Double Feature:
Cat Ballou (1965)
And
Garden of Evil (1954)
Company: Twilight Time
Starring: Jane Fonda, Lee Marvin, Dwayne Hickman, Nat King
Cole, Stubby Kaye, Gary Cooper, Rita Moreno, Huge Marlowe, Susan Hayward,
Cameron Mitchell, Richard Widmark.
My Review and Thoughts:
My Rating:
Cat Ballou: 4 out of 5
Garden of Evil: 4 out of 5
Here we adventure into two Westerns of totally opposite from
one another. Each different in their own ways. Twilight Time has brought out
two very memorable features on Blu-ray. Each one looks
beautiful. The Transfers are amazing.
Cat Ballou is not your typical western. This is a comedy
western musical. Kind of a spoof of westerns. Catherine Ballou played by Jane
Fonda has a desire to be a school teacher. She is coming home to her father’s
ranch, while on the way she mistakenly help’s Clay Boone who happens to be a
cattle rustler. She soon realizes that the Wolf City Corporation is trying to
take her father’s ranch. Clay the one she helped get away joins and agrees to
help her and her father. She hires a legend in the gun play reality named Kid
Shelleen played fantastically by the one and only Lee Marvin. Soon add in the
bad guy gunslinger Tim Strawn also played flawlessly by Lee Marvin. His dual roles
as two different gunslingers won him an academy award.
In Garden of Evil your main character is Hooker played
wonderfully by Gary Cooper. Now Hooker along with two others, Fiske and Luke
Daly are on their way to California to seek out gold through prospecting. While
stopping over in a village they are contacted by Leah Fuller. She hires them to
rescue her husband John, who happens to be trapped in a mine in very hostile
Indian country. So beings their journey to rescue and also to fight off Apaches
and there growing desire for Leah the one who hired them.
Cat Ballou was directed by Elliot Silverstein. He worked on
many TV series and TV movies, Cat Ballou was his biggest accomplishment in
film. He actually directed a really great western starring Richard Harris,
1970’s A Man Called Horse. He actually directed one of my favorite thriller
films of all time. The often over looked and underrated 1977’s The Car. The Car
is mainly hated by critics but it’s still a childhood favorite of mine.
Garden of Evil was directed by one of my favorite directors
of the past. He had a total expertise in creating memorable films, and executing
those characters on screen into a believable reality. If you know me, you know
I mention growing up on Westerns. Staying at my Uncles house most of my
childhood, there was always westerns on and many of those westerns where
directed by Henry Hathaway. Hathaway was a passionate director. He worked with
all the greats, the one of kind, amazing Randolph Scott. The legend and Icon
John Wayne. The sexy, handsome Gary Cooper. He partly directed one of my favorite
Westerns of all time 1962’s How the West Was Won. Also directed the one and
only 1969’s True Grit.
Audio/Video:
My Rating: 5 out of 5
Both features are truly excellent in my viewpoint. Vibrant
in imagery. Solid sound. Twilight Time always amazes me in how much they put
into their products.
For Cat Ballou:
LANGUAGE: English
VIDEO: 1080p High Definition / 1.85:1
AUDIO: English 5.1 DTS-HD MA / English 2.0 DTS-HD MA
SUBTITLES: English SDH
For Garden of Evil:
LANGUAGE: English
VIDEO: 1080p High Definition / 2.55:1
AUDIO: English 5.1 DTS-HD MA / English 4.0 DTS-HD MA /
English 2.0 DTS-HD MA
SUBTITLES: English SDH
Extras:
Cat Ballou: 4 out of 5
Garden of Evil: 5 out of 5
Both of these are packed with an excellent array of special
features. Many of the products put out by Twilight Time are blessed with
amazing Special Features. Many times Twilight Time gathers existing special
features and brings them all together with new ones.
For Cat Ballou:
Isolated Score Track: Three people was involved with the
music of the film. The main score was by Frank De Vol. The songs where written
by Mack David and Jerry Livingston. De Vol was not only a composer, but also an
actor. De Vol was a powerful creator of music scores. He was nominated for 4
Academy Awards, responsible for the great scores of Pillow Talk, Hush…Hush,
Sweet Charlotte, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner. All one has to do is look at his
vast career in music scores. From What Ever Happened to Baby Jane, The Flight
of the Phoenix (1965), The Dirty Dozen, Hustle, and many others. He was a
gifted soul and an amazing musician that left the movie world with dynamic
pieces.
Audio Commentary with Actors Michael Callan and Dwayne
Hickman. A great listen.
Audio Commentary with Film Historians Eddy Friedfeld, Lee
Pfeiffer, and Paul Scrabo. Really loved hearing this one. I am a huge fan when
it comes to film historians. I love hearing people who have a passion for
cinema. There is nothing more satisfying to a movie buff then being educated on
a particular film.
Lee and Pamela: A Romance. A great watch about the
relationship between Lee Marvin and his wife. With a runtime of a little over
34 minutes, this was a fantastic journey about the one and only iconic actor.
The Legend of Cat Ballou. Running a little over 12 minutes.
These are archived pieces.
Original Theatrical Trailer.
For Garden of Evil:
Isolated Score Track: The man behind this music score is the one and
only Bernard Herrmann. The man behind the music really needs no introduction to
cinema lovers. He is the master behind some of the greatest music scores of all
time. He was a regular on Hitchcock films composing such masterpieces as
Psycho, North by Northwest, The Man Who Knew Too Much, Vertigo and many, many
other Hitchcock films. Now he also did beyond Hitchcock films such as the
masterpieces Citizen Kane, Cape Fear, Fahrenheit 451, and Taxi Driver. Whatever
he graced with his master talent, was a true one of a kind music orgy of total
perfection that left a movie, with so much more glory, when it had his, musical
talent. He was a multi-award winning master composer. He worked his talent from
1941 all the way until 1976. His last four movies in the 70’s was an array of
his talent from, De Palma’s Sisters and Obsession, to Cohen’s, It’s Alive, to
Scorsese’s, Taxi Driver. He left his stamp in the music and movie world for all
generations to experience. He also has been graced by other Twilight Time
releases with his music score from The Bride Wore Black and Journey to the
Center of the Earth. His music is still being used today in films and TV, most
recently in the awesome first season of American Horror Story, and on the big
screen in Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb.
Audio Commentary with Film and Music Historians John Morgan,
Nick Redman, Steven C. Smith and William T. Stromberg. This was a fantastic
listen. Not only getting to hear film historian’s, but also music historian’s.
Travels of a Gunslinger: The Making of Garden of Evil
(13:26)
Susan Hayward: Hollywood’s Straight Shooter (6:55)
Henry Hathaway: When the Going Gets Tough… (11:41)
TV Spot / Original Theatrical Trailers.
As always you get the important booklet insert in both films
by Film guru and historian Julia Kirgo. Always a fantastic read for any movie
lover.
Overall:
Two Excellent products. Two products packed with special
features. Beautiful transfers to Blu-ray. Amazing audio. Both these Blu-ray’s
are must own in my viewpoint. Each one has its own merit and importance in
cinema history. Any movie lover, movie buff, cinema fiend, should own these.
Cat Ballou is a laugh out good time and is one of those films that make one smirk,
giggle and just plain enjoy. Garden of Evil is a fantastic western with
fantastic performances.
Another two amazing releases by Twilight Time.
Make sure you head over to www.screenarchives.com to buy all
the wonderful Twilight Time Blu-rays. The main page that gives you these
beautiful releases on top quality Special Editions.
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