Greetings, Classic Cinema and TV fans. Jason here with you once again on a retro drive-in podcast. And today we're talking about a new release from the good folks at Warner Archive Collection. And we're going back to the Old West. and this one is a literal classic. There's two names that are synonymous when it comes to Westerns, and it's John Ford and John Wayne. They worked together so many times to bring us epic Westerns in the Western genre, and this is no different. This is a really awesome little release. This is The Three Godfathers, a really awesome little film. Basically, we'll kind of try to not spoil too much, but anyway, it's about three bank robbers that rob a bank and go on the run, and a sheriff kind of is chasing them across the country, and they come across this lady who is going to have a baby, and she gets really, really sick while having the baby and ends up about to die, and she asks them, the three criminals, to take her baby to the village of New Jerusalem, and they agree to do so, and they become like the three godfathers, if you will. It's really interesting. They take this child and they kind of nurture him and try to take care of him. And it's really kind of cute, actually, to see these old west, you know, guys trying to figure out how to take care of a baby, you know, a newborn baby. It's really interesting. And some of the stuff that they do is just off the wall and crazy. and you just sit there and you're like, wow, you know, but it's a lot of fun. It's a really heartwarming type of a film, really, when you think about it. The film was adapted from a story by Peter B. Kine of the same name, The Three Godfathers. Now, the interesting thing, though, a lot of times people think of John Ford films, and they think John Ford, the epic, but this isn't the first time John Ford ever did this film, right? He actually made The Three Godfathers before. In 1919, a silent film that has, for all intents and purposes, as we know, has been lost in time. Now, why we say we believe is because you just never know. There have been a lot of films that a lot of people have thought have been lost and then appear. Somebody's looking for something and they find a copy. But right now as it stands right at this particular moment there is no copies We believe that that film the 1919 version of this film which was called Mark Min is basically lost We never know. It may show up. You just never know. But John Ford made an adaption of that book, The Three Godfathers, into Mark Min in 1919. Um, then, uh, in, uh, 1929, uh, would come the first, um, talking version of, um, of this film. Uh, and it was also, uh, it was entitled, um, Hell's Heroes, um, and it was, um, directed by William Wyler. And, uh, and so that was the first talking version. Uh, then, uh, fast forward to 1936, uh, and we get another version of, um, this film with the three Godfathers from 1936 and, uh, stars, uh, some amazing actors. But the one that really stands out to me is Walter Brennan. Yes, Walter Brennan is in this film. And, uh, Walter Brennan is one of my favorite TV actors. I love his take on Amos McCoy in The Real McCoys. I always thought he was so awesome there. But Walter Brennan played in tons of films and a lot of TV and stuff and just an icon. You know Walter Brennan. Everybody knows Walter Brennan for the simple reason of that, the unique voice. And especially from Amos McCoy with that jaunt that he does when he would walk. It's just amazing. So probably everybody knows Walter Brennan. But there was that film. Then you fast forward to 1948, and we get John Ford's next version of this film, which is The Three Godfathers starring John Wayne. Very cool. We get John Wayne, Pedro Armendariz, and Harry Carey Jr. as the leads in this The Three Godfathers. It's a really, really, really good film. It really is. I really enjoyed checking this one out. You know, it was, I'd never seen this one actually before. I've seen a ton of John Wayne films and a lot of different westerns. Westerns, but I have never seen The Three Godfathers. I know that sounds kind of sad to say that, but I've never seen The Three Godfathers until this time, and what a way to see it for the first time. Warner Archive Collection have restored this film, and it is amazing. It looks spectacular. The picture quality is crisp and clean, and the colors are vibrant, and there's There's no signs of digital artifacts or I didn't really even see too much damage to the print whatsoever that I could see. I mean, it was really, the audio was crisp and clean and really nice. Everything was just great in this. So I mean it was really a great great version of this film I have to say this is really a great little Western Something that has made me think, and I have to do some research on this, but I kind of wonder sometimes whether The Three Godfathers, the story, and then, of course, the movies inspired three men