Search - West of the Pecos on DVD

MPAA Rating: NR Content Advisory: Suitable for Children Movie Release: 1945 DVD Release: 09/06/2005 Format: DVD - Black and White - Closed Captioned Edition: Special Collection Audio Tracks: English SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 6 mins Studio: Live/Artisan Members Wishing: 0 Genres: Western, Traditional Western

Filling in for RKO's Western ace Tim Holt, who was fighting the war in Europe, a young Robert Mitchum starred in this fine version of Zane Grey's 1937 story of a wild and woolly West. Ordered by his doctor to get some exercise, Chicago meatpacking king Col. Lamberth (Thurston Hall) reluctantly travels west to his Texas hacienda accompanied by his headstrong daughter Rill (Barbara Hale) and her Parisian maid Suzanne (Rita Corday). En route, they witness the killing of a stagecoach driver (Bill Williams), a crime blamed on Pecos Smith (Robert Mitchum), but actually committed by a gang headed by Brad Sawtelle (Harry Woods). Rill, who decides to masquerade as a boy after being accosted by a couple of ruffians, convinces her father to hire Pecos and his Irish-Mexican sidekick Chito Rafferty (Richard Martin). Naturally, Pecos discovers Rill's true gender after a few dicey moments and they fall in love. But the threat from Sawtelle and his gang is ever present and soon the Lamberth hacienda is engaged in an all-out war. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Robert Mitchum - Pecos Smith
Barbara Hale - Rill Lambeth
Richard Martin - Chito Rafferty
Thurston Hall - Col. Lambeth
Rita Corday - Suzanne

Edward Killy's West of the Pecos (1945) is one of a brace of movies based on the works of novelist Zane Grey, made for various studios across a period of several decades, which are now owned by Grey's estate. Apparently the latter were unable to secure an original 35mm print of the movie (which was made by RKO), as the opening credits carry the C&C Television logo, indicating that this disc is mastered from a 16mm print. It's a pretty clean 16mm print, and the producers have done their best to pull all of the detail and contrast out of it that they can -- but the intermittent scratches in the full-screen (1.33-to-1) also betray the limitations of that source. The sound has actually held up better than the picture, and the movie is an enjoyable 66 minute diversion, mostly due to the presence of a young Robert Mitchum (looking earnest but disinterested) in the lead role; the other notable performances are Richard Martin as Mitchum's Mexican-Irish sidekick, Thurston Hall as a blustery businessman, Barbara Hale as a tempestuous eastern girl, and Rita Corday as her maid; but the scene stealer is Bill Williams in an all-too-brief appearances as a heroic young shotgun rider. There are only four chapter-markers for the movie, and the only extras are the same documentaries on author Zane Grey that have graced other Lion's Gate DVDs in this series -- the writer's son Loren Grey introduces a series of accounts of his father's life and career, highlighted by extensive newsreel and home video footage. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide