Escort West

Starring:Victor Mature, Elaine Stewart, Faith Domergue, Reba Waters (II), Noah Beery Jr., Leo Gordon, Rex Ingram, John Hubbard, Harry Carey Jr., Slim Pickens, Roy Barcroft, William Ching, Ken Curtis, Claire Du Brey, Syd Saylor, X. Brands, Chuck Hayward, Charles Soldani
Director: Francis D. Lyon
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Product Type: DVD

Average customer rating:

MY FAVORITE JOHN WAYNE FILM
Perhaps the Ultimate Western.
GREAT JOHN WAYNE CLASSIC!
Early Duke Classic
Exciting, highly enjoyable, and beautiful!

She Wore a Yellow Ribbon
Starring: John Wayne , Joanne Dru , John Agar , Ben Johnson , and Harry Carey Jr.
Director: John Ford
Manufacturer: Turner Home Ent
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Westerns | Genres | DVD | Video

Classics | Westerns | Genres | DVD | Video

Drama | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

All Titles | John Wayne Store | Stores | DVD | Video

1940s | John Wayne Store | Stores | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $14.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

Fort Apache
Rio Grande (Collector's Edition)
The Horse Soldiers
Red River
The Searchers (Two-Disc Anniversary Edition)

ASIN: B000O599NK
Release Date: 2007-05-22

Amazon.com essential video

The second installment of John Ford's famous cavalry trilogy (which also includes Fort Apache and Rio Grande), this meditative Western continues the director's fascination with history's obliteration of the past. It features one of John Wayne's more sensitive performances as Capt. Nathan Brittles, a stern yet sentimental war horse who has difficulty preparing for his impending military retirement. All things considered, he refuses to leave before fulfilling his obligation to the local Indian tribe. It's a film about honor and duty as well as loneliness and mortality. And Oscar-winner Winton C. Hoch beautifully photographs it in Remington-like Technicolor tones (you've never seen such stunning cloud-covered skies). The combination of melancholy and farce (Victor McLaglen makes a perfect court jester) evokes comparisons to Shakespeare. Best of all, the scene in which Wayne fights back tears when receiving a gold watch from his troops is unforgettably bittersweet. If you view the whole trilogy, it actually makes sense to save this for last. --Bill Desowitz

Description

A masterpiece of mood and heroics, this second film in director John Ford's renowned cavalry trilogy (Fort Apache and Rio Grande are the others) features one of John Wayne's most moving performances as a cavalry officer in his final week of service on the frontier. Under makeup aging him some 20 years, he inhabits the role of a wily veteran who knows the sting of war and vows to make his last mission one of peace. The ritual of outpost life, the sweep of battle, the advance of the patrol beneath ominous skies: She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, an Academy Award winner* for its color cinematography, paints a memorable portrait of the honor, duty and courage in the finest tradition of the cavalry. And of Ford filmmaking.

Customer Reviews:

MY FAVORITE JOHN WAYNE FILM.......2007-07-04

Although Red River, The Searchers, and possibly True Grit and The Shootist might arguably contain better acting performances from the Duke, this film is my favorite. Everything works in this film, and works well. John Ford loved the U.S. Cavalry, as can be clearly seen in the trilogy, and also in the Civil War film, The Horse Soldiers. While I love all the aforementioned films, this one is the one where everything worked perfectly. The contrast of Wayne's seasoned Capt. Brittles with the two younger officers, the lonely life Brittles lives with no wife or family vs. the younger men competing for the hand of lovely Joanne Dru, the comedy relief provided by the incomparable Victor McLaglen, the savvy wisdom of(former confederate captain) Sgt. Tyree, nothing is missing. This was John Ford's stock company at it's best, with perhaps only The Searchers to compare. The passing years only make me love this film more. everyone was at the absolute top of their game for She Wore a Yellow Ribbon. See it soon!!!

