Man I wish TCM or Encore Westerns would show this one

If it was that easy, it would have been at least thrown away on the home video market a long time ago. The explanation for it's not getting out to begin with was a combination of factors, according to Sue Gossett's book, The Films and Career of Audie Murphy, Empire Publishing, 1996:

1. Producer/cameo player Murphy and writer/director Boetticher made it entirely "on spec," no even merely tentative distribution deal on the table.
2. They came out of the editing room with a film only 67 minutes long, far too short for 1969 exhibitors.
3. The only name actors in the cast were Murphy and Victor Jory, both well past their popularity peaks and both in cameos.

I'll add that by this time the only American Westerns that did decent box office business starred either John Wayne or Clint Eastwood; that or had "blaxploitation" appeal. When Murphy died, he was trying to drum up investors to enable him to expand the film's running time, specifically by beefing up his own role (Gossett again). His death may well have complicated matters. The closest thing to a generally available release this film has ever had has been on the bootleg video market. At least in the USA, since the A&E cable channel's Biography series' episode on Murphy put that qualification on its statement, and the IMDb lists French and German/Austrian titles for the film. Nobody else (with professional-level credibility) indicates it's ever been out at all. A discussion on the Contributors' Help Board about just how many episodes of Murphy's Whispering Smith TV series were actually aired (the IMDb's episode list gives consecutive weekly dates for the entire 26-episode package, but the last six post-date no less than two credible sources' end date for the run, while Gossett states in two widely separated places that only 13 were telecast) got a bit off topic. One respondent cited an IMDb rule, making it sound as if only actually aired/released material could be listed here. I pointed out a few typical examples of such productions listed here and along with qualifying the rule as having exceptions, he claimed that this film did get released, citing (along with a DVD that must have actually been a bootleg) the 1982 Corinth Films screening in New York indicated here and linking in a connected review from the New York Times by Vincent Canby: http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9501EFDB103BF931A35755C0A96 4948260. While Canby's not entirely correct reasons for the film's non-release are his self-admitted guesswork, his twice-given overlong running time is not. "73 minutes" is too precise to be defended by any hypothetically possible method. Had it been the round 70 minutes, I could assume it to be his approximation as he viewed the film. I strongly suspect Canby misinterpreted a special, one-time-only screening as a release, since it clearly played nowhere else at that time or since, and that his review is the entire source for the IMDb's listing of that company's involvement. It's also the probable source for the "year of release" of 1971 that was here until I pointed out a lack of any indicated release other than Corinth's in 1982. Note that twice Canby gives 1969, so I strongly suspect that a Times editor is responsible for the appearance of '71 at the top. Can't explain his running time, however, or why it's not the one given here.

The GREEN HORNET Strikes Again!

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