Shane (Limited edition two-disc set)

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Review added by
Stuart McLean

Certificate: PG
Running Time: 118 Minutes
Retail Price: £15.95
Release Date: 30/11/2015
Content Type: Movie

Synopsis:
Eureka Entertainment to release George Stevens’ SHANE, a masterpiece of great beauty told against the breathtaking backgrounds of the western plains, in a Special Blu-ray edition as part of the Masters of Cinema Series on 16 November 2015.

One of the landmark and most enduring Westerns of the 1950s, George Stevens’ Shane struck a chord with audiences at the time of its release, and continues to influence admirers today, even as it served as a template for the series of groundbreaking spaghetti-westerns of Sergio Leone.

Alan Ladd plays the titular gunslinger, the archetypal “man alone" who wanders into town and shortly afterward becomes embroiled in a conflict between a group of Wyoming homesteaders and the nefarious cattle baron who has designs to wrest away their land. As the conflict escalates, and a romance develops between Shane and homesteader Marian Starrett (Jean Arthur in her last screen role before an early retirement from motion pictures), a who’s-who of studio system character talent revolves through the production — Van Heflin, Jack Palance, Elisha Cook, Jr. — before the proverbial ride into the sunset...

Writing in The New York Times in 2001, Woody Allen said: “Shane, I think, is [Stevens’] masterpiece. I’ve seen it many, many times. Certainly more than 20.” The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present George Stevens’ Shane in this special edition, for the film’s first release on Blu-ray in the UK.

Special Features:
Stunning high-definition restoration in three aspect ratios: The intended 1.37:1 presentation (disc one); the 1.66:1 original theatrical presentation; and an alternate 1.66:1 framing optimised for this ratio, supervised by George Stevens, Jr. (both disc two, limited edition exclusive) • Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing • Uncompressed mono and stereo soundtracks • Audio commentary by George Stevens, Jr. and associate producer Ivan Moffat • Video interview with film scholar Neil Sinyard • Complete Lux Radio Theater adaptation of Shane • Original theatrical trailer • 36-PAGE BOOKLET featuring writing on the film by critic Penelope Huston, an unpublished interview with Stevens, a treatment for an unfilmed prologue to the film, an essay on the different ratios, and archival imagery.