Rating: 
Summary: The DUKE and Gail, together again!
Review: After the classic "Angel and the Badman", DUKE and Gail Russell paired again for this effort, "Wake of the Red Witch".A tale of the effects revenge, greed, and bittnerness can have on people, the story traces the duel of words and intrigue between two men; Captain Ralls (The DUKE), and shipping magnate Mayrant Sidneye. DUKE skippers Sidneye's prize ship, the Red Witch, and purposely wrecks her in a plan to cheat Sidneye out of a cargo of gold. Turns out that Sidneye had plotted to steal away DUKE's girl, Angelique Desaix (played by the lovely and angelic Gail Russell). Tricking DUKE into a fatal confrontation with the girl's father, Sidneye is able to marry Angelique before The DUKE can set things right. This leads to her unhappiness, and The DUKE takes revenge on Sidneye by wrecking the Red Witch. A wonderful study of greed, revenge, and redmption, we see the tale through the eyes of a young seaman (Gig Young), who Ralls sees as his younger self. Familiar faces in the cast include Paul Fix, Henry Daniell, Jeff Corey, Erskine Sanford, and Grant Withers. Gail is gorgeous, as usual.
Rating: 
Summary: Watchable....
Review: Here is a very average movie that John Wayne made during the most brilliant portion of his career. If you consider that he had just made "Red River", Fort Apache", & "Three Godfathers", and was going on to make "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon", "Sand of Iwo Jima", "Rio Grande", & "The Quiet Man"....then you have to say that "Wake of the Red Witch" was just bringing in a paycheck for him. It's overly wordy, and has two extensive flashbacks which only serve to confuse the plot more. As for the DVD, it's quality is first rate. Artisan has been very spotty putting out the Duke's films on DVD. Some like "The Flying Tigers" have been mastered from original negatives, while others, like "The Quiet Man" look like they came from a fifth generation copy. Anyway, this transfer will not disappoint.
Rating:
Summary: Watchable....
Review: Here is a very average movie that John Wayne made during the most brilliant portion of his career. If you consider that he had just made "Red River", Fort Apache", & "Three Godfathers", and was going on to make "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon", "Sand of Iwo Jima", "Rio Grande", & "The Quiet Man"....then you have to say that "Wake of the Red Witch" was just bringing in a paycheck for him. It's overly wordy, and has two extensive flashbacks which only serve to confuse the plot more. As for the DVD, it's quality is first rate. Artisan has been very spotty putting out the Duke's films on DVD. Some like "The Flying Tigers" have been mastered from original negatives, while others, like "The Quiet Man" look like they came from a fifth generation copy. Anyway, this transfer will not disappoint.
Rating:
Summary: Good Duke, good DVD, but are we missing wider format?
Review: Here's a Duke movie to like. This DVD, which has been previoulsy released, is full screen. Whether or not widescreen was in regular use, it seens obvious to me there's more information on the sides. I saw a wider version on, I think, TCM, also colorized. I don't think it's just a matter of chopping the top and bottom off the full screen version and making it look wider. I think there is more information out there. So given the excellent movie at its heart, it would be nice to have whatever extra picture there is. This is a story that can take advantage of wideness. Apart from that, it's a Duke DVD for every collection, a good story, nice effects and the video transfer and sound are very good. You'll like it. But watch for the wider, colorized version to be broadcast and tape it.
Rating: 
Summary: The Duke finds love & a giant octopus in classic adventure!
Review: I can't believe this is the first 5-star review of "Wake of the Red Witch". Ever since I was a child it's been one of my very favorite John Wayne films. Maybe it's the greedy quest for the valuable pearls, or the conflict between Captain Ralls (John Wayne) & Captain Sydneye (Luther Adler), who compete fiercely for both the treasure & the lovely Angelique (Gail Russell). Or maybe it's the doomed romance that makes this so watchable. The Duke was awesome with Gail Russell in this classic as well as the wonderful western "Angel & the Badman". John Wayne made some of his best movies in the late 40's, but for some reason this classic (from 1949) has been largely forgotten. Well, at least it's on dvd. The picture quality is very good but unfortunately there are no special features, not even the trailer. If you're a big John Wayne fan & want to see him in a rare non-western role, then this is a definite must-see!
Rating:
Summary: Good John Wayne
Review: It's in full screen instead of widescreen. As a result this good, fun movie loses some of its visual spendor. Also, it's the original BW version. Still, right now it's the only version available. The picture and sound are fine on DVD but look elsewhere for the widescreen and the computer colorized version, which shows up on satellite TV now and then.
Rating:
Summary: John Wayne is being himself
Review: Log before "The Deep" there was "Wake of the Red Witch" A fury filled adventure and a passionate love story with Gail Russell who says, "...I can't be bought."
John pits himself up against ruthless (Dutch) people and a giant (flimsy) octopus and (sturdy) Gail Russell in an effort to recover some pearls. And someone gets killed in the movie.
You get an early view of Gig Young as Sam Rosen who can be seen again in "Ask Any Girl" (1959)
All in all it is a very watchable movie and you may be surprised that you get caught up in the story.
Rating:
Summary: John Wayne is being himself
Review: Log before "The Deep" there was "Wake of the Red Witch" A fury filled adventure and a passionate love story with Gail Russell who says, "...I can't be bought." John pits himself up against ruthless (Dutch) people and a giant (flimsy) octopus and (sturdy) Gail Russell in an effort to recover some pearls. And someone gets killed in the movie. You get an early view of Gig Young as Sam Rosen.... All in all it is a very watchable movie and you may be surprised that you get caught up in the story.
Rating: 
Summary: Widescreen????
Review: People are wondering why this movie is presented in Full-Screen format. The answer is simple...Widescreen movies weren't made until 1953. This movie was made in 1949. All movies made until 1953 were filmed in the 4:3 ratio. When TV came along, and used the same ratio for picture tubes, the movie execs came up with a wide format to lure back moviegoers. So, if you see a movie release on DVD, and it was made before 1953, don't look for it in wide screen...
Rating:
Summary: Widescreen????
Review: People are wondering why this movie is presented in Full-Screen format. The answer is simple...Widescreen movies weren't made until 1953. This movie was made in 1949. All movies made until 1953 were filmed in the 4:3 ratio. When TV came along, and used the same ratio for picture tubes, the movie execs came up with a wide format to lure back moviegoers. So, if you see a movie release on DVD, and it was made before 1953, don't look for it in wide screen...
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