The Return of the Duke

This coming May 22nd would have been John Wayne's 100th birthday, and Paramount Home Entertainment and Warner Home Video have joined forces to celebrate the Western legend's centennial with an "unprecedented initiative" of DVD sales and marketing that will honor the Duke with a 48-film tribute.

The flagship titles in the promotion will be Rio Bravo, in both a Two-Disc Special Edition and Ultimate Collector's Edition, The Cowboys as a Deluxe Edition, and True Grit as a Special Collector's Edition. Warner will also release for the first time its John Wayne Film Collection, a six-disc set that will feature the following films (all new to DVD): Allegheny Uprising, Reunion in France, Tycoon, Without Reservations, Trouble Along the Way and Big Jim McLain.

With 34 Wayne films available from Warner and another 14 from Paramount, some of the titles that will be promoted this May include: The High and the Mighty (Special Collector's Edition), Island in the Sky (Special Collector's Edition), The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, The Shootist, Big Jake, Hondo (Special Collector's Edition), McLintock! (Special Collector's Edition), and more.

Yes, the Duke lives on… as long as we have our DVD remotes at the ready.

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