Customer Reviews

The Man Behind the Gun / Thunder Over the Plains / Riding Shotgun

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Perhaps it has been the success of other, recent Randolph Scott Westerns being released this past year on DVD, but now Warner Brothers is releasing in very reasonably priced triple-headers two 3-film packs of classic Scott Westerns from the 1950s, and it is indeed great news for fans of the classic "little A" Western, and of Randolph Scott, who in many ways epitomized the Western star of the 1940s and '50s. These three titles can be purchased together with three more in another set for a pitance. Although the Warner Scotts were not generally superior to the Columbia products, they were still superior Westerns and very entertaining, filled with action and the kind of dramatic adventure so treasured by fans of the genre. Several, including COLT.45, FORT WORTH, and RIDING SHOTGUN, are very good. Here's hoping that Warner will release CARSON CITY (one of the best from the early 50s), SUGARFOOT, and THE BOUNTY HUNTER...and if they have it, WESTBOUND, one of the seven Budd Boetticher directed Scott films. I'd even enjoy seeing the much-maligned SHOOT-OUT AT MEDICINE BEND (with a young James Garner)!
Thanks, Warner Brothers!

Randolph Scott's contributions to the western from 1945-1962 are second to none. His teaming with producer Harry Joe Brown from 1947 produced several superior programmers for Columbia up to 1959, many of them directed by solid craftsmen like Ray Enright and Gordon Douglas but the best of them helmed first by the intelligent and talented Andre De Toth, then by Budd Boetticher, whose Ranown series of virile, lean chamber works (justifiably acclaimed as miniature masterpieces) provided, along with Sam Peckinpah's Ride the High Country an ideal book end to Scott's honorable career. Reprehensibly, apart from the beautifully restored Paramount/Batjac release of Seven Men from Now, none of the Boetticher-Scott westerns is presently available on DVD.

Columbia have nevertheless released a steady flow of the Scotts, for which we must be thankful. It has certainly been great to have titles like Man in the Saddle, A Lawless Street, and Hangman's Knot in the DVD catalogue.

These 2 new Warner Triple Bills are terrific news for the legions of Scott fans: the Warner Scotts, never before surfacing on DVD, contain some of the most enjoyable entries including the tough Colt 45, some well-directed De Toths like Riding Shotgun and Thunder Over the Plains and the traditional but highly entertaining Tall Man Riding. Indeed the taut, suspenseful Riding Shotgun is one of the very best "wrongly accused holed-up in a hostile town" westerns with superbly staged action. Scott is excellent as always, but Wayne Morris lends sterling support as the hapless sheriff caught up in the middle of a conflict he'd rather be out of. I hope Warner issues another set-the sooner the better-that contains some of its remaining Scotts like The Bounty Hunter, Sugarfoot and Westbound (the last film in particular, directed by Boetticher, is a genuine curiosity).

Another of two three film collections of Randolph Scott Westerns features three solid examples of his work, although Ride Shot gun is by far the best of the three.
The Man Behind The Gun has Scott as an undercover Army officer who is investigating a plot in California to steal the water supply to force the state to be pro-slavery. Alan Hale Jr., Morris Ankrum, Roy Roberts, and Phil Carey lend dignity to the proceedings, and even if it's not one of Scott's best, it's still fairly entertaining. Rating - Three out of five stars.

Thunder Over The Plains - In this film, Scott again plays an army officer, this time trying to keep law and order in post Civil-War Texas, as renegades steal from carpetbaggers. As Scott deals with the tension of being a symbol of tyranny to his fellow Texans, he also has to deal with a young, brash subordinate, played by Lex Barker, who fancies Scott's wife. This film is entertaining, and better than most of Scott's non-Budd Boetticher films. Rating - Four out of five stars.

