Westerns Triple –True Grit (1969), Once Upon a Time in the West, Shane [DVD]

`Once upon a time In the West' (1968) is a rambling monster of a Western, as if Serge Leone was anxious to include every cliché and scene possible. So there are several gunfights, imports from the East ( including both a bride and labourers!), a mysterious stranger, a trading post..... The list goes on. Above all there is the railway - engines, track and workers. Even Monument Valley forms the backdrop to an initial journey by Jill McBain (Claudia Cardinale) and is briefly glimpsed at the end.From the lengthy title sequence great use is made of sound. The film is punctuated by the engine sounds as well as the excellent music of Morricone. Each of the main characters has their personal musical signature - Jill has a soaring soprano and strings in a beautiful memory, Cheyenne (Jason Robards) has a jangly banjo passing through changing keys, Harmonica (Charles Bronson) has a soulful dirge played on that instrument while Frank (Henry Fonda) has a harsh guitar, an unstated comment on his soul perhaps. As in other films, Serge Leone makes excellent use of close-ups of faces at crucial moments, particularly the blue eyes of Fonda and the inscrutable harshness of Bronson. The film virtually starts with a high shot and just about ends with the same shot. What is the difference? There has been more construction, the railway had arrived and you know that much of the old West has been buried, at least metaphorically.Remember the title, ` Once upon a time In the West', indicates this is a tale of dreams. Mr. Morton (Gabrielle Ferzetti) dreams of the railway reaching the Pacific, Harmonica dreams of revenge, Jill dreams of escaping the decadence of New Orleans, Cheyenne of a peaceful home-life. And Frank dreams of Frank - before the final gunfight realising his inadequacies and in his last moments his fatal mistake.One major weakness is this rambling film is the almost coincidental interaction of the main characters. Why do both Cheyenne and Harmonica visit Jill at night? Why does Cheyenne appear to recue Harmonica on the train? There are also some puzzling points. Why do the gunmen in the opening sequence not fan out and make Harmonica's retaliation harder? Why does Frank choose the property and not the property plus Jill? Cheyenne starts shaving and ends up with a hair-cut and a trimmed beard. Minor quibbles about a great homage to the Western by one of the great Western directors. And one stupid last question: does Harmonica retrieve his harmonica?`Shane' (1953) is a good Western - and it's also seminal. We have the mysterious stranger who appears, sorts out the problems, and then disappears - to be seen later in `Pale Rider' among others. Also that film recalls `Shane's bonding over a tree stump between the heroes in the form of a gigantic rock; the shooting down of a brave fall by hired killers and the sad farewells at the end.Van Heflin, as Starrett, produces his steadfast, poor, heroic everyman who sees it through, a role he repeated in 3:10 to Yuma' in 1956. Alan Ladd (Shane) is in one of his finest roles - the quiet tough guy who doesn't quite fall for the heroine, is worshipped by a child and never seeks gratitude because he's running from his past. His lack of height is well-camouflaged. Jack Palance, whose face was his fortunes, make an early appearance as the gunfighter, Jack Wilson, displaying far less emotion than in his later gangster films. Jean Arthur (Marian Starrett) is but a shadow of her glorious self (e.g. 'The Plainsman' (1936) and `'The Devil & Miss Jones'(1941) but then she had been in films for thirty years. The theme music ('Call of the Faraway Hills') by Victor is one of the great film scores.There are a few blemishes - in brawls broken chairs do little damage, Shane and Starrett appear little battered after such brawls, a surprising warning drives Shane into action, and, for me Brandon de Wilde (Joey Starrett) is too whiney for his probable age. Unfortunately, `Shane' was not shot in Cinemascope which was just emerging. This drastically reduced the impact of the beautiful scenery. Even so, `Shane' is a first-rate film' with echoes down to the future.

True Grit and Shane have been favourites of my husband since the first cinema release so now to get them on one disc is just A1. Obviously the Westerns in the true sense of the word, with great acting by supreme stars, lovely scenery, music and a good story. He is enjoying them over and over again. Once upon a Time in the West has yet to be viewed but I know with Henry Fonda in it, it too will join the above.

I having been looking for this set for a while and it was despatched very quickly and has been a pleasure to watch

Both Shane and Once Upon a Time in the West don't need much description other than to say they are amongst the greatest masterpieces of all cinema. Shane is a classic if ever there was one, and Once Upon a Time in the West really impresses with both image and sound.True Grit may not be in the same class but is good fun nonetheless and you have to have a John Wayne film if you you like westerns.

Considering I bought this DVD as i wanted to check out the John Wayne "True Grit" after seeing the latest Coen Brothers version, it's the oldest movie of the trio, with Alan Ladd as the enigmatic Shane, which holds the attention as the real masterpiece of Western Cinema. But hey, you can love all of these iconic films, and the transfers to DVD are good quality.

If you like old westerns, these are for you, they may be considered a little cheesy by today's standards but they're all true classics, sit back and enjoy

There is no extra fat on this package - just three excellent Westerns at a very reasonable price.True Grit, Shane and Once Upon a Time in the West are all considered classics (and justifiably so in my humble opinion).I would definitely recommend.

The 'okay' rating is not for the films (as they are classics), but instead to reflect my disappointment that 'Shane' was only in 4:3 aspect ratio, not widescreen. This really did ruin the overall satisfaction of the collection, as I feel this simply isn't acceptable these days.