Perhaps the Ultimate Western........2007-04-17

John Wayne lives this part. A battle hardened veteran of the war between the states, a career officer - Captain Nathan Brittles - finds himself on the Western Frontier nearing the end of his career. A man for whom the military is not just a way of life, it is life. And, in a remarkably sensitive fashion for the time, the "hostiles" are shown to be a civilized and intelligent people who have been pushed time and time again by the western expansion of this nation and are simply fighting to survive. It would have of course been easy just to shoot another movie reflecting an Indian uprising with calvary charges and heroic gestures. Thank goodness we're spared that. Instead, we have a deeply well orchestrated movie developing many different characters and plot lines. While he is Army through and through, Captain Brittles still poignantly takes time to water the desert flowers on his wife's grave and to talk to her gently until that day comes that he joins her. And, Sgt Tyree, the irrepressible scout that is almost an extension of Captain Brittles, has another life too that we learn about, in a touching and well done scene not often witnessed in today's pyrotechnic oriented films. Is this the best western I've ever seen? Maybe, maybe not, but the Searchers (who can forget that shadowy ending shot with John Wayne framing the door?) is close (not to mention the sleeper The Tin Star with Henry Fonda) and so are Fort Apache, My Darling Clementine (Henry Fonda again), and Gunfight at the OK Corral (Kirk Douglas) - some of which have been mentioned by other reviewers as well. I would give this movie more than 5 stars if I could, and you cannot go wrong viewing it.

GREAT JOHN WAYNE CLASSIC!.......2007-03-11

Without any doubt - this is my favorite John Wayne classic movie.
All actors are playing wonderful and the movie was shot on a great
place - Monument Valley/Arizona.

Just perfect for every Western fan.

Thank you John Wayne!

Early Duke Classic.......2007-01-19

See another side of John Wayne. This movie stands with The Shootist as one of Wayne's more layered roles. *****

Exciting, highly enjoyable, and beautiful!.......2006-11-08

'She Wore a Yellow Ribbon' remains for many viewers their favorite Ford film, and it is certainly the most striking visually... Winton C. Hoch won an Oscar for his Technicolor photography...

The compositions and photography around Ford's new stamping ground of Monument valley are great to look at as always... The Monument Valley goes from bright sunlight to hail and sleet...

There is a melancholy mixed together in those incredible vistas, with a certain sense of dreamlike contemplation... A backdrop so complex but so significant as the human characters...

Ford has superbly achieved a huge and composite demonstration of all the legends of the frontier cavalryman... Never have the legendary troops been through the silent 'Indian country' and across the magnificent Western plains so brilliant, vivid, exciting and romantic...

Ford has surely done better himself, unquestionably with 'My Darling Clementine,' and 'The Searchers,' yet one has to admit the undisputed merits of 'She Wore a Yellow Ribbon.' Even the usual criticism launched against it-that it is a Western influenced by feeling rather by reason--can be dismissed at the start... Certainly Ford can be sentimental but only when the springs of honest feeling run dry and lose their inspiration, and this never really happens in 'She Wore a Yellow Ribbon.'

The story is that of an older cavalry officer (John Wayne) who is six days from retirement at Fort Stark when he's sent out, in a last mission, to escort the Major's wife (Mildred Natwick) and her niece, an attractive single lady (Joanne Dru) out of the danger area... Wayne tries to fulfill his military role protecting his female charges against the uprising of the Sioux, Cheyenne, Kiowa, Comanche and Apaches...

Wayne possibly more than any other Western star has re-created and heightened the mythology of the West-one has only to watch again his absolute and ideal image in 'She Wore a Yellow Ribbon,' or his avenging Ethan in 'The Searchers,' to be reminded of how irresistible the Duke has been on the cinema screen...

'She Wore a Yellow Ribbon' is above all a sentimental movie, with irresistible scenes, full of Ford's best touches:

- The cavalry engaged in its everyday work... Wayne simply can't picture himself in a world far from the army...

- The comic interaction between Wayne and Victor McLaglen, two hardcore professional officers...

- The bravery of Sgt. Tyree (Ben Johnson), chased by hostile Indians, who must finish his mission by reporting to the captain what he saw...

- The rivalry of two young cavalry lieutenants (John Agar and Harry Carey Jr.) in love with the same woman, each competing to have her wear a yellow ribbon as a token of his love...

