Product Description
Box-set containing three popular John Wayne westerns. In 'The Alamo' (1960), a group of 187 Americans, led by Colonels William Travis (Laurence Harvey), Davey Crockett (Wayne) and Jim Bowie (Richard Widmark) battle to hold off Santa Anna's army of 7,000. 'The Horse Soldiers' (1959) sees Wayne play hardbitten Union Cavalry Colonel Marlowe, who teams up with a pacifist doctor (William Holden) in this Civil War western directed by John Ford. Together with a feisty Southern belle (Constance Towers), the pair lead a cavalry patrol on a mission 300 miles into Confederate territory, in an attempt to destroy a railroad junction and choke off vital supply lines. Finally, in 'Red River' (1948), Tom Dunson (Wayne) and his adopted son (Montgomery Clift) lead the cattle train which establishes the Chisholm Trail. However, father and son argue when it comes to bringing law and order to the Wild West; Tom is tied to an authoritarian approach, whilst his son favours a more liberal stance, refusing to resort to the law of the gun.
Synopsis
Features three John Wayne’s classics: THE ALAMO, THE HORSE SOLDIERS and RED RIVER.
The Alamo
The Duke directs (with the uncredited help of his friend and mentor John Ford) this flag-waving spectacular about the courageous struggle by 182 American heroes to defend a small Catholic mission to the death and eventually win Texas with the help of Jim Bowie, Davy Crockett, and Sam Houston. The restored, widescreen edition of Wayne's epic is at the original length and includes the theatrical trailer. Academy Award Nominations: 7, including Best Picture, Best Song (Green Leaves of Summer). Academy Awards: Best Sound.
The Horse Soldiers
John Ford's only attempt at tackling the subject of the Civil War is based on Grierson's Raid, part of the Union's assault on Vicksburg in April 1863. After a number of failed efforts at taking the Southern stronghold, Union leaders assign Col. John Marlowe (John Wayne), a railroad designer in civilian life, to lead a cavalry detachment to destroy a vital railroad hub at Newton Station, far behind Confederate lines. Marlowe's unit includes Major Kendall (William Holden), a cynical physician disgusted by the notion that there's glory in the carnage, and the politically ambitious Colonel Secord (Willis Bouchey). Marlowe temporarily appropriates the plantation of Southerner Hannah Hunter (Constance Towers) while in transit and is forced to take her along, in lieu of killing her, after she overhears his plans for Newton Station. As their journey continues, Marlowe realises that he is much more interested in Hannah than in her political sympathies.
Red River
Howard Hawks's masterpiece is one of the greatest Westerns ever filmed, a saga of obsession and rivalry between a man and his adoptive son amid an epic struggle for survival in the Old West. Tom Dunson (John Wayne) journeys west to Texas to build a cattle empire and adopts Matthew Garth, a young boy orphaned by an Indian raid. Years later, Matthew (Montgomery Clift) returns from the Civil War and joins Dunson on a massive cattle drive north undertaken to avoid financial ruin. Stampedes and Indian attacks build tension, but it is Dunson's iron-fisted leadership that causes the most problems, finally bringing the action to a boiling point that pits father against son.
