Directed by Edwin Sherin
Starring Burt Lancaster, Susan Clark, Jon Cypher, Barton Heyman, Richard Jordan, Frank Silvera, Hector Elizondo
Kino Lorber has announced that Valdez Is Coming (1971) is coming to Blu-Ray. It’s the second of three Westerns Burt Lancaster made in the early 70s, the other two being Lawman (1971) and Robert Aldrich’s Ulzana’s Raid (1972).
It’s based on a novel by Elmore Leonard, and at one point there was talk of Marlon Brando playing Valdez, Lancaster taking the part that went to Jon Cypher and Sydney Pollack directing. What a different movie that would’ve been.
No details from Kino Lorber yet, and the release date is simply later this year.
The Hannibal 8 
VALDEZ IS COMING is already out on a very nice looking
Blu Ray from Explosive Media and it’s region free to boot.
I feel the film called for John Sturges in his prime and the supporting
cast lacks verve-apart from, of course, lovely Susan Clark-I sure wish
she had made more Westerns.
If, and only if,the Kino version is a brand new 4K restoration I MIGHT
give it a go-the film has it’s moments but the ending sucks.
Speaking of Sydney Pollack JERIMIAH JOHNSON was originally
going to star Eastwood,directed by Peckinpah….what a different
movie that would have been!
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This is a movie I WANT to like more than I actually do.
Susan Clark’s great. Her two Siegel pictures are terrific — and I’m a big fan of Murder By Decree.
Jeremiah Johnson has a really interesting production history. To me, anything that involves John Milius is gonna be interesting!
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VALDEZ seems to generating a lot of heat on Kino’s Facebook page.
One cat even loves the ending!
At least Kino are doing Western fans proud but not the kind of Westerns
beloved by the FWOTF gang.
I was giving some thought that say 10 years ago it was impossible to find
commercial discs of,say the likes of Rory Calhoun,Jock Mahoney,
Rod Cameron,Guy Madison,George Montgomery and other such second
string Western greats.
Then along came Warner Archive and around that time those Euro
imprints like Koch started to appear-suddenly there was a deluge of
“programmer/B Westerns” available.
Prior to that the only way to get these films were from cats that
were selling/trading “off air” copies often in dismal quality.
Sadly a lot of cats (in the UK at least) are still in that mindset they would
rather buy/trade for “off air” versions than actually buy official releases.
I guess,apart from Warner Archive and Europe the release of these
B Programmer Westerns has more or less dried up.
I’d love to see Kino (from the old MGM/UA catalog) release titles
like WARPAINT,FORT YUMA,REBEL IN TOWN,SOUTHWEST PASSAGE,
or the wealth of titles from Paramount/Republic like AT GUNPOINT,
DRAGOON WELLS MASSACRE and many others..but sadly “traditional”
Western fans are their own worst enemies.
I was indeed saddened when Toby,you mentioned some time back
that VCI’s Darn Good Western collections were poor sellers.
Of course the audience for titles like VALDEZ IS COMING and indeed,
the Spaghetti’s are from a much younger age group.
In closing it’s great that Kino still have faith in Westerns but not the kind
for the most part to appeal to the FWOTF gang.
I totally agree with your statement that I too would like to love VALDEZ
more than I do and the Brando/Lancaster combo could have been
sensational.
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What! Darn Good Westerns didn’t sell?
I remember buying those sets, and still have them on self somewhere. What I liked about them was all the films were new to me, very entertaining.
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Those are great sets. I was unfamiliar with a lot of those, too.
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The artwork for Explosive Media’s VALDEZ IS COMING is up on
the Koch website,I guess this was Burt’s best post 50’s Western but
I do have a high regard for CATTLE ANNIE & LITTLE BRITCHES,
I’d love Kino to release that one.
As an add-on to what I said above I’m continually bemused by how many
cats in the UK are funding their retirement by selling off air or clones
of official releases,some of them are even selling 4×3 copies of old
CinemaScope titles they recorded to VHS in the 80’s…amazingly some
folks are still buying this stuff. As a said before these guys are killing
the market for 50’s programmer Westerns.
