A Time for Dying (1969)

The final western from one of the genre’s greatest directors, Budd Boetticher (Ride Lonesome), and the last screen appearance of war hero-turned-movie star Audie Murphy (To Hell and Back), A Time for Dying is an offbeat, elegiac look at the Old West, prefiguring Don Siegel’s classic western, and John Wayne’s final picture, The Shootist. Richard Lapp stars as a young man with fine shooting skills who crosses paths with real-life figures, such as Jesse James (played by Murphy) and Judge Roy Bean (Victor Jory), only to discover the true violence of the West. Beset by post-production and distribution problems, A Time for Dying is overdue the recognition it deserves. "Extras "INDICATOR STANDARD EDITION SPECIAL FEATURESNew restoration from a 2K scan of the original negative by Powerhouse FilmsTwo presentations of the film: in its original 1.85:1 theatrical aspect ratio; and 1.37:1 open matte shooting ratioOriginal mono audioAudio commentary with screenwriter and novelist C Courtney Joyner and film historian Henry Parke (2022)A Sense of Poetry (2022, 14 mins): filmmaker and novelist Christopher Petit discusses his fascination with A Time for Dying and his reasons for selecting it for the Sight & Sound Greatest Films of All Time pollThe Men Who Shot Jesse James (2022, 20 mins): Kim Newman, critic and author of Wild West Movies, explores the many film portrayals of the infamous outlawNew and improved subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing