Rio Grande (1950)

In this old classic John Wayne had not yet become the somewhat grumpy old tough guy as he is in many of his classical movies. He is somewhat younger and his character as Lt. Col. Kirby Yorke is a bit more emotional than the characters that he often played and there is a bit more romance in this movie as well. At least in my experience with John Wayne’s movies. I was not sure if I was going to like this movie so much since it is generally put in the Romance genre as well as the Western genre. However I can without a doubt say that I did indeed like it quite a lot. It is still a good old-fashioned Western movie with brawls, fistfights and a lot of shooting. John Wayne is great in his role and a lot of the supporting characters are very enjoyable. I especially liked the old Sgt. Major and I would have liked there to be a more official scene of forgiveness between Mrs. Yorke and him. There were a lot of nice interaction between the Sgt. Major as well as between other characters in the movie. At times the movie was really funny due to these interactions between several of the rather original characters in the movie. To my understanding John Ford was more or less forced by Republic Pictures into making this movie in exchange for his pet project, The Quiet Man, to be produced. I would say that this was a good move by the movie company even though the movie was produced as a low-budget movie even by the standards at the time. The only thing I feel sorry about is that it was shot in black & white. As is often the case in good old Western movies there are a fair share of lovely nature scenery and I think some of that would have been much better in full color. Oh by the way, one thing puzzles me. Why on earth did they make a movie poster with John Wayne without a mustache when he is having one throughout the whole movie?

More artistry from the maestro. The final piece of John Ford's cavalry trilogy is a fine portrait of the old west and the soldiers who operated at that time. Much like She Wore A Yellow Ribbon, this film continues with the central theme of human focus, getting close and real to what makes these folks tick, all laid out on Ford's wild frontier portrait. This offering throws up a number of emotions by splicing Western staple conventions. We have a special war time romance (the excellent John Wayne & Maureen O'Hara), a fair dash of humour (hats off to Ben Johnson), and some delightful tunes brought to us by Sons Of The Pioneers. But ultimately it's the realistic feel to the film that makes it so special. There is no overkill of the subjects, it is painted as hard grind, not all whooping in the air and shooting the enemy - with the camera work from Ford able to bring it all vividly to life. What we ultimately get is a post civil war tale that looks great and beats a sound and true heart. 8/10 Footnote: The whole trilogy isn't for those seeking out good old shoot 'em ups in the Wild West, it is for those looking for involvement into a past that has long since gone, but thankfully one that is kept vividly alive by such directing masters like Ford.

"Col. Yorke" (John Wayne) has enough on his plate fighting the marauding Apache when his son "Jeff" (Claude Jarman Jr) arrives at his post, only to be followed shortly thereafter by the man's mother "Kathleen" (Maureen O'Hara) determined to buy him out. Let's just say that marital relations are a bit strained, and that the youngster has no intentions of leaving his post and so the seeds of slightly comedic discord are sown as mother and father bicker their way back into love. The film itself is all just a bit predictable, but there's a fun dynamic between Wayne and O'Hara and a solid supporting cast offering entertaining roles for Chill Wills; Victor McLaglen as the snifter loving "Quicannon" and Fred Kennedy as the gargantuan "Trooper Heinze". There's plenty of action and the stars make sure that what "romance" there is, is presented in feisty and stroppy a fashion with the bare minimum of anything remotely sentimental. John Ford knew how to cast and make an entertaining western and he does it well here.