The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present two early features from John Ford (credited on both films as Jack Ford) in their UK debuts on home video, fully restored in 4K.
Straight Shooting is landmark in the history of the Western. The first feature directed by Ford, it revived the career of Harry Carey who gives a rough and tumble performance here as a hired gun who turns on his employers to defend an innocent farmer and his family.
In Hell Bent, ‘Cheyenne Harry’ (Harry Carey playing the same character from Straight Shooting) flees the law after a poker game shootout, and arrives in the town of Rawhide, where he becomes friendly with local cowboy Cimarron Bill (Duke Lee) and dance hall girl Bess Thurston (Neva Gerber). When gang leader Beau Ross (Jospeh Harris) kidnaps Bess, Harry goes to desperate lengths travelling across the deadly desert in order to free Bess from the hard-bitten Ross.
SPECIAL FEATURES
Limited Edition O-Card slipcase and reversible sleeve artwork [2000 copies]
Both features presented in 1080p on Blu-ray from 4K restorations undertaken by Universal Pictures, available for the first time ever on home video in the UK
Straight Shooting – Score by Michael Gatt
Hell Bent – Score by Zachary Marsh
Straight Shooting – Audio commentary by film historian Joseph McBride, author of Searching for John Ford: A Life
Hell Bent – Audio commentary by film historian Joseph McBride
Brand new interview with film critic and author Kim Newman
Bull Scores a Touchdown – Video essay by Tag Gallagher
A Horse or a Mary? – Video essay by Tag Gallagher
Archival audio interview from 1970 with John Ford by Joseph McBride
A short fragment of the lost film Hitchin’ Posts (dir. John Ford, 1920) preserved by the Library of Congress
A collector’s booklet featuring writing by Richard Combs, Phil Hoad, and Tag Gallagher
