Western Classics II [The Redhead from Wyoming / Pillars of the Sky / Gun for a Coward] (Blu-ray)

This collection features three classic 1950s westerns. THE REDHEAD FROM WYOMING (1953) – In this action-packed, 1870s western, screen legend Maureen O’Hara (Miracle on 34th Street, Against All Flags) sparkles as Kate Maxwell, a saloon proprietress caught between her feelings for suave promoter Jim Averell (William Bishop, The Texas Rangers) and the town’s appealing, but less flamboyant, sheriff (Alex Nicol, Red Ball Express). Unknown to Kate, Jim, who has set her up to buy and sell mavericks, is using her saloon as a clearinghouse for rustled beef. There’s plenty more about Jim that Kate doesn’t know, and by the time she learns the truth, both she and the town are in grave danger. With villainy stalking them at every turn, Kate and the sheriff must battle overwhelming odds to set things right—if they can! The athletic agility and cool beauty associated with Maureen O’Hara are well displayed here. She rides the range with skill, her red hair and makeup undisturbed, as she expertly fires her Winchester. Beautifully shot in Technicolor by the great Winton C. Hoch (The Searchers, The Quiet Man) and co-starring Robert Strauss (Attack), Gregg Palmer (Taza, Son of Cochise), Jack Kelly (TV’s Maverick) and Dennis Weaver (The Gallant Hours). The Redhead from Wyoming is the Old West at its thundering and glorious best! PILLARS OF THE SKY (1956) – From George Marshall, the acclaimed director of Destry Rides Again, The Ghost Breakers, Murder, He Says, The Blue Dahlia and The Mating Game, comes this action-packed cavalry western starring Jeff Chandler (Red Ball Express), Dorothy Malone (The Tarnished Angels), Lee Marvin (Prime Cut) and Ward Bond (Canyon Passage). First Sergeant Emmett Bell (Chandler) faces off with Apache chieftain Kamiakin (Michael Ansara, Texas Across the River) in this nuanced portrayal of racial tensions between Native Americans and white settlers in 1860s Oregon Country. Bell must lead his men and civilian charges on a mad dash to federal sanctuary. Pillars of the Sky is a tale of frontier survival that’s truly an action-thriller set against widescreen western horizons. GUN FOR A COWARD (1957) – Screen great Fred MacMurray (Murder, He Says) stars as ranch herder Will Keough, who wants nothing more than to tend to his cattle and live in peace. His two younger brothers, Hade (Dean Stockwell, Compulsion) and Bless (Jeffrey Hunter, A Kiss Before Dying) are as different as night and day—Hade is wild and reckless and Bless refuses to use a gun, branding him a coward. Making matters worse is the brothers’ merciless mother (Josephine Hutchinson, Son of Frankenstein) and Will’s sweetheart (Janice Rule, Invitation to a Gunfighter) who finds herself drawn to the sensitive Bless. Ultimately, a showdown will have to take place—but which sibling will survive? Wonderfully directed by Abner Biberman (The Price of Fear) and co-starring Chill Wills (Giant) and John Larch (Play Misty for Me).