DVD/BluRay review: Kino Releases Two Westerns in Techniscope starring Dean Martin

Dean Martin started out as a saloon singer, became part of a major comedy team, and later was a delightful presence on TV. The movies for which he is best remembered, other than those with Jerry Lewis, are the lighthearted rom-coms, the Rat Pack ventures, and the cheeky Matt Helm series. Dean Martin loved westerns. And he loved appearing in westerns. Thus, he acted in several, including opposite John Wayne in the Howard Hawks classic Rio Bravo, in which his performance stood out in a cast that also included Walter Brennan and Rick Nelson.

Kino Lorber has released two westerns featuring Dean Martin, both rather offbeat, and both also among his best work. Perhaps they don’t generate the same notoriety as the Rat Pack movies, but Texas Across the River and Rough Night in Jericho each have their own significance.

TEXAS ACROSS THE RIVER

Dino is a lackluster Texan before the Lone Star state even was a state. Alain Delon is Spanish royalty, about to marry a Louisiana girl, but her ex decides to intervene. When he is killed the Spaniard is blamed, so he hides out in Texas, meets up with Dino and the two engage in exploits that result in everything from shooting contests, to Indian fights, to vying for the same woman. It is all a lot of lighthearted fun, with director Michael Gordon calling upon his long experience to offer some vast, colorful establishing shots, while keeping the action sequences comfortably within the frame. Director Gordon had helmed some of the cheap, aggressive Boston Blackie and Crime Doctor series films, and knew comedy from having directed Pillow Talk. This appears to be his only western. Dean seems to work better when playing off another actor, probably because his first films were as part of a comedy team. Thus, along with Delon, he has an Indian sidekick played by Joey Bishop, a comical second-tier Rat Pack member whose deadpan makes the character more amusing. Politically incorrect in the most blatant manner, Texas Across The River is delightfully entertaining and very much a 1960s movie with its style and idioms intact despite the setting being the 1840s.

The BluRay is available here: Texas Across River

ROUGH NIGHT IN JERICHO

Dean Martin plays his only villainous character in this strong western drama which also stars George Peppard and genre stalwarts like John McIntire and Slim Pickens. It is an offbeat role for Dino, who rises to the occasion and is quite powerful as the former lawman who decided to profit from his skills rather than maintain the law. Now owning most of the town with hired henchmen to do his bidding, Dino’s conflict is with George Peppard as a deputy who rides into town on a stagecoach that Dean’s men rob. Jean Simmons settles well into the role of leading lady, and the unsettling scene where Dino brutalizes her challenges both of their acting abilities. It’s a very good western drama and shows a side of Dean Martin the actor that no other movie would offer. Director Arnold Laven had a long career in televisions, including many episodes of the TV westerns The Rifleman and The Big Valley.

The BluRay is available here: Rough Night Jericho

Both of these movies were shot in Technoscope, a process begun in 1960 and running through the 1970s and over 350 movies. Its process was less expensive, and resulted in lessened picture quality so it was mostly used for low budget movies. Universal studios used it pretty frequently in the 60s, including the two westerns discussed here. However, due to the high def restoration of blu ray, the sharpness is significant on both of these Kino releases. Each film benefits from an optional audio commentary by the always interesting, enlightening, and entertaining Samm Deighan.