‘Wichita’ Blu-Ray Review – A Fun Yet Inconsequential Western From Jacques Tourneur

Joel McCrea stars as former buffalo hunter and Western entrepreneur Wyatt Earp in this CinemaScope® oater directed by the great Jacques Tourneur. When he arrives in the wild frontier town of Wichita, Earp is reluctant to accept the lawman job offered to him, but when he does, his first action is to confiscate all firearms within his jurisdiction, forcing a confrontation between the lone marshal and all the gunslingers in the violent Western outpost. Co-starring Vera Miles and Lloyd Bridges, Wichita is a supreme action-packed Western classic, produced by Oscar®-winner Walter Mirisch.

For thoughts on Wichita, please check out our discussion on The Video Attic: 

[youtube https://youtu.be/17tejdPYFEY?si=MguNYp0QGXXnI0Mm&t=2903]

Video Quality

Warner Archive presents Wichita with a spectacular new 1080p transfer sourced from a new 4K restoration of the Original Camera Negative. From the opening moments of the picture, you can tell that the label put their best foot forward – and we expect nothing less. When surveying the vast desert landscapes, you are greeted to such resplendent texture and clarity within the dirt and dust. The film features some brilliant color photography from Harold Lipstein which radiates off the screen with the perfect amount of natural film grain intact. Black levels are nice and deep with great stability throughout, and the highlights hold firm with nothing appearing overly bright. The film is completely free of damage with no trace of wear-and-tear or dirt. Compression artifacts, banding and other such anomalies do not serve as a potential issue. Warner Archive seem to only be competing with themselves. 

Audio Quality

The Blu-Ray comes with a restored DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio track that brings this to life without fail. Dialogue always comes through clearly without being drowned out by other elements. The more lively moments such shootouts are handled with great ease as they give the track a bit of life. Dialogue and background noises are rendered with wonderful accuracy along with the formidable score from Hans J. Salter. The restoration has eliminated pretty much all instances of distortion to the track such as hissing, dropouts and popping. This track makes sure everything comes through with unparalleled fidelity. Warner Archive has offered up a top tier audio presentation. There are optional English (SDH) subtitles included for the feature film.

Special Features

• Deputy Droopy: The nearly seven-minute Droopy Dog short is provided here in HD in which some outlaws attempt to rob a safe in the old west with Droopy standing guard. 

• The First Bad Man: The nearly seven-minute Tex Avery short is provided here in HD which tells the tale of the first “bad man” back in the prehistoric days. 

Final Thoughts

Wichita is a bit of a low key western which entertains in the moment but never does much to establish itself as something essential. The performance from Joel McCrea proves to be one of the standout elements alongside the direction of Jacques Tourneur. Where the film feels a bit tired is in the story itself, which feels reminiscent of various other westerns from the general time period. While we have a decent time with this one, it is not one that is destined to stick with us. Warner Archive has released a Blu-Ray that features a terrific A/V presentation and a couple of fun shorts. If you are a western fan, you should get something from this. Recommended 

Wichita can be purchased directly through MovieZyng or through various other online retailers. 

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: Warner Archive has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.