ESCORT WEST (Released to Theaters USA 1959)

 

Ben Meyers’ Rating: 3.7|5.0 Starsììì  Escort West—very simple story—seems built like Saturday morning fare from the late 1950s and 1960s. It's straightforward and makes good western fare for children.  Film Poster Courtesy of Google Images Storyline  Former Civil War Confederate soldier and his daughter are heading west and find a village destroyed by Native Americans. The only survivors are an injured African American man and two Caucasian sisters. Additional Thanks  Thank you to Director Francis D. Lyon for directing effort. Thank you to Producer Robert E. Morrison and Nate H. Edwards for making the film possible. Cast includes Victor Mature, Faith Domergue, and Elaine Stewart.  Buy a ticket? Yes? No? Maybe?  Maybe. The movie is one of Victor Mature's mid-career works. If one is a hard-core Victor Mature fan or just loves westerns, this film might entertain. But, outside of that audience, the movie is a 'dud'. The story is simple and does not have the quality of westerns like True Grit. This movie runs like a Saturday morning offering for children during the 1950s and 1960s. Very clean and child friendly for a share movie. Video Critique Available Here: Ben Meyers

THE SHAGGY DOG (Theatrical Release USA 1959)

Ben Meyers’ Rating: 3.8|5.0 Starsììì 

The Shaggy Dog—okay, cute entertainment—works a simple, trite story theme of animal transmutation. The acting is good/fair. The presentation is good. It’s a light entertainment piece that may hold a child’s imagination, but does not serve the adult as well. 

Film Poster Courtesy of Google Images 

Storyline 

Shape-shifting and the old Borgia curse get an examination as a young boy gets shape-shifted into a dog. 

Additional Thanks 

Thank you to Director Charles Barton for directing effort. Thank you to Producers Walt Disney and Bill Walsh for making the film possible. Cast includes: Fred MacMurray, Jean Hagen, Tommy Kirk, Annette Funicello, Cecil Kellaway, Alexander Scourby, James Westerfield, and Jacques Aubuchon. 

Buy a ticket? Yes? No? Maybe? 

Maybe. It’s a trite story of animal transformation. Nothing new here. It performs as a light piece of okay entertainment to run in the background while the viewer is doing other activities.  It is a clean movie with no surprises and does not require a great deal of parental alertness for the child’s watch.

Video Critique Available Here:

 

Ben Meyers