one of Dana Andrews finest roles, and it's a excellent picture, with Hoagy Carmichael providing some delightful music. Audie Murphy stars in KANSAS RAIDERS, and doesn't disappoint (his legion of fans will be delighted!). Finally, Rock Hudson, again a fine Westerner, is very fine in THE LAWLESS BREED. In sum, four very fine and entertaining Westerns, which, along with volume II, should please Western fans and movie viewers in general.

"Canyon Passage" makes the package worth the money!
"Canyon Passage" with Dana Andrews, Susan Hayward, Brian Donlevy, and Hoagy Carmichael is the best movie in this set and is good enough to make this set a worthwhile purchase. "Canyon Passage" was filmed in the Diamond Lake area of Oregon and has wonderful scenery featuring Mt. Thielson as the background in many of the scenes. Mt. Thielson is a sharply pointed peak just north of Crater Lake National Park and Crater Lake is briefly seen in the background as Dana Andrews and Susan Hayward ride past it. The story is interesting and well written and the acting is believable by all the actors which includes Ward Bond and a young Lloyd Bridges. The addition of Hoagy Carmichael singing his songs during the film, especially "Ol' Buttermilk Sky", make this a classic western which should have been released separately but at least it is now available on DVD.

Classic Western Roundup
Well going in I had high hopes based on earlier reviews concerning Canyon Passage. That turned out to be a pretty good old style western. If all of the other movies had the same standard then the disk would have been rated 5 stars. The others are good but not as good as CP and that is what brought it down. All of the fils were pretty well played, good plot development and any fan of the old stuff should like this collection.