Stars:
John Wayne, Maureen O’Hara, Ben Johnson, Claude Jarman Jr., Chil Wills, J.
Carroll Naish, and Victor McLaglen
Writer:
James Kevin McGuiness
Based
On A Saturday Evening Post Story By: James Warner Bellah
Director:
John Ford
Feature
length: 105 minutes
Extras:
Audio Commentary With Maureen O’Hara, Documentaries, Trailers
Languages:
English Monaural Sound and Enhanced Three-Channel Sound
Subtitles:
English Closed Captions
Packaging:
Amaray Keep Case
Chapter
Stops: 24
Sound:
Monaural Sound and Enhanced Three-Channel Sound
Year
of Theatrical Release: 1950/DVD Release: 2002
Theatrical
Distributor: Republic Pictures
Home
Video Distributor: Artisan Home Entertainment
MPAA
Rating: Not Rated
Reviewer:
Mark A. Rivera
John
Wayne, Maureen O’Hara, and John Ford made “Rio Grande” for Republic
Pictures so that they could make “The Quiet Man.” Republic Pictures did not
expect to make any money from “The Quiet Man” so they figured that they
could earn their money in advance in return for financing “The Quiet Man”
provided that “Rio Grande” was produced first. The result actually yielded
high profits on both films for Republic Pictures and now Artisan Home
Entertainment has released a Collector’s Edition DVD of “Rio Grande” day
and date with “The Quiet Man: Collector’s Edition DVD” and “High
Noon: Collector’s Edition DVD” as a set sold separately at retailers on
and offline now.
This
DVD release features a beautiful (1.33:1) black and white transfer with a
digitally restored English Monaural Soundtrack and a Three-Channel English
Soundtrack. I think the Three-Channel Soundtrack works a little better with
“Rio Grande” than it did on “High Noon,” but I prefer the clear
traditional restored English Monaural Soundtrack to the enhanced Three-Channel
Soundtrack. It just sounds more natural to my ears, but it is nice that the
choice and effort was made on behalf of Artisan Home Entertainment. Maureen
O’Hara gives a terrific feature length scene specific audio commentary that is
very articulate and thoughtful revealing anecdotes about working with The Duke
and John Ford as well as some of the cultural backdrops behind the Irish
contribution to the development of the post Civil War American West as well as
the cultural heritage attached to some of the songs sung in the film. She also
provides a handwritten note, which has been copied on to the flip side of the
scene selection list insert with the DVD keep case where she comments on the DVD
of “Rio Grande.” English Closed Captions for the hearing impaired are also
encoded on to the DVD as an option.
The
DVD features “The Making Of Rio Grande” (21:12) hosted by Leonard Maltin
with eight scene selections as well as a brand new documentary featuring a new
videotaped interview with Maureen O’Hara entitled “Along The Rio Grande With
Maureen O’Hara” (18:36) as well as trailers for Artisan Home
Entertainment’s “Rio Grande: Collector’s Edition DVD” (1:35), “The
Quiet Man Collector’s Edition DVD” (1:16), and “High
Noon: Collector’s Edition DVD” (1:44).
The
menus feature motion animated scene selection menus as well as animated
transitions to standard interactive still frame menus that are easy to navigate.
The keep case comes in a shiny cardboard collector’s slipcase as well like the
other titles in this series. “Rio Grande: Collector’s Edition DVD” along
with “The Quiet Man: Collector’s Edition DVD,” and “High
Noon: Collector’s Edition DVD” are available now on DVD-Video sold
separately at retailers on and offline from Artisan Home Entertainment.
©
Copyright 2002 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.