A young Blake Edwards saddles up on DVD

McClatchy Newspapers

Before he became a famous director and the husband of Julie Andrews, Blake Edwards once rode the cinematic range as an actor.

He plays the young gunslinger Floyd Schofield in the 1948 western “Panhandle,” which Edwards also co-produced and co-wrote. “Panhandle,” originally released by Allied Artitsts, is part of a new DVD collection called “Darn Good Westerns: Volume 1” (VCI, $29.99) which contains six titles on two discs.

Shot in the brown-tinted Sepiatone, “Panhandle” stars Rod Cameron as reformed gunman John Sands who straps on his six-shooters one more time to search for the killer of his brother. Along the way, he finds that his outlaw past is a tough obstacle to overcome. Also in the cast are Cathy Downs, Reed Hadley and Anne Gwynne.

Although during his 40-year career Cameron appeared in a variety of genres, he was best known for the more than three dozen westerns he headlined. There was even a Rod Cameron western comic book during the 1950s. He was also noted for his starring roles in the TV series “City Detective” and “State Trooper.”

After he hung up his guns, Edwards went on to direct such notable films as “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” “The Pink Panther,” “10” and many others.

The other westerns in the set include:

“Hellgate” (1952): Sterling Hayden plays a man wrongly accused of a crime and is sentenced to a hellish prison in the New Mexico desert. He finally manages to convince the warden and everyone else that he is one of the good guys when he helps battle an outbreak of typhoid fever. Ward Bond, Joan Leslie and James Arness co-star. The theme is similar to “The Prisoner of Shark Island,” a 1936 film directed by John Ford. Still, this is well-done effort.

“Wildfire: The Story of a Horse” (1945): This one is presented in Cinecolor, and the hues look pretty darn good. Veteran western star Bob Steele plays a cowboy who exposes a gang of horse rustlers who have been blaming the thefts on a wild stallion. Sterling Holloway (the original voice of Winnie the Pooh) plays his sidekick. Soon-to-be-western star Eddie Dean plays the local sheriff.

“Train to Tombstone” (1950): Don “Red” Barry plays an undercover agent who hops on a train hoping to foil a plot to steal the pile of gold on board. Along the way, he and his fellow passengers manage to ward off an Indian attack. “Stagecoach”-like in theme, this is a very enjoyable, fast-paced western adventure.

“Fangs of the Wild” (1954): This is more of an outdoor picture than a western, but nevertheless entertaining. A boy sees a hunter murder a supposed friend in the forest. The boy, however, has a tough time convincing folks he is telling the truth. The killer is played by Charles Chaplin Jr., who went on to a less-than-stellar film carrer.

“Operation Haylift” (1951): This one is inspired by a true story of a terrible blizzard that threatened to kill thousands of cattle in Nevada. Flying buddies Bill Williams and Tom Brown get the idea of carrying bales of hay by airplane and dropping them to the snow-bound ranches.

Also included are the 9-minute short “Hold ’Em Cowboy” and the 30-minute Technicolor short “The Story of Colonel Drake” starring Vincent Price in a story about the birth of the oil industry.

Check out the library of vintage films at www.vcientertainment.com.