Anthony Quinnhad an amazing career in Hollywood that spanned for over 60 years. He was nominated for several Academy Awards and two for Best Supporting Actor for Viva Zapata! and Lust for Life. In 1987 he won the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award. A pair of Westerns that he starred in during the 1950s, Man from Del Rio and The Ride Back is a Blu-ray double feature from Kino Lorber showcasing the excellent work from the iconic actor.
Man from Del Rio features Dave Robles (Quinn) as a Mexican American gunfighter who comes to the town of Mesa seeking vengeance against a gang of gunmen who killed his friends in Del Rio. While in Mesa he shoots and kills a few vicious gunfighters that are terrorizing the town. He is then hired to replace the sheriff who had been murdered. Robles slowly learns that Mesa is a corrupt town, starting with a man who runs a saloon and wants him on his payroll only to do his dirty work or he will be killed too. Robles, seeing the town for what it really is, becomes the enemy of the townsfolk!
The Ride Back, the co-feature, is the story about a sheriff Chris Hamish (veteran actor Robert Conrad, The Killers), who believes himself to be a failure in life, tries to redeem himself by capturing a gunfighter Bob Kallen (Anthony Quinn) from Mexico to stand trial for an unspecified murder. Along the way they are stalked by Apaches and bring a child along with them because her parents were killed. Kallen and Hamish suddenly find themselves working together for the greater enemy. During the attacks upon them, Hamish finally admits he is bringing Kallen in for his own personal glory. Kallen could easily escape if he wanted to, as Hamish is woefully incompetent, but stays along for the ride to save both their skins!
Man from Del Rio and The Ride Back are fine pair of what I would call B Westerns. I did not think that these two films were anything memorable but that is just my own personal taste. I preferred The Ride Back as I thought the story and characters were more compelling. The plot will remind some of The Naked Spur or 3:10 to Yuma and maybe this film was inspired by those two. Man from Del Rio featured the superb acting talents of Katy Jurado and screen legend Whit Bissell who steal the show away from Anthony Quinn.
Kino has transferred the pair of films to Blu-ray. Both films are on one dual-layered BD-50 disc and have been given brand new 2K masters. They both look identical in terms of picture quality and are solid all the way through the video presentation. The contrast and rich textures are most impressive. The image for both movies is clean and polished without print damages. The grey scale is balanced with film grain present and without any digital enhancements such as DNR.
English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 soundtracks are provided for the two films. Dialog and gunshots are clear, as are the musical scores by legendary composers Fred Steiner (Man from Del Rio) and Frank de Vol (The Ride Back). No drop-offs or other audio issues were detected on either film.
The release has no real extras to speak of, other than trailers for several Kino Lorber catalog releases. Trailers for Man from Del Rio, The Ride Back, Across 110th Street, The Destructors, The Greek Tycoon and The Passage is the only ‘extra’ for this release.
Anthony Quinn was a brilliant actor, and with these two films, Man from Del Rio and The Ride Back, fans can see samples of his work on a pair of obscure Westerns. I certainly think die-hard fans of Quinn and Westerns will thoroughly enjoy the films. The audio and video quality for both is top-notch. The lack of extras should not make a difference for those wanting to add this double feature to their collection!
Man from Del Rio / The Ride Back
Director- Harry Horner /Allen Miner
Cast- Anthony Quinn, Katy Jurado / Anthony Quinn, William Conrad
Country of Origin- US
Distributor – Kino Lorber
Number of Discs – 1
Reviewed by – David Steigman
Date- 4/12/2021