Film Noir + WesternDuring Hollywood’s Golden Age, Warner Brothers produced three versions of W.R. Burnett’s 1941 novel ‘High Sierra’.The first two, both directed by Raoul Walsh, are in this two-disc Blu-ray from Criterion:--- 1941: ‘High Sierra’ starring Humphrey Bogart and Ida Lupino, screenplay by W.R. Burnett and John Huston.--- 1949: ‘Colorado Territory’ starring Joel McCrea and Virginia Mayo, screenplay by Edmund H. North and John Twist.‘High Sierra is a five star gangster film - Eddie Muller called it “Film Noir and a genuine watershed in the history of Hollywood”.‘Colorado Territory’ is a Western (Colorado became a state in 1876).It’s not unusual for studios to remake successful films, but this usually involves some bad blood with the original director.I had assumed that remaking ‘High Sierra’ as a Western was the studio’s idea, but it turns out that the remake was director Raoul Walsh’s idea.The script for ‘Colorado Territory’ is about 85% identical to ‘High Sierra’The farmer’s daughter is nastier in the remake, and the ending is slightly different.Surprisingly neither W.R. Burnett nor John Huston received a writing credit (perhaps they were unhappy with the idea of a remake).One actor is common to both films: Henry Hull, who played “Doc” in ‘High Sierra’ and the migrant farmer in ‘Colorado Territory’.I wasn’t expecting much from ‘Colorado Territory’, but it turned out to be a pleasant surprise.At least a 4½ star Western, which is what I should have expected from Joel McCrea and Raoul Walsh.One improvement over the original: the lengthy train robbery scene at the heart of the film is a lot more exciting than the perfunctory hotel robbery in ‘High Sierra’.One thing I miss is Pard the dog, played by Zero (Eddie Muller claims that Zero was Humphrey Bogart’s dog in real life).Joel McCrea has a horse.‘High Sierra’ is presented in a beautiful new 4-K digital restoration, though someone failed to notice the hair in the frame for seven seconds (@ 1:24.20).‘Colorado Territory’ is an unrestored print, kind of beat up in places. But the actual cinematography is impressive and well-captured on Blu-ray.Both films have English SDH subtitles.Neither has a commentary track, but Criterion does provide four hours of nicely done bonus features:--- “Curtains for Roy Earle” (15 minutes) featurette carried over from the 2003 DVD (everything else is new to disc).--- “Bogart: Here’s Looking at You” (50 minutes) a 1997 documentary from British television.--- “The True Adventures of Raoul Walsh” (95 minutes) a 2019 documentary about the director.--- Interview with screenwriter W.R. Burnett (15 minutes) from 1976.--- New featurette on African-American actor Willie Best (15 minutes).--- New conversation between critics Dave Kehr and Farran Smith Nehme (20 minutes).--- Radio adaptation from 1944 (30 minutes) starring Bogart and Lupino.--- Booklet essay by Farran Smith Nehme.--- Movie trailer.One regret:In 1955, Warner produced ‘I Died a Thousand Times’ a third adaptation of ‘High Sierra’, this time starring Jack Palance and Shelley Winters.Directed by Stuart Heisler, with screenplay by W.R. Burnett (no credit for John Huston).A 95% faithful reproduction of the 1941 film, but this time it was filmed in Color and Cinemascope.It’s a lesser film, but it would have been a nice addition to this collection (available on DVD from Warner Archive).