- The 'beloved brute,' the tough-soft cavalry sergeant sharing his saddle with a little orphan rescued from a devastated stage station...

- Ford celebrating McLaglen's lachrymose in self-indulgent fisticuffs in an epic saloon fight...

- The last inspection of the C. troops almost bringing tears to Wayne's and the audience's eyes, as he reads the inscription that means so much to him...

- Wayne riding into the war camp of the Indians to stop a war...

- The U. S. cavalry at full gallop descending upon the encampment, firing wildly and stampeding hundred of Indian ponies...

- The evocative use of music, notably the gay and spirited theme song of the yellow ribbon, played countless times...

'She Wore a Yellow Ribbon ' is an exciting story with strong characters and sentiment, highly enjoyable, and beautiful...

Average customer rating:

MY FAVORITE JOHN WAYNE FILM
Perhaps the Ultimate Western.
GREAT JOHN WAYNE CLASSIC!
Early Duke Classic
Exciting, highly enjoyable, and beautiful!

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Westerns | Genres | DVD | Video

Classics | Westerns | Genres | DVD | Video

Drama | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

All Titles | John Wayne Store | Stores | DVD | Video

1940s | John Wayne Store | Stores | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $9.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( S ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

Fort Apache
Rio Grande (Collector's Edition)
The Horse Soldiers
Red River
The Searchers (Two-Disc Anniversary Edition)

ASIN: B000F0UUIW
Release Date: 2006-06-06

Amazon.com essential video

Description

A masterpiece of mood and heroics, this second film in director John Ford's renowned cavalry trilogy (Fort Apache and Rio Grande are the others) features one of John Wayne's most moving performances as a cavalry officer in his final week of service on the frontier. Under makeup aging him some 20 years, he inhabits the role of a wily veteran who knows the sting of war and vows to make his last mission one of peace. The ritual of outpost life, the sweep of battle, the advance of the patrol beneath ominous skies: She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, an Academy Award? winner* for its color cinematography, paints a memorable portrait of the honor, duty and courage in the finest tradition of the cavalry. And of Ford filmmaking.

DVD Features:
Other:John Ford home movies
Production Notes:Notes on John Wayne and John Ford
Scene Access
Theatrical Trailer

Customer Reviews:

MY FAVORITE JOHN WAYNE FILM.......2007-07-04

Perhaps the Ultimate Western........2007-04-17

GREAT JOHN WAYNE CLASSIC!.......2007-03-11

Early Duke Classic.......2007-01-19

See another side of John Wayne. This movie stands with The Shootist as one of Wayne's more layered roles. *****

Exciting, highly enjoyable, and beautiful!.......2006-11-08

Average customer rating:

Escort West
Great Victor Mature Western
Don't Mess with Mr. Mature !
Victor Mature for Western fans
Good Western...

Escort West
Starring: Victor Mature , Elaine Stewart , Faith Domergue , Reba Waters (II) , and Noah Beery Jr.
Director: Francis D. Lyon
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

Comic Action | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Westerns | Genres | DVD | Video

Classics | Westerns | Genres | DVD | Video

Comedy | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $7.49 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( E ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

The Last Frontier
The Last Wagon
Seven Men From Now (Special Collector's Edition)
Yellow Sky
Branded

ASIN: B0007O390W
Release Date: 2005-05-17

Description

The Old West roars with "fast guns, fists and horses" (The Film Daily) in this gripping story that teams Victor Mature (My Darling Clementine) with western legends Harry Carey, Jr., andSlim Pickens in a fight-to-the-finish battle with hostile Indians. Thrilling and dramatic, Escort West follows the intense struggle for landand lovein the frontier. Heading west after the Civil War, rebel soldier Ben (Mature) befriends pretty Beth (Elaine Stewart), who's traveling west to meet her fiancÃ(c), a Union cavalry officer. When Indians attack, Ben guides Beth to the safety of the cavalry camp, only to find it besieged. Now Ben must battle heroically against the Indians to save the woman he's come to loveand the man she's engaged to marry.

