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The online film magazine Combustible Celluloid offers new movie reviews, DVD reviews, film reviews, actor interviews, actress interviews, director interviews, film books and all things cinema related for the thoughtful and passionate. Online for ten years! Over 3000 reviews!

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Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theater: Complete Season One (1956-1957)

Rating: 3 Stars (out of 4)

Strangers and a 'Zane'

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

Buy Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theater: Complete Season One on DVD

I was very excited when I heard that VCI Entertainment would be releasing "Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theater" on DVD, since two of my favorite Western directors, Sam Peckinpah and Budd Boetticher, had worked on a few episodes. Sadly, neither of them are represented in this first season, which includes 29 restored episodes on 4 DVDs. At the time, Zane Grey was as much a household name in the realm of Westerns as Stephen King is today for horror. I'm not exactly sure what Dick Powell had to do with this, since he rarely worked in the genre himself, but his weekly introductions for the show are meant to be humorous and somewhat educational (he also appeared in a few episodes). Several of these unconnected episodes were based on actual Grey stories, but as the series progressed, original stories were written. This collection includes appearances by such stars as Jack Lemmon, Sterling Hayden, Walter Brennan, Ida Lupino, David Niven, Robert Ryan, Jack Palance, Ralph Bellamy, Lloyd Bridges, Ernest Borgnine, Mary Astor and cult actors like DeForrest Kelley, James Best, Gloria Talbott, John Forsythe and Ralph Meeker. The DVD quality is clear and sharp, though the picture verges on too dark; the sound leaves a bit to be desired (probably due to the condition of the original elements) and there are no optional subtitles or captions. Future television mogul Aaron Spelling was a voracious writer for this show. I look forward to future seasons on DVD, which should include the original inspiration for the great Chuck Connors TV show, "The Rifleman."

With: Dick Powell, Robert Ryan, Cloris Leachman, Ida Lupino, James Whitmore, Ray Collins, Jack Palance, Lee J. Cobb, Jack Lemmon, Sterling Hayden, Walter Brennan, David Niven, Robert Ryan, Ralph Bellamy, Lloyd Bridges, Ernest Borgnine, Mary Astor, DeForrest Kelley, James Best, Gloria Talbott, John Forsythe, Ralph Meeker
Written by: John McGreevey, Luke Short, Arthur A. Ross, Harold Swanton, Aaron Spelling, Otis Carney, Frederick Louis Fox, etc.
Directed by: Felix E. Feist, Bernard Girard, John English, Robert Florey, etc.
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Running Time: 870 minutes
Date: June 29, 2009