DVD Review: The Sundowners (1950)

The 1950s is arguably the best decade for westerns. During this decade we saw some of the greatest westerns including, The Searchers, Shane, Rawhide, Vera Cruz and Giant just to name a few.

At the very beginning of the decade 1950 the great Eagle-Lion Films brought us an exciting western adventure filled with familiar you are bound to recognize. I am talking about The Sundowners. Now the good folks at Reel Vault have released this film on DVD.

Texans Tom (Robert Sterling) and Jeff Cloud (John Barrymore Jr.) find a corpse on their ranch. Earl Boyce (Jack Elam) saw who killed the man, but he's too frightened to tell. When James Cloud, Jeff's brother also known as Outlaw Kid Wichita (Robert Preston), comes to town to offer his services. After catching some local ranchers messing around with Tom's cattle, he decides to take matters into his own hands. Things go from bad to worse until the line between hero and villain becomes blurred.

Now this film The Sundowners should not be confused with the Robert Mitchum, Deborah Kerr classic from a decade later of the same name. You never try to compare movies, because it is just unfair. While maybe not as strong of a story as this film's successor, it more than makes up for with amazing characters and performances by Sterling, Preston and Barrymore Jr. Also keep your eyes open for western legend Chill Wills.

Reel Vault as transferred this 50s western to DVD in it's original full screen format and in Dolby 2.0 audio. I must say that the picture quality pretty impressive. The colors are bright and vibrant and the audio is clear. In comparison to copies you will find on the internet, this transfer looks so much better and much more sharp. 

Now as a part of this Made-On-Demand DVD release the main feature is the great transfer. For bonus features, their is none. That is a bit of a shame. I would have loved to see a trailer, or audio commentary. But for western fans to have a nice looking copy of the film will be enough.

This makes another cool addition to the Reel Vault Library of Blu-ray and DVD releases. Recently we have seen everything from comedy to drama, sci-fi to horror and westerns. I highly suggest checking out the plethora of physical media releases from Reel Vault. You are bound to find something you will love. 

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So if you are a fan of physical media and westerns. You can head over to Deep Discount and pick up a copy of The Sundowners for you or a friend today.


Out of 4 Film Reels (4 Being the Best) Reel Vault's DVD of The Sundowners receives...