THE LUSTY MEN (1952) WARNER ARCHIVE SHOP EXCLUSIVE! Nicholas Ray's noir-tinged dark fable about a bronco-buster lassoed by fate makes its DVD debut at last, and is newly remastered! Exiled from the heaven of the circuit, famed rodeo rider Jeff McCloud (Robert Mitchum) wanders through ranch-hand purgatory and into the lives of Louise (Susan Hayward) and Wes (Arthur Kennedy) Merritt who are doing their honest best to raise enough dough to make a down payment on the now-desiccated and deserted ranch McCloud grew up on. Setting his eye on McCloud, Wes sets out to use the rodeo as a shortcut to security thanks to Jeff's coaching. But the rodeo life is a seductive one, and Jeff may just have his own plans where Louise is concerned. Destiny, in turn, has another. Fabular, gritty, elegiac, The Lusty Men, like most of Nicholas Ray's oeuvre,  rewards every viewing with new layers and elements coming to the fore. One of Mitchum's most iconic (and laconic) performances, aided by the superlative Susan Hayward and Arthur Kennedy's copious character skills. Note: For the next few months, this DVD will be exclusively available at Warner Archive and WBshop. Newly Remastered.

Studio Westerns Round-up - Down WB Way

RATON PASS (1951) A femme fatale sashays into town and promptly swindle the hacienda out from under the favored scion in this Warner Bros. Western Noir. Patricia Neal, fresh off The Breaking Point, captivates as the antagonistic embodiment of avarice and amor that propels the action, while Steve Cochran is yet again a superb cinema snake. Dennis Morgan plays the rube that gets taken, and then must re-take the town for its people. Edwin L. Marin directs.

SHOOT OUT AT MEDICINE BEND (1957) Rejoice, Randolph Scott fans! With this release, we finally finished making our share of Scott's Westerns available to you, and what a send-off! Scott plays an ex-Army captain that leads a pair of ex-Civil War compatriots (Gordon Jones and a fresh-on-the-scene and already fascinating James Garner) undercover inside a sinister town run by a syndicate responsible for a raft of crimes, including the death of his brother. Robbed of gear, clothes, and cash, the trio pose as religious Brethren to crack the crime ring. Both a throwback to the classic B-Westerns of a generation prior, and a pre-cursor to the adult TV Westerns about to take the nation by storm, Shoot Out at Medicine Bend packs charm aplenty, including Angie Dickinson. Directed by Richard L. Bare and also starring James Craig. 16x9 Widescreen

Ambling Along with Allied Artists

THE YOUNG GUNS (1956) Allied Artists picks up Russ Tamblyn to lead the gang in this transgressive genre-bender that combines Western and Juvenile Delinquency pictures for a side-west story. Tully (Tamblyn), trapped in a town that refuses to accept him because of his outlaw heritage, alights for the siege-proof mountain outlaw sanctuary of Black Crater. Here, teens have been left alone by their outlaw parents for so long a new kind of gang has emerged. A gang that Tully will lead on a different path, or die trying. Also stars Gloria Talbott and Perry Lopez. Directed by future B-Movie king Albert Band. 16x9 Widescreen

OREGON PASSAGE (1957) Although Allied Artists may be best remembered as the A-studio of the B-listers, there's nothing B about this A effort, save its lack of big names. John Ericson and Edward Platt lead the cast as an experienced frontier vet and the jealous martinet put in authority above him. As renegade Shoshoni warrior Black Eagle (H. M. Wynant) unites the tribes against frontier forces set up in forts along Oregon's cascades, Lt. Ord (Ericson) must also contend with the attentions of Little Deer (Toni Gerry), the Native American refugee girl he rescued from Black Eagle. When an old flame (Lola Albright) arrives to the fort recently married to the commanding officer (Platt) dedicated to breaking him, Ord may have faced his last uprising. Part Fort Apache, part Beau Geste, Oregon Passage is top-tier. 16x9 Widescreen

GUNSMOKE IN TUCSON (1958) After a pair of siblings are forced to watch their father hang for horse-theft, they set out on two very different paths. Older brother John renounces his father and becomes Marshall John Brazos (Forrest Tucker), while younger brother Jed (Mark Stevens) embraces his path as a "Chip" off the old thieving Coburn stock. Following a stretch in the pen thanks to his self-righteous older bro, Chip is framed for murder courtesy of a deadly land developer. So naturally, his brother comes gunning for him... Also starring Gale Robbins and Gail Kobe.

Directed by Thomas Carr. 16x9 Widescreen

Pasta ala MGM

GUNFIGHTERS OF CASA GRANDE (1964) Five desperadoes under the laughing leadership of the arch arch-villain Joe Daylight (Alex Nicol) take possession of the Casa Grande, a hacienda south of the border, in lieu of their ill-gotten riches. Daylight has a bigger scheme - the grandest cattle theft ever attempted. There's only one hitch - Rojo, the bandito that stands between them and their theft, is preying on the all the local ranchers. Daylight decides to make his men play hero in a bid to unite the locals against Rojo, but sometimes an actor loses himself in a role...Also starring Jorge Mistral. Directed by Roy Rowland. 16x9 Widescreen

SON OF A GUNFIGHTER (1965) You met him and his daughter, Daughter of A Son of a Gunfighter in Django, Unchained - now see where it all began! Russ Tamblyn stars as Johnny Ketchum on a quest for vengeance against the gunman that killed his mother - his father, Ace Ketchum (James Philbrook).Coming to the aid of a lawman (Ralph Brown), Johnny's path twists between revenge and redemption as he ends up caught between his father and an even badder man, Juan Morales (Aldo Sambrell). Also stars Fernando Rey.Directed by Paul Landres. 16x9 Widescreen

RINGO AND HIS GOLDEN PISTOL (AKA JOHNNY ORO) (1966) Mark Damon stars as Johnny Oro aka Ringo, the laughing daredevil of Spaghetti Westerns, a good-hearted mercenary ruled by a gold-plated set of ethics - he only draws his golden pistol if he's paid. Confronting a group of outlaws, "Ringo" lays them all low, save for the one that doesn't have a price on his head. The survivor vows vengeance and a law-abiding sheriff may pay the price when he refuses to hand Ringo over. But Ringo has more than a gold up his sleeve. Directed by master of the genre, the great Sergio Corbucci, Ringo and his Golden Pistol is Spaghetti Western as its maddest, mondo-est, brashest and bravura fun-est. Assisted directed by Ruggiero Deodato, with a sweeping score by Carlo Savina. 16x9 Widescreen