Riding Shotgun - This standout of the three included films features Scott in his tried and true posture as a man set on revenge. Scott plays a shotgun rider for a stagecoach line who's pursuing the men that killed his sister and nephew. The gang waylays Scott and robs the stagecoach he is supposed to be on as a ruse to draw a posse out of the town that the stagecoach is heading for, all with the purpose of robbing the town casino with all of the able-bodied men out of town. Scott gets free, and heads to the town, where he tries to warn the townspeople of the impending robbery, but is regarded with suspicion as having been an accomplice to the stage robbery and the murder of the man riding shotgun in Scott's place.

Scott and the cast is entertaining, and Charles Bronson (using his real name of Buchinsky) is great as the gang leader's chief lieutenant. This has many of the elements of Scott's best films, and is thoroughly enjoyable. Rating - Five out of five stars.

Another triple feature from Warner Bros spotlights three Randolph Scott flicks. Expect action, gunplay,and some humor in all these. Look for lots of familiar faces like Philip Carey (from General Hospital, I believe), Alan Hale Jr.(Skipper from Gilligan's Island) and Charles Buchinsky (better known as Charles Bronson). Randolph Scott is the picture of your western hero, broad in the shoulder, long and lean with a slow drawl. The plots are more mature than just a shoot-em-up. The best part is three good movies for the price of one. The transfers are excellent. The photography in these shows is beautiful. The price is worth just watching the scenery. If you ever liked the old time western, entertainment the family can watch, do not pass this up.

Anyone with a good knowledge of Randolph Scott's movie career, would welcome these three additions to his list of westerns available at last on dvd. I remember seeing these movies in theatres as a teenager, and time has not changed them. They each stand up today, as well as they did when released in the 1950's. Anybody with a yearning towards the Hollywood version of the Americian west, (not the real west), like me, will enjoy these movies. A great example of western movie making at it's best, without the need to resort to four letter words and blood splatted violence, to put the story over. (think TV's Deadwood, yuk!). The prints are so clear and in such beautiful condition, that I can't wait to see what will be released next. Pure entertainment, and three movies on one two sided disc is fantastic value. Happy viewing, Frank Harris.

Warner Home Video presents "TRIPLE FEATURE: The Man Behind the Gun / Thunder Over the Plains / Riding Shotgun" - Randolph Scott --- (Dolby digitally remastered) --- relive those thrilling days when Randolph Scott took us down the dusty trails with hard riding and straight shooting hitting the bull's eye with excitement every time... the Randolph Scott series of B-Westerns were a staple of Saturday matinees in the 1940s and 1950s ... don't miss any of the Randolph Scott features loaded with action that will leave you wanting more of his B-Western adventures.

First up we have - "THE MAN BEHIND THE GUN" (1952) (85 min/Color) --- Under Felix E. Feist (Director), Robert Sisk (Producer), Robert Buckner (Short Story Author), Derek N. Twist (Screenwriter), Bert Glennon (Cinematographer), David Buttolph (Composer (Music Score), Owen Marks (Editor) ------ the cast includes Randolph Scott (Maj. Callicut), Patrice Wymore (Lora Roberts), Dick Wesson ("Monk"), Philip Carey (Capt. Roy Giles), Lina Romay (Chona Degnon), Roy Roberts (Mark Sheldon), Morris Ankrum (Bram Creegan), Katherine Warren (Phoebe Sheldon), Douglas Fowley (Buckley), Clancy Cooper ("Kansas" Collins), Robert Cabal (Joaquin Murietta), James Warner (Bellah), Alan Hale, Jr. (Olof), Anthony Caruso (Vic Sutro), Reed Howes, Rex Lease . . . . . . our story has Randolph Scott going undercover as the baddies in this oater want to keep California from joining the union ... great supporting cast Patrice Wymore, Philip Carey, Douglas Fowley, Morris Ankrum, Alan Hale Jr and Anthony Caruso make screenwriter Derek Twist and Robert Buckner's story drama at it's best ... Robert Cabal as Joaquin Murietta in the final scene is a twist and surprise, don't leave the theater until the final showdown, this Scott oater is not one of my favorite's but is still a winner.

BIOS:
1. Randolph Scott (aka: George Randolph Scott)
Date of birth: 23 January 1898 - Orange County, Virginia
Date of death: 2 March 1987 - Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California
2. Patrice Wymore
Date of birth: 17 December 1926 - Miltonvale, Kansas
Date of death: Still Living
3. Felix E. Feist (Director)
Date of birth: 28 February 1910 - New York, New York
Date of death: 2 September 1965 - Encino, California

Second on the triple bill - "THUNDER OVER THE PLAINS" (1953) (82 mins/Color) --- Under André De Toth (Director), David Weisbart (Producer), Russell S. Hughes (Screenwriter), Bert Glennon (Cinematographer), David Buttolph (Composer (Music Score), James Moore (Editor), Stanley Fleischer (Art Director), Moss Mabry (Costume Designer) ------ the cast includes Randolph Scott (Capt. David Porter), Lex Barker (Capt. Bill Hodges), Phyllis Kirk (Norah), Charles McGraw (Ben Westman), Hugh Sanders (Balfour), Lane Chandler (Faraday), James Brown (Conrad), Fess Parker (Kirby), Richard Benjamin (Sgt. Shaw), Mark Dana (Lt. Williams), Jack Woody (Henley), Trevor Bardette (Walter Morgan), Frank Matts (Jurgens), Steven Darrell (McAvoy), Earl Hodgins (Auctioneer), Elisha Cook, Jr. (Standish) . . . . . . our story takes place a few years after the Civil War, our hero Randolph Scott is a Captain in the Union Army ... the carpetbaggers have taken over and the leader is Charles McGraw, who by the way is in the right ... but Scott has his orders to bring McGraw in ... arriving on the post is Lex Barker who knew Scott's wife back in her hometown, there's trouble brewing when there is one beautiful woman and two men ... character actor Henry Hull is believable as the post commander, Elisha Cook as one of the carpetbaggers and Phyllis Kirk as Scott's wife head the lineup of a wonderful supporting cast ... and plenty of action with director Andre de Toth as the helm.

BIOS:
1. Lex Barker (aka: Alexander Crichlow Barker Jr)
Date of birth: 8 May 1919 - Rye, New York
Date of death: 11 May 1973 - New York, New York
2. Phyllis Kirk (aka: Phyllis Kirkegaard)
Date of birth: 18 September 1929 - Plainfield, New Jersey
Date of death: 19 October 2006 - Los Angeles, California
3. André De Toth (aka: Sasvrai Farkasfalvi Tothfalusi Toth Endre Anral Mihaly) (Director)
Date of birth: 15 May 1912 - Makó, Csongrád, Hungary, Austria-Hungary [now Hungary]
Date of death: 27 October 2002 - Burbank, California

