Budd Boetticher

2. "The Films of Budd Boetticher": Martin Scorsese was one of the godfathers of this long-awaited DVD debut of five defining Westerns from the too-often-neglected American director Budd Boetticher and laconic Western icon Randolph Scott. Boetticher's best Westerns are models ... moreof austerity, tight dramas on an unforgiving frontier, and this set includes three of his masterpieces: "The Tall T" (pictured), "Ride Lonesome" and "Comanche Station," lean, tough films that stand tall next to the greatest works of Anthony Mann and John Ford. Scorsese personally introduces two of the films (you won't find a more appreciative or concise introduction to Boetticher's work than Scorsese's brief discussion of the "The Tall T"). Clint Eastwood (who knows something about Westerns himself) introduces "Comanche Station" and produces an excellent feature-length documentary. This is the kind of rediscovery that cinephiles live for.

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(Sony/Everett Collection)