TV & Film

Paramount Centennial Collection includes two John Wayne classics

By DAVID HOFSTEDE

Paramount Pictures celebrates its 100th birthday with the release of several collector's edition DVDs featuring many of the studio's classic films. John Wayne fans will be particularly interested in two westerns featuring the Duke from the Paramount Centennial Collection — The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) and El Dorado (1967).

Each digitally mastered film is packaged in a two-disc set that includes an eight-page booklet and a vast assortment of new special features, including theatrical trailers, galleries of production art, and audio commentaries.

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance DVD set features commentary by filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich, along with fascinating archival recordings of the film's director, John Ford, and costar James Stewart. There is also a selected scene commentary featuring recordings of Ford, Stewart, and costar Lee Marvin. The supplementary disc includes a new documentary, The Size of Legends, The Soul of Myth, plus additional featurettes.

The El Dorado DVD set also includes a commentary by Peter Bogdanovich plus a separate commentary track by critic and film historian Richard Schickel, costar Ed Asner, and author Todd McCarthy. New documentary features include Ride, Boldly Ride: The Journey of El Dorado and Behind the Gates: A.C. Lyles Remembers John Wayne (Lyles was a western producer at Paramount in the 1960s).

Each Centennial Collection title also includes a Behind the Gates featurette focusing on a specific section of Paramount Pictures' studio.

Also on C&I

• 30 years after John Wayne's death
• Video interviews with Wayne's children

Issue: September 2009