I remember when the Sony MOD series started we used to get about
a dozen releases on the first Tuesday of each month-lovely transfers
as well. I fondly remember all that Sam Katzman stuff and a whole raft
of Westerns starring the likes of George Montgomery….sadly the
Sony MOD thing has bit the dust.
I’m in constant admiration for the variety of stuff the H8 covers..you
just don’t know what’s going to crop up next.So much great Horror/
Sci-Fi Fantasy titles in the pipeline,much of it I’m sure to feature on
future H8 editions-one things for sure Horror fans wouldn’t even think
about buying cloned DVD’s from rip-off merchant they have truly
embraced the High-Def-Blu Ray process. I’m quiet interested in some
of these Hammer titles (some of them certainly second string)
that Studio Canal have announced as High Def versions.
The Powerhouse/Indicator Facebook page/Website has announced
their forthcoming Hammer titles as premium editions loaded with
extras,tempting even though we have already got these titles.
I’d love Powerhouse (or anyone) to upgrade that wonderful Katzman
set that appeared several years back on DVD.
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That Powerhouse set does look nice. I was quite impressed with the Mill Creek Hammer sets that contained some of those same films. It’s so good to see those movies looking good — the color, camerawork and art direction are always terrific on those films.
You can’t have too much Sam Katzman. There is so much of that stuff I’m dying to have in my hot little hands.
Unrelated, but what the hell — revisited Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome. It was a favorite when I was a kid, and I still love it. Karloff is wonderful in it.
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The Mill Creek sets have been getting lot’s of flak from the “fanboys”
or “Horror Kids” or whatever you wish to call them.
For me these cats get a little TOO precious the Mill Creek sets look
fine as far as I’m concerned-Nick Beal who is really into all this
stuff tells me that the Mill Creek sets are single layered with a low bitrate
but as I said before they are fine by me.
BTW Nick’s offer on the “Hoover” films still stands-I hope he replies to this
so you can sort something out.
Powerhouse have informed me that the four films in the first set will be
released as “stand alone” releases when the box set sells out-which should
not be too long knowing the fierce loyalty of Hammer fans both sides of
the Atlantic. The film I really want in the set (as a “stand alone” ) is
MANIAC a really cool little movie and one of the best of the Sangster
Psycho rip offs.These B & W Hammer widescreen thrillers look awesome
in high-def.
Yes Sir-Karloff is wonderful in the Tracy film.
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I pretty much ignore the technical stuff and go by how they look. On my 42-inch set those Mill Creek Hammers look great.
Maniac’s a good one, and it gets high marks just for being in B&W Scope.
However, last night my family went to the TCM 50th anniversary screening of one of our collective favorite films, Arthur Penn’s Bonnie And Clyde (1967). It was so cool to see it in a theater — the violence and bloodshed is really impactful on the big screen, but it looked terrible. It was flat, the blacks were gray, the blood looked somewhat purple, and it wasn’t very sharp. The sound, however, was terrific. My (limited) experience with digital moviegoing hasn’t been very impressive.
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“On my 42″ set those Mill Creek Hammers look great”
Yep-I totally agree with you there as a fellow 42″ viewer-and don’t those
Mill Creek Castle’s look wonderful.
Thanks for sharing the feedback on the Penn film-most interesting.
Toby-what’s your take on LITTLE BIG MAN-now there’s a film that
divides opinion I’m a fan but many are not.
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I appreciate Little Big Man, but don’t like it. The opposite is true with Penn;s Missouri Breaks, I like it but think it’s a big fat mess.
Bonnie And Clyde never ceases to knock me out — I find something new to appreciate every time I see it.
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Do you know I’ve never seen THE MISSOURI BREAKS-your description
intrigues me somewhat.
While we are on this “Western Diversion” (a first for the H8?)
have you seen the artwork for Twilight Time’s forthcoming Blu Ray
for GUN FURY. They have sourced the Italian poster artwork and it looks
stunning even though the characters look nothing like the leads in the film.
Cannot wait for this one in the correct ratio-the old DVD was pretty
poor picture quality wise,
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Harry Dean Stanton is wonderful in Missouri Breaks. And Sam Gilman from One-Eyed Jacks is there.
Yeah, the old Gun Fury was a letdown. I’m real excited about this new one, and the artwork is really cool.
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