Convict Stage (1965/Fox)
Picture:
C+ Sound: C+ Extras: C Film: B-
Lesley
Selander’s 1965 Revenge Western Convict
Stage is a far more interesting film that I expected as Ben Lattimore
(Harry Lauter) is out to kill whoever killed his sister, but an experienced
lawman (Don “Red” Barry, who wrote the original story) thinks he knows better
and tries to stop him from making mistakes that will get him killed too.
The
mostly unknown cast is very good and actually gives the film a raw feel that
makes it more convincing now than ever.
It may seem like a familiar story, but it is done with a certain energy
and freshness that make this worth seeing.
This is one of the last monochrome Westerns from a big studio and with
color TV and color TV Westerns on the air, this would usually be signs of a
B-movie shoot, but the film is more grade A than B and a solid Western that
holds up well over 40 years later.
The
anamorphically enhanced 1.85 image was shot in nice black and white film stocks
by cinematography veteran Gordon Avil, who shot the 70mm Billy The Kid back in 1930 and was Director of
Photography for the TV hit Hogan’s
Heroes (reviewed elsewhere on this site), with its exceptional use of
color. Avil had already done some TV
work, but he could easily shoot for the big screen and that is why this looks
so good. A 1.33 X 1 version is also
included on the DVD with some more picture information, but a little less image
richness. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
is a little better than the 2.0 Mono and it is a clean recording, right down to
the good score by Richard LaSalle, a film veteran who scored many TV shows
memorably. Now that’s an A-film!
Extras
include three stills sections, pressbook with text enlargement capacity and the
original theatrical trailer for this & five other Fox Westerns now on DVD.
- Nicholas Sheffo