Third and final feature - "RIDING SHOTGUN" (1954) (75 min/Color) --- Under André De Toth (Director), Ted Sherdeman (Producer), Tom Blackburn (Screenwriter), Kenneth Perkins (Short Story Author), Bert Glennon (Cinematographer), David Buttolph (Composer (Music Score), Rudi Fehr (Editor), Edward Carrere (Art Director), Benjamin S. Bone (Set Designer) ------ the cast includes Randolph Scott (Larry Delong), Wayne Morris (Tub Murphy), Joan Weldon (Orissa Flynn), Joe Sawyer (Tom Biggert), James Millican (Dan Marady), James Bell (Doc Winkler), Fritz Feld (Fritz), Richard Garrick (Walters), Vic Perrin (Bar-M Rider), John Baer (Hughes), William Johnstone (Col. Flynn), Kem Dibbs (Ben), Richard Benjamin (Blackie), Ned Young (Manning), Jack Woody (Hardpan), Lonnie Pierce (Ellie), Jay Lawrence (Lewellyn), Mary Lou Holloway (Cynthia Biggert), Charles Bronson (Pinto), Allegra Varron (Mrs. Fritz), Dub Taylor (Eddie), Boyd "Red" Morgan (Red), Bud Osborne (townsman), Paul Picerni (Bob Purdee) . . . . . . the plot with director Andre De Toth giving the green light to our favorite B-Western actor Randolph Scott, whose narration to the story has film noir written all over it ... the fight between Joe Sawyer is brief but a good one, as Scott proves he's not going to stand around waiting for the gang of outlaws to ride in and take over the town ... everyone is against Scott believing he's guilty of leaving the stage making way for the holdup ... James Millican and Charles Bronson are the villains, down and dirty as they can be, which in a Randy Scott western is just the way is should be ... Wayne Morris as the deputy sheriff brings realism into the film, when he knows Scott is faster and deadly with a sixgun, trying to talk him into turning himself in ... the score from David Buttolph adds to the excitement and drama of every scene ... the final scene is an exciting showdown, when it's all over Scott tells the cook he's hungry, rustle up some grub for him and Wayne Morris too ... the film is that good, you hope it never ends with each local citizen taking sides against Scott.

BIOS:
1. Wayne Morris (aka: Bert DeWayne Morris)
Date of birth: 17 February 1914 - Los Angeles, California
Date of death: 14 September 1959 - Oakland, California
2. Joe Sawyer (aka: Joseph Sauers)
Date of birth: 29 August 1906 - Guelph, Canada
Date of death: 21 April 1982 - Ashland, Oregon,

Great job by Warner Home Video for releasing "The Man Behind the Gun / Thunder Over the Plains / Riding Shotgun" (1953) - Randolph Scott, digital transfere with a clean, clear and crisp print...looking forward to more of the same from the '40s and '50s vintage...order your copy now from Amazon, stay tuned once again riding the range with B-Westerns ... just the way we like 'em!

Total Time: 238 mins on DVD ~ WHV76025DVD ~ (11/07/2006)

Really liked the triple feature here. These technicolor films all look and sound great but there are no extras-not even menus. The movies themselves are really what matter and they are well made old-fashioned Hollywood westerns. Thunder on the Plains is by far the best film which goes beyond the reins of the genre with more realistic and serious characters, intense action, real suspense and outstanding photography. Also, Thunder features two great supporting actors, Henry Hull as a cavalry major and Lex Baxter as the young rival! One of the best Randy Scott movies I've ever seen. The other two films are like icing on the cake. The simultaneous release of a second triple feature with Colt .45 and Fort Worth is also a great deal.

I would just like to chime in with all the positive reviews here. These B-westerns are very enjoyable -- westerns the way they used to be made way back when the body count was relatively low and the characterization drove the story forward. "Riding Shootgun" is the stand out story here but the other two aren't bad either.

The more I see of Randolph Scott, the more I like his work. When given a decent script and a good director, he could really deliver a fine performance.

This is a bare bones release. There are no extras of any kind -- no scene selection menu, no trailers, no nothin'.

The color looks good and the sound is clear. Sit back, break out the popcorn and enjoy.

A Pistol-Packin Trio of Randolph Scott Films . Tall Randolph Scott (1898-1987) is every inch hero in three bullet-laced Westerns . The Secessionist fevor of the 1850s comes to California , and undercover Army Officer Scott aims to toward the separatist passion in THE MAN BEHIND THE GUN (1953) . There's THUNDER OVER THE PLAINS (1953) and Lighting in Scott's holsterns in the second film . He Portrays an Army captain assigned to a lawaless area of Texas after the civil war . Next , Scott is RIDING SHOTGUN (1954) and headling into a whirlwind of trouble : a mob bent on vigilante justice wrongly suspect him robbing a stagecoach . An Action bull's-eye all the way ! . Quality Transer. Recommended

this is an example of fine value. three of randolph's warner bros. movies. i would love to see his films with budd boetticher be put on dvd.