Legendary Heroes Collection for John Wayne Fans

The Legendary Heroes Collection featuring John Wayne showcases five classic films from the larger-than-life American icon, including Blood Alley, McQ, The Sea Chase, Tall in the Saddle, and The Train Robbers, all of which are now available on DVD for the first time.

Born Marion Robert Morrison in Winterset, Iowa, John Wayne first entered the film industry as a laborer on the Fox lot during summer breaks from the University of Southern California, where he attended on a football scholarship. It was there that he met and befriended the up-and-coming director John Ford, who would later recommend Wayne for the lead role in the 1930 epic Western The Big Trail. Although the film was a box office failure, it demonstrated Wayne's potential.

For the next nine years, Wayne appeared in numerous B-Westerns and serials, interspersed with bit parts in larger features. His big break came in 1939 when Ford cast him as the Ringo Kid in the adventure film Stagecoach. Wayne nearly stole the show from his more experienced co-stars, and his career as a box-office superstar was launched.

During his 50-year film career, Wayne played the lead in 142 movies, a record yet to be surpassed. He was nominated for three Academy Awards, winning the Best Actor award in 1970 for his performance in True Grit.

Blood Alley (1955) marks the first on-screen pairing of Wayne and Lauren Bacall. In this action-adventure based on A.S. Fleischman's novel, Wayne plays an American seafarer asked by the daughter of a missionary doctor killed by the Communists to help transport the citizens of a small Chinese town to freedom in Hong Kong.

In McQ (1974), Wayne forcefully enforces the law in this high-velocity thriller, which has been described as a "revenge western set in the big city." As police lieutenant Lon McQ, Wayne investigates the killing of his best friend and uncovers corrupt elements within the police department.

The Sea Chase (1955) sees Wayne and Lana Turner as a formidable romantic team in this harrowing adventure directed by Academy Award-nominee John Farrow. Wayne plays Kal Erhlich, a German freighter captain attempting to sail his ship from Australia to the North Sea at the outset of World War II, with both Allied and German ships in pursuit.

In Tall in the Saddle (1944), Wayne stars as Rocklin, a cowboy who arrives at a ranch to work as a cowhand and finds his employer has been murdered. With no friends or money, Rocklin stays in town, determined to track down the killers and uncover a plan to inherit the dead employer's riches.

The Train Robbers (1973) features Wayne, Ann-Margret, and Ricardo Montalban in a non-stop western action. Wayne plays a gunhand hired by a widow, Mrs. Lowe (Ann-Margret), to find the gold stolen by her late husband, with the pair crossing the border into Mexico and facing two different pursuers – a group of bandits and a lone horseman (Montalban).

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