It’s a well-known theme that has already been filmed many times: three hardened men find themselves in the situation of having to look after a defenseless baby. The groundbreaking classic Traces in the Sand with John Wayne himself is already a remake, but probably also one of the best versions of this story.
Now you can get it on disc in HD quality for the first time in Germany, as it will be released on January 25th Limited media book with two Blu-rays, which can be ordered from Amazon * or MediaMarkt *. On board are both the theatrical version cut in this country in the original dubbing and the uncut original version with a new dubbing from the 2007 DVD version.
Traces in the Sand (limited media book) at Amazon
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That’s what Footsteps in the Sand is about
The three crooks Robert (John Wayne), William (Harry Carey Jr.) and Pedro (Pedro Armendariz) have just robbed a bank and are now on the run through the desert. There they meet a heavily pregnant woman in distress who gives them… leaving her baby dying and the promise of caring for the newborn diminishes.
The new responsibility presents the three men with a number of challenges and also friction among themselves, which means their chance escaping the law is getting worse. But they don’t want to break their promise and stick by the little boy, whom they lovingly named Robert William Pedro.
Three men and a baby
Traces in the Sand, which originally had the title 3 Godfathers, was not only the first color film by director legend John Ford, but was also adapted by him as a silent film in 1919 under the name Marked Men. The material was first filmed in 1916 as The Three Godfathers (via IMDb).
Since then there have been numerous reinterpretations, with the French 80s hit Three Men and a Baby and its US remake Three Men, Another Baby with Tom Selleck, Steve Guttenberg and Ted Danson probably being among the best known today. One of the most notable adaptations, meanwhile, comes in anime form with Tokyo Godfathers, where three homeless people find a baby in the trash on Christmas Eve.
While there are many adaptations of the story worth seeing, fans of westerns and iconic John Wayne are probably most likely to go for Footprints in the Sand. Especially since it can now be seen for the first time in the home cinema with significantly better picture quality and in a stylish, limited media book edition for the collection.
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