VIDEO THE DUKE GOES DIGITAL SEVERAL OF JOHN WAYNE'S CLASSICS RECEIVE THE PROPER DVD TREATMENT.

Byline: Rob Lowman Entertainment Editor

What is there to say about John Wayne, except that a number of his better movies have been released on DVD during the past few months?

The Duke died at 72 in 1979 of lung cancer. His last leading role was in the 1976 Don Siegel film ``The Shootist,'' which is being released today on DVD. In it he plays a terminally ill gunfighter, looking for a way to die with dignity.

It's hardly one of the better efforts from Siegel, who was a smart, tough-guy director (``Dirty Harry,'' ``The Killers,'' Coogan's Bluff'' ``Charlie Varrick,'' and the original ``Invasion of the Body Snatchers''). But in this one, he seems to recognize the momentousness of the occasion (as did the public), and the film ends up being more ponderous than it should. There are some moments, though. And Wayne does get to act with other Hollywood icons such as James Stewart and Lauren Bacall and other top actors like Richard Boone, Hugh O'Brian and John Carradine. Siegel, who died in 1991, did have a flair for action, and that helps the film through the slow spots.

As everyone knows, Wayne toiled in Hollywood for more than 10 years before John Ford made him a star as the Ringo Kid in the 1939 film ``Stagecoach.'' Wayne doesn't appear until partway into the film, but he clearly was ``the man,'' and after that, he was ``the man'' in Hollywood.

But not just a particular man. Over the rest of his career, Wayne was identified primarily with Ford (1894-1973) and director Howard Hawks (1896-1977). Ford and Hawks men were often different breeds. Hawks' heroes were professionals or men who did what they had to do in a professional way. Sure, they did the right thing but they were also doing their jobs - think Humphrey Bogart's tough-guy detective Philip Marlowe in Hawks' 1946 version of ``The Big Sleep'' or the hard-bitten pilot played by Cary Grant in his 1939 ``Only Angels Have Wings.'' Ford's men were more often than not driven by a sense of right and wrong, a love of country - think Henry Fonda (the director's other favorite leading man) as Wyatt Earp in Ford's 1946 film ``My Darling Clementine'' or as the spirited Okie Tom Joad in the 1940 ``The Grapes of Wrath.''

Wayne - with his way of seeming easygoing and tough at the same time - slipped easily between these two archetypes, starring in what many consider the best films by each - both epic westerns - Hawks' 1948 ``Red River'' and Ford's 1956 ``The Searchers.'' Two of the directors' better later works just released on DVD also starred Wayne - Ford's 1962 ``The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance'' and Hawks' 1959 ``Rio Bravo.''

In ``Valance,'' after helping to create the myths of the West (and its heroes) through his movies, Ford examines that mythmaking in a changing West. In the film, which also stars Stewart, Wayne plays a hard man who ultimately makes the sacrifice it takes to make his town a better place, even if it costs him personally and he receives no credit for it. While ``Bravo'' doesn't have as tough an edge as many of Hawks' other films, it's an enjoyable mixture. Wayne plays John T. Chance, the sheriff of a western berg, and he's holding the brother of the area's big rancher in jail for murder. Mr. Big has vowed to break his brother out, and Chance's only allies are a crippled jail keeper (Walter Brennan), a drunken deputy (Dean Martin) and a hotshot kid gunfighter (Ricky Nelson). A couple of songs, some typical Hawks sexual innuendo between Chance and Feathers (Angie Dickinson), a few shootouts, and you have an entertaining tale.

There are three more Ford films in the list at the end of the article - ``The Quiet Man,'' ``Rio Grande'' and ``The Horse Soldiers'' - and they all have their merit. For those of you still looking for Pearl Harbor movies, ``In Harm's Way'' is an Otto Preminger work that begins with the Dec. 7, 1941, attack. The 1965 film is more talk than action (and what there is, is mediocre), but there's a scenery-chewing performance from Kirk Douglas and a cool-as-a-cucumber one from Patricia Neal.

And then there is always the Duke.

UNWRAPPED: Sam Raimi's spooky thriller ``The Gift'' was released last week. The plot, scripted by Billy Bob Thornton and Tom Epperson, is fairly run of the mill, but there are a number of nice touches that lift this film above the ordinary. First of all, there's Cate Blanchett, an actress who has shown tremendous range in her relatively short career. Here, she plays Annie, a widowed psychic in a small Southern town, whose ``readings'' have put her at odds with many in the community. When a promiscuous but prominent young woman (Katie Holmes) disappears, Annie has visions about her.

Raimi keeps the creepy Gothic atmosphere at a high level throughout. Blanchett carries the weight of the movie with ease, and there are a number of fine supporting performances, particularly those of Giovanni Ribisi, Hilary Swank, Greg Kinnear and, yes, Keanu Reeves.

BTW, DUDE ... : While surfing the Web, I saw a comment posted about the ``Wayne's World'' movies, which came out last week on DVD, that said they deserve three stars because they were funny but there wasn't much point to them. Duh. Being funny was the point, and the Mike Myers-Dana Carvey films were certainly that.

Recent DVD releases of John Wayne films: ``The Shootist'' ``The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance,'' ``Hatari,'' ``In Harm's Way'' and ``The Sons of Katie Elder'' (Paramount) are $29.99 each on DVD. ``Rio Bravo'' (Warners) is $19.98 on DVD. ``The Horse Soldiers'' (MGM) is $19.98 on DVD. ``Red River'' (MGM) is $14.98 on DVD. ``The Quiet Man'' and ``Rio Grande'' (Republic) are $19.98 each on DVD.

``The Gift'' (Paramount) is for rent on VHS and $29.99 on DVD. ``Wayne's World 1 & 2 - The Complete Epic'' (Paramount) is $49.98.

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(1 -- 3) John Wayne gave what would be his last film performance in Don Siegel's 1976 western ``The Shootist,'' left. In 1952, Wayne teamed with director Ford and his favorite leading lady, Maureen O'Hara, in ``The Quiet Man,'' above. ``The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance'' (1962), right, was one of director John Ford's last westerns, but one of his best, with Wayne as an unsung hero.