Winchester 73 Blu-Ray

Dark shadows spread across the border in this groundbreaking western, the first of the famous collaborations between director Anthony Mann and actor James Stewart, which redefined the genre with its moral and psychological intensity. Stewart, who in the middle of his career transitioned to increasingly nerve-wracking roles, portrays a vengeful marksman whose stolen rifle becomes a death trap as it passes from one doomed hand to the next. With a star-studded cast that includes a moving Shelley Winters, a sensationally sleazy Dan Duryea, and a pre-stardom Rock Hudson, this elemental tale of violence begetting violence breaks new ground with its evocation of the West as a no-man's-land of antiheroes and villains.

BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS

• New 4K digital restoration, performed by Universal Pictures in collaboration with The Film Foundation, with uncompressed mono audio track

   

• Audio commentary with actor James Stewart and film historian Paul Lindenschmidt

   

• New interview with film programmer Adam Piron on the portrayal of Native Americans in the Western genre

   

• The forces of nature: Anthony Mann at Universal, a program about an important chapter in the director's career

   

• Lux Radio Theatre adaptation of the 1951 film

   

• Trailer

   

• English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing

   

• Plus: An essay by critic Imogen Sara Smith

   

• New cover by Gregory Manchess