Customer Reviews:

Escort West.......2007-05-07

Its a great film that reflects passions after the War Between the States.
Shows how former Confederates trekked west after the war and how they were received there. Many ended up in Oregon and Nevada.

Great Victor Mature Western.......2006-03-02

Victor Mature was a natural to make Westerns. He had the requisite rough edges, but always managed to imbue his characters with style, grace, and as odd as it could be for frontier living, sophistication.

Escort West follows Mature as he plays a former Confederate captain headed to Nevada after the war. With his daughter in two, Mature lands in the middle of rampaging Modoc Indians who have killed a cavalry detatchment whose survivors include two women and a black supply officer. One of the women is engaged to a cavalry officer pinned down by the Modocs, and the other is her sister, who hates all Confederates because her beloved was killed in the war. The supply officer has suffered a broken leg in the attack.

Mature leads this motley group toward safety, knowing that it is likely that the Modocs have the engaged cavalry officer's troop surrounded. And as expected, he and the engaged woman begin to fall in love.

Escort West is exciting with very good acting, and a better script than most Westerns, thanks to veteran tough-guy heavy Leo Gordon, who co-wrote the script and appears as a burned out soldier. It is great newsthat Westerns such as Escort west have made it to DVD.

Don't Mess with Mr. Mature !.......2005-06-18

"Escort West" was released theatrically in 1958. It is a solid, entertaining western, although hardly a classic. The film is given an enormous boost by the presence of star, Victor Mature, always a formidable figure in any role he played. Of course, one of Mr. Mature's finest performances was in the western, "My Darling Clementine", as a memorable Doc Holliday. However, "Escort West" is far from being a John Ford western.

Mr. Mature plays Ben Lassiter, a soldier who fought for the South in the Civil War. Now he is a widower with a young daughter, Abbey (Reba Waters), travelling west to hopefully find peace and a new life. He encounters two women being "escorted west" by a group of soldiers, some of whom still do not like "Johnny Reb" ! The women are sisters with very different personalities--Beth Drury (Elaine Stewart) is a kind, gentle young woman, who soon develops feelings for Ben--Martha Drury (Faith Domergue) is a nasty, bitter snob, who has a special hate for "Southerners". Some murderous Indian renegades create a situation whereby the two women, and a wounded soldier, must rely on Ben to help them get through hostile territory in one piece. Ben also has to contend with a couple of villanous soldiers.

"Escort West" has enough action and suspense to hold your attention, and Ben's showdown with renegade leader, Tago (X. Brands), and his gang gives the film an exciting climax. Veteran heavy, Leo Gordon, also contributed to the script. Western fans will also spot actors like Noah Beery Jr., Harry Carey Jr., Slim Pickens, Ken Curtis and--the king of the "B" western bad guys--Roy Barcroft, in supporting roles.

One side of the DVD is widescreen--the other side full-screen--the sound is mono--there are no extras, except for a trailer. The picture is black and white--I found the clarity of the image to be excellent.

"Escort West" is a fairly routine western, but it has very few dull moments, and Victor Mature is a hero that fans can readily cheer for. If your taste in movies leans towards "dusters", this disc will be a solid addition to your collection.

Victor Mature for Western fans.......2005-05-27

Escort West, written by a familiar face villain, Leo Gordon, who doubled as a screenwriter in his spare time, has Victor MATURE escorting two women across Modoc territory. Matters are complicated even further by renegade soldiers out to get a stollen army payroll. Good scenery and lots of action. The DVD is double faced, one side with Cinemascope, the other has the full screen version, plus the theatrical trailer. I recommend it for Western fans.

Good Western..........2003-07-24

Victor Mature, the star of this little Western, is not thought of as a Western actor, but in several oaters [e.g, THE LAST FRONTIER and ESCORT WEST] he proves he can shoot and ride with the best of'em. ESCORT WEST is very enjoyable if not exceptionable, certainly worth the investment and certainly repaying the occasional re-viewing. Look for standout co-stars Ken Curtis [of GUNSMOKE fame] and Leo Gordon. Recommended.