Blu News – Ramrod

The announcements are coming thick and fast these days! I wrote a piece on back in the days when the movie was only available in ropey and generally rotten quality prints. It was always a fine film - the involvement of De Toth, McCrea and Lake ought to tell you that anyway - but the fact it's getting the deluxe treatment from Arrow in March just means it's in line for the respect it deserves. From Arrow:

One of the classic Westerns of its era, Ramrod stars Veronica Lake as Connie Dickson, a headstrong cowgirl who's plans to marry a sheep rancher are thwarted when a powerful local cattle baron, Frank Ivey (Preston Foster), and her own father (Charles Ruggles), force her fiancé to flee town.

Refusing to kowtow to these powerful men, Connie inherits her ex-fiancés land and determines to run the ranch with the help of her new ramrod, reformed alcoholic Dave Nash (Joel McCrea). But Dave's diplomatic attempts to resolve the dispute fall upon deaf ears and a bloody turf war on the open range ensues.

With Ramrod, Andre DeToth (a Hungarian-American director who has earned praise from Tarantino and Scorsese) skilfully creates a dangerous world of greed, lies and murder whilst garnering superb performances from McCrea and Lake, two of the biggest Hollywood stars of the 1940s.

SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS
* High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation transferred from original film elements
* Uncompressed Mono 1.0 PCM audio soundtrack
* Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
* Audio commentary by film scholar Adrian Martin
* Andre DeToth in Conversation with Patrick Francis, far-reaching audio-only interview conducted by the documentary filmmaker
* Newly-filmed appreciation by expert on American genre films, Peter Stanfield
* Andre DeToth Interviewed at the National Film Theatre, a career-spanning archival interview from 1994, conducted by writer and broadcaster Kevin Jackson
* Gallery of original promotional images
* Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Sean Phillips

FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated collector's booklet featuring new writing on the film by Adrian Danks, contemporary reviews and production stories.