and a baby and three men and a little lady. I just kind of wonder about that. I don't know, but I have to do some research on that. Hey, if you know if that's true or not, post a comment below. I'd love to hear your thoughts on that, but I have to do some research on that because I'm not sure, but I just kind of wonder, right? But there's something very interesting that is with this release here from Warner Archive Collection. Not only do we get The Three Godfathers here with John Wayne, but also included on this Blu-ray is the 1936 version of The Three Godfathers with Walter Brennan, restored and looking pretty cool. I haven't seen the whole thing, but I've just kind of took a little peek at it. I'm going to check it out here in a little bit before we do the full written review. But from what I've seen of it, it looks pretty impressive. The black and white picture is real crisp and clean as far as I can see so far. So I'm really looking forward to that. The audio is real crisp as well. So it is a really, really awesome looking little version of this film. So I can't wait to check that one out as well. I'm going to tell you, Warner Archive really continually seems to impress me with what they do with their releases. And I found this to be so cool. When I saw Three Godfathers, you know, the teaser that that may be coming, I was like, I wonder what they're going to put as bonus features. I would never have dreamed that they were going to put the 1936 version of this film on Blu-ray with this. That just takes this release to a whole different level for me. I love the fact that they took not only this version, but the 1936 version and put both of them on the same disc is just amazing. Now, a lot of people would sit and say, well, you cram too much on a disc and then you get digital artifacts and you get all these different things and the picture quality suffers and there's all this. Really, it is not. The picture quality of John Ford's Three Godfathers has not suffered at all. It looks amazing. Warner Archive really does great work when it comes to restoration. They put such detail and such love into their restorations that they clean them up so good that they take out absolutely as much of those specks and those bits of dirt and stuff that are found on the original print And they take them out and really make it look spectacular And Three Godfathers is no different. It looks literally amazing. I really cannot wait to check out the 1936 version as well. Getting to see Walter Brennan. And, you know, and it's interesting because we see Walter Brennan and we see Walter Brennan. We think of Walter Brennan as the old man, you know, jaunting around as Amos McCoy. But here, almost Walter Brennan doesn't even look like Walter Brennan because he's so thin and so trim. And so, you know, he just doesn't even look like Walter Brennan. But that's what it makes this so cool to see these actors throughout their career. You see how they change and how their features change and their body type changes as the years go along. And it's really, really cool to see. So I am looking forward to check that out. Yeah, I will say Three Godfathers is my favorite John Wayne film because it's not by no means. But I enjoyed it. I enjoyed it a lot, and I will have a full written review of this release coming up at Classic Cinema Plus. If you're a fan of Westerns, we have tons of reviews from all kinds of different companies that have sent us the Blu-rays and DVDs. We have tons of them up there. You can check out all kinds of different reviews of all kinds of different Westerns. We have some of John Wayne. We have many of Jimmy Stewart and so many others. So you can definitely check them out at Classic Cinema Plus. You can get a link below. We want to thank you for joining me today. Be sure to like, share, and subscribe to the channel. We would appreciate it. Also, be sure, as we said, go to Classic Cinema Plus. Check out all of our reviews. We'll have a full written review of this release coming up in a little bit. Be sure to go there every single day. We've got tons of reviews up all the time, five days a week, sometimes on the weekends as well. You just never know, so just keep your eyes open to there. We want to thank Warner Archive for sending this our way so we can tell you all about it and let you know what The Three Godfathers looks like. As we said, be sure to let us know what your favorite John Wayne film is. Did this maybe inspire three men and a lady and a baby and a little lady? If you know, let us know. Let us know what your favorite John Wayne film is. Just have a conversation in the comments. And until we're with you next time with another retro driving podcast, this is Jason reminding you that if you want to see a great film or a TV series, check out a classic and we will see you next time have a good one bye
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