352. Rio Bravo (1959)

Directed By Howard Hawks

Synopsis

A Sheriff has two deputies and a dangerous man in jail. His family and accomplices want to spring him, hence Sheriff is in a tough situation.

Review

This Western by the great Howard Hawks represents one of the last of a dying breed. The old style, white hats vs. black hats Western. The moral ambiguity that would come along soon in the 60's is almost totally absent here. Fortunately it is a really good film nonetheless.

Hawks is not Ford or Mann, hence it isn't all about the little man in the big scenery, actually scenery is almost absent here. If there is one constant in Hawks' film it is it's focus on human relationships. The same happens here, and that is really the strong point of the film.

John Wayne plays the same character he always does, so that is no surprise. If you want some enjoyable acting you have to look to Dean Martin and Walter Brennan, the don of curmudgeonly frontier hicks. Still, