John Wayne's Tribute to America

[Hondo Duke Lane]

This is the announcement of John Wayne's Tribute to America coming out July 31. You can get this at your local video (or at least you could at mine), or on line. Generally it is around $18.00USD. Here is a review on this DVD that I think all of us need to get. It is also reported for all regions.

As an amazing time capsule of all-star entertainment, John Wayne's Tribute to America provides a perfect snapshot of American television in the year 1970. Under its original title Swing Out, Sweet Land, this Emmy-winning variety show was originally broadcast on NBC on November 29, 1970, and was intended, in part, as John Wayne's personal response to growing protest against the war in Vietnam. Three years after the hippie movement's "Summer of Love," the country was politically divided like never before, and this 80-minute special was Wayne's attempt to counteract the "anti-American" war protests with a rousing, patriotic, and unifying reminder of America's greatness. In his introduction, Wayne (whose controversial conservatism ran against the rising tide of liberal politics) promises that the show will be apolitical and "short on preaching," focusing instead on America as "one of those yarn-spinnin' places"--a proud land of immigrants where people didn't take themselves too seriously, and where courage and nobility were mixed with song, dance, and humor as the country expanded westward. Swing Out, Sweet Land then kicks into high gear, with Glenn Campbell singing "This Is a Great Country" (from Irving Berlin's final musical, Mr. President), followed by a veritable who's who of veteran entertainers, singing songs, telling jokes and appearing in historical sketches that unabashedly express Wayne's pro-American sentiments. As a tuneful history lesson, the program won an Emmy award for Dominic Frontiere's outstanding achievement in musical direction.

For some viewers this will be a welcome trip down memory lane, or a nostalgic reminder of a kind of patriotic spirit that had grown increasingly old-fashioned even in 1970. Others will see it as a perfect target for the kind of variety-show spoofs that were later perfected on SCTV. No matter how you perceive it now, Swing Out, Sweet Land offers an abundance of one-of-a-kind highlights, like Bing Crosby playing Mark Twain; Roscoe Lee Browne as Frederick Douglass; Ann-Margaret dancing up a patriotic storm; William Shatner doing some "serious acting" as John Adams; Lucille Ball as the voice of the Statue of Liberty; George Burns poking fun at Jack Benny in a hilarious walk-on cameo; Ricky and David Nelson as Confederate and Union enemies; Johnny Cash billed as a "locomotive troubadour," singing a flawless rendition of "Ribbon of Steel"; and Bob Hope doing his war-time comedy act... at Valley Forge! That's just a sampling of the stars on hand for Wayne's salute to America, along with a ghost-town sketch that qualifies as a kind of early farewell to Wayne's established Western persona. And while most of Swing Out, Sweet Land now looks impossibly quaint and dated, it's more than worthy of DVD revival as a memorable TV footnote to Wayne's big-screen career. The original 1970 broadcast was sponsored by Anheuser-Busch, and as a bonus feature the DVD includes the show's original commercials for Budweiser beer, one featuring Wayne and Ed McMahon. Also included is an archival clip of Wayne promoting his then-new film The Alamo while appearing as the "mystery guest" on a 1960 episode of the popular TV game show What's My Line? --Jeff Shannon; Amazon.com

Cheers

[Hondo Duke Lane]

This is the announcement of John Wayne's Tribute to America coming out July 31. You can get this at your local video (or at least you could at mine), or on line. Generally it is around $18.00USD. Here is a review on this DVD that I think all of us need to get. It is also reported for all regions.

As an amazing time capsule of all-star entertainment, John Wayne's Tribute to America provides a perfect snapshot of American television in the year 1970. Under its original title Swing Out, Sweet Land, this Emmy-winning variety show was originally broadcast on NBC on November 29, 1970, and was intended, in part, as John Wayne's personal response to growing protest against the war in Vietnam. Three years after the hippie movement's "Summer of Love," the country was politically divided like never before, and this 80-minute special was Wayne's attempt to counteract the "anti-American" war protests with a rousing, patriotic, and unifying reminder of America's greatness. In his introduction, Wayne (whose controversial conservatism ran against the rising tide of liberal politics) promises that the show will be apolitical and "short on preaching," focusing instead on America as "one of those yarn-spinnin' places"--a proud land of immigrants where people didn't take themselves too seriously, and where courage and nobility were mixed with song, dance, and humor as the country expanded westward. Swing Out, Sweet Land then kicks into high gear, with Glenn Campbell singing "This Is a Great Country" (from Irving Berlin's final musical, Mr. President), followed by a veritable who's who of veteran entertainers, singing songs, telling jokes and appearing in historical sketches that unabashedly express Wayne's pro-American sentiments. As a tuneful history lesson, the program won an Emmy award for Dominic Frontiere's outstanding achievement in musical direction.

For some viewers this will be a welcome trip down memory lane, or a nostalgic reminder of a kind of patriotic spirit that had grown increasingly old-fashioned even in 1970. Others will see it as a perfect target for the kind of variety-show spoofs that were later perfected on SCTV. No matter how you perceive it now, Swing Out, Sweet Land offers an abundance of one-of-a-kind highlights, like Bing Crosby playing Mark Twain; Roscoe Lee Browne as Frederick Douglass; Ann-Margaret dancing up a patriotic storm; William Shatner doing some "serious acting" as John Adams; Lucille Ball as the voice of the Statue of Liberty; George Burns poking fun at Jack Benny in a hilarious walk-on cameo; Ricky and David Nelson as Confederate and Union enemies; Johnny Cash billed as a "locomotive troubadour," singing a flawless rendition of "Ribbon of Steel"; and Bob Hope doing his war-time comedy act... at Valley Forge! That's just a sampling of the stars on hand for Wayne's salute to America, along with a ghost-town sketch that qualifies as a kind of early farewell to Wayne's established Western persona. And while most of Swing Out, Sweet Land now looks impossibly quaint and dated, it's more than worthy of DVD revival as a memorable TV footnote to Wayne's big-screen career. The original 1970 broadcast was sponsored by Anheuser-Busch, and as a bonus feature the DVD includes the show's original commercials for Budweiser beer, one featuring Wayne and Ed McMahon. Also included is an archival clip of Wayne promoting his then-new film The Alamo while appearing as the "mystery guest" on a 1960 episode of the popular TV game show What's My Line? --Jeff Shannon; Amazon.com

Cheers

[Hondo Duke Lane]

Here is some more infromation about this product.

Product Description

An All-Star Spectacular with Lucille Ball, Jack Benny, Dan Blocker, Roscoe Lee Brown, Glen Campbell, Johnny Cash, Roy Clark, Bing Crosby, Phyllis Diller, Lorne Greene, Celeste Holm, Bob Hope, Michael Landon, Ann-Margret, Dean Martin, Ross Martin, Greg Morris, Rick & David Nelson, Hugh O'Brien, Rowan & Martin, William Shatner, Red Skelton, Tom Smothers and Leslie Uggams and Dennis Weaver.

AMERICA'S ALL-TIME GREATEST MOVIE HERO PRESENTS AN HISTORICAL CELEBRATION WITH OVER TWO-DOZEN LEGENDARY GUEST STARS

John Wayne's first television special, originally aired as Swing Out, Sweet Land on NBC-TV in 1970, is a patriotic and poignant journey through American history -- with music, comedy and many famous friends.

As host and narrator, Wayne walks through pivotal moments in America's past. His guests include Jack Benny as a citizen asking George Washington (Lorne Greene) about that dollar he supposedly threw across the Potomac River; Bob Hope and Ann-Margret entertaining the troops at Valley Forge; printer Red Skelton discussing dissent with apprentice Tom Smothers; Lucille Ball as Miss Liberty; and Bing Crosby as Mark Twain, philosophizing with freed slave Frederick Douglass (Roscoe Lee Brown).

Also: Dean Martin as inventor Eli Whitney; Michael Landon as Peter Minuit, buying Manhattan Island from an Indian (Bonanza co-star Dan Blocker); brothers Rick and David Nelson fighting on opposite sides in the Civil War; Phyllis Diller as a 19th-century Presidential candidate; Dan Rowan and Dick Martin as the Wright brothers; Celeste Holm and Dennis Weaver as the parents of young Abraham Lincoln; Greg Morris as Crispus Attucks, a Negro who died in the Boston Massacre.

Musical highlights include Ribbon Of Steel by Johnny Cash, This Is A Great Country by Glen Campbell, Oh, Susannah by Roy Clark, Clementine by Leslie Uggams and God Bless America by the cast.

JOHN WAYNE'S TRIBUTE TO AMERICA is a lavish and thoughtful timepiece of 20th-century television entertainment, presenting a parade of legendary stars in a humorous and hopeful celebration.

DVD Bonuses:
*Original Sponsor Commercials with John Wayne & Ed McMahon
*John Wayne on What's My Line?

Cheers

[Hondo Duke Lane]

Here is some more infromation about this product.

Product Description

An All-Star Spectacular with Lucille Ball, Jack Benny, Dan Blocker, Roscoe Lee Brown, Glen Campbell, Johnny Cash, Roy Clark, Bing Crosby, Phyllis Diller, Lorne Greene, Celeste Holm, Bob Hope, Michael Landon, Ann-Margret, Dean Martin, Ross Martin, Greg Morris, Rick & David Nelson, Hugh O'Brien, Rowan & Martin, William Shatner, Red Skelton, Tom Smothers and Leslie Uggams and Dennis Weaver.

AMERICA'S ALL-TIME GREATEST MOVIE HERO PRESENTS AN HISTORICAL CELEBRATION WITH OVER TWO-DOZEN LEGENDARY GUEST STARS

John Wayne's first television special, originally aired as Swing Out, Sweet Land on NBC-TV in 1970, is a patriotic and poignant journey through American history -- with music, comedy and many famous friends.

As host and narrator, Wayne walks through pivotal moments in America's past. His guests include Jack Benny as a citizen asking George Washington (Lorne Greene) about that dollar he supposedly threw across the Potomac River; Bob Hope and Ann-Margret entertaining the troops at Valley Forge; printer Red Skelton discussing dissent with apprentice Tom Smothers; Lucille Ball as Miss Liberty; and Bing Crosby as Mark Twain, philosophizing with freed slave Frederick Douglass (Roscoe Lee Brown).

Also: Dean Martin as inventor Eli Whitney; Michael Landon as Peter Minuit, buying Manhattan Island from an Indian (Bonanza co-star Dan Blocker); brothers Rick and David Nelson fighting on opposite sides in the Civil War; Phyllis Diller as a 19th-century Presidential candidate; Dan Rowan and Dick Martin as the Wright brothers; Celeste Holm and Dennis Weaver as the parents of young Abraham Lincoln; Greg Morris as Crispus Attucks, a Negro who died in the Boston Massacre.

Musical highlights include Ribbon Of Steel by Johnny Cash, This Is A Great Country by Glen Campbell, Oh, Susannah by Roy Clark, Clementine by Leslie Uggams and God Bless America by the cast.

JOHN WAYNE'S TRIBUTE TO AMERICA is a lavish and thoughtful timepiece of 20th-century television entertainment, presenting a parade of legendary stars in a humorous and hopeful celebration.

DVD Bonuses:
*Original Sponsor Commercials with John Wayne & Ed McMahon
*John Wayne on What's My Line?

Cheers

[DakotaSurfer]

It's been on Amazon as a Pre-Release order item for some time now. My price is $17.99 with free 2nd day shipping. It should be a great DVD release. The only problem I have with it is it's being released by MPI Video. They don't always do a good job at re-releasing things. Plus the fact they didn't do anything to enhance the audio, it's still Dolby Digital 2.0 (Mono) instead of the better Dolby 5.1 Stereo.

[DakotaSurfer]

It's been on Amazon as a Pre-Release order item for some time now. My price is $17.99 with free 2nd day shipping. It should be a great DVD release. The only problem I have with it is it's being released by MPI Video. They don't always do a good job at re-releasing things. Plus the fact they didn't do anything to enhance the audio, it's still Dolby Digital 2.0 (Mono) instead of the better Dolby 5.1 Stereo.

[Hondo Duke Lane]

It's been on Amazon as a Pre-Release order item for some time now. My price is $17.99 with free 2nd day shipping. It should be a great DVD release. The only problem I have with it is it's being released by MPI Video. They don't always do a good job at re-releasing things. Plus the fact they didn't do anything to enhance the audio, it's still Dolby Digital 2.0 (Mono) instead of the better Dolby 5.1 Stereo.

DS that's a good point, but maybe you can answer this. This special was originally shown in 1970 or 71. The program and the show was in mono format because television was not into that capacity at that time. So, what difference would it make if a show that was done mono back then could benefit today in Dolby 5.1 Stereo? I am just wondering because it seems to me that it would sound the same.

Cheers Hondo

[Hondo Duke Lane]

It's been on Amazon as a Pre-Release order item for some time now. My price is $17.99 with free 2nd day shipping. It should be a great DVD release. The only problem I have with it is it's being released by MPI Video. They don't always do a good job at re-releasing things. Plus the fact they didn't do anything to enhance the audio, it's still Dolby Digital 2.0 (Mono) instead of the better Dolby 5.1 Stereo.

DS that's a good point, but maybe you can answer this. This special was originally shown in 1970 or 71. The program and the show was in mono format because television was not into that capacity at that time. So, what difference would it make if a show that was done mono back then could benefit today in Dolby 5.1 Stereo? I am just wondering because it seems to me that it would sound the same.

Cheers Hondo

[Lt. Brannigan]

Got on order at the local movie stop. And with the 8 dollars of credit I put on it, it will only cost me 9-10 bucks.

[Lt. Brannigan]

Got on order at the local movie stop. And with the 8 dollars of credit I put on it, it will only cost me 9-10 bucks.

[DakotaSurfer]

DS that's a good point, but maybe you can answer this. This special was originally shown in 1970 or 71. The program and the show was in mono format because television was not into that capacity at that time. So, what difference would it make if a show that was done mono back then could benefit today in Dolby 5.1 Stereo? I am just wondering because it seems to me that it would sound the same.

Cheers Hondo

These days they can digitally enhance the audio. Bring out sounds that before would sound flat or mono and enhance them to have the appearance of stereo output. Some use a stereo synthesizer to enhance the sound quality. Or to convert a mono recording to a stereo recording you need two copies of the mono audio. You then select which channels or frequencies will come out of which speaker. It all has to do with frequencies and by using the two mono copies you select those different frequencies to come out of the left or right speaker instead of everything being jammed into one speaker output. Confused yet?

Here's another example... take the movie The High and The Mighty. It was done in 1954, before stereo of course. Dolby Digital never came out until 1992 in theaters. If you look at the two disc set of The High and The Mighty you will see that they digitally enhanced the movie to not only play in 5.1 Surround but they also have the widescreen enhanced version for 16:9 TV's. It's a simple matter of technology. If you remember many many years ago when we went to the movies the screen was always wider than it was high. But when movies came out for home viewing they had to shrink to fit your TV screen. All they did was go back to the original film and use the entire width of the film instead of chopping it down to fit a 4:3 TV screen. In other words the filming industry was way ahead of the home viewing industry, once it caught up they can re-do movies for our new home technology. That's why the faster you switch over to HDTV widescreen you'll be able to enjoy the original filming of a movie that we were meant to see.

Babble, babble, babble... :teeth_smile:

[DakotaSurfer]

DS that's a good point, but maybe you can answer this. This special was originally shown in 1970 or 71. The program and the show was in mono format because television was not into that capacity at that time. So, what difference would it make if a show that was done mono back then could benefit today in Dolby 5.1 Stereo? I am just wondering because it seems to me that it would sound the same.

Cheers Hondo

These days they can digitally enhance the audio. Bring out sounds that before would sound flat or mono and enhance them to have the appearance of stereo output. Some use a stereo synthesizer to enhance the sound quality. Or to convert a mono recording to a stereo recording you need two copies of the mono audio. You then select which channels or frequencies will come out of which speaker. It all has to do with frequencies and by using the two mono copies you select those different frequencies to come out of the left or right speaker instead of everything being jammed into one speaker output. Confused yet?

Here's another example... take the movie The High and The Mighty. It was done in 1954, before stereo of course. Dolby Digital never came out until 1992 in theaters. If you look at the two disc set of The High and The Mighty you will see that they digitally enhanced the movie to not only play in 5.1 Surround but they also have the widescreen enhanced version for 16:9 TV's. It's a simple matter of technology. If you remember many many years ago when we went to the movies the screen was always wider than it was high. But when movies came out for home viewing they had to shrink to fit your TV screen. All they did was go back to the original film and use the entire width of the film instead of chopping it down to fit a 4:3 TV screen. In other words the filming industry was way ahead of the home viewing industry, once it caught up they can re-do movies for our new home technology. That's why the faster you switch over to HDTV widescreen you'll be able to enjoy the original filming of a movie that we were meant to see.

Babble, babble, babble... :teeth_smile:

[Hondo Duke Lane]

Thanks DakotaSurfer for the information.

I find this very fascinating and do understand the technology. I wish I could spend the time to learn more of this. I have no time and it changes so fast that I can't keep up not to mention afford all that is offered.

Back to the subject, I don't know the reputation of MPI Video but when McLintock! was released back in the early 90's on VHS, it was distributed by MPI and was much better than the other release from Goodtimes Video at the same time. I haven't been able to get the audio setup on this product that is coming out in 8 days. Where did you see this?

Cheers Hondo

[Hondo Duke Lane]

Thanks DakotaSurfer for the information.

I find this very fascinating and do understand the technology. I wish I could spend the time to learn more of this. I have no time and it changes so fast that I can't keep up not to mention afford all that is offered.

Back to the subject, I don't know the reputation of MPI Video but when McLintock! was released back in the early 90's on VHS, it was distributed by MPI and was much better than the other release from Goodtimes Video at the same time. I haven't been able to get the audio setup on this product that is coming out in 8 days. Where did you see this?

Cheers Hondo

[gt12pak]

The part that I'm looking forward too ( other than Duke that is ) is the Jack Benny clip asking George Washington about that dollar he threw across the Potomac River. Any Jack Benny fan knows that part of his act was that he was stingy with his money. And as I am a huge Jack Benny fan, that clip should be hilarious.