John Wayne - An American Icon Collection (1957)

GREAT Movies!

I like John Wayne and will watch all the movies on this DVD, but I purchased it so I would have a copy of "Shepherd of the Hills," which I consider one of his best, and one of THE best, movies ever made. Absolutely GREAT! September 30, 2008

"I Love Ya, Cash - So Help Me I Love Ya!"

This one gets five stars based upon one film in the collection: "Pittsburgh." To me, Wayne's portrayal of "Pitt" Markham has always exemplified his swaggering, brash, chip-on-the-shoulder, on-screen persona that over a long career came to represent America itself. The character's progression from a young, self-centered, win-at-all-costs industrialist to that of a humiliated factory worker and then back again to the "sadder-but-wiser" executive/partner has always seemed to me to be a story well worth telling (and applying to modern-day life). Some might say this one is sentimental and propaganda-driven. If so, I say: So Be It!!! Give me more of this old-time, propaganda-driven sentimentality! All in all, this is a marvelous film that tells its tale with humor, sincerity, and fun. I've loved it for nearly 50 years, and I still watch it frequently to experience its wonderful message. February 25, 2008

Good Wayne Mix

This anthology has an interesting cross-section of Wayne films. The quality is great for a collection production. The folks gave some attention to their product. I had only seen Pittsburgh, so the other stories were pleasant surprises. Though I know this is an anthology, commentary tracks would have been icing on the cake. November 1, 2007

The Shepherd of the Hills Not

The only one of this collection I have seen is The Shepherd of the Hills. Although it is no fault of Mr. John Wayne's, it should have been rightly givin the title above. I have the novel and have read it numerous times. This movie is so far removed from that story that it doesn't even deserve to wear the same title. How Hollywood thought they could improve on such a deeply moving story by totally butchering it and changing the characters and the plot is beyond me. I wanted to be able to review that movie alone, but the only way I could was by choosing this collection, since I could not find the movie for sale independently. But then, considering the nature of it, I can understand why. Anyone who has read Harold Bell Wright's novel would probably never purchase the EXTREMELY loosely based interpretation alone. October 1, 2007

Great American at some of his best

Movies used to be great, John Wayne truly was a great icon of American bigscreen, movies then always defeated the evil forces, good always triumphed. I guess, we had real writers then, who knew what people wanted to see. I highly reccommend this. The DVD got here in a timely fashion. June 27, 2007

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