Kenneth Turan’s DVD picks: Westerns with a difference

I love watching westerns, even when they depart from the straight and narrow. Two new releases offer cases in point.

Though Howard Hawks didn’t do as many westerns as John Ford, those he did were memorable, and none more so than “Red River.” Concerned as much with codes of masculinity as the cattle drive that is its centerpiece, “Red River” is memorable for its John Wayne-Montgomery Clift clash of the titans. A new Criterion Collection release has a ton of interesting extras.

“Blazing Saddles” is even further from the classic West, but it’s got men on horses wearing those big hats, so a western it has to be. Mel Brooks did the directing honors, so you know you’re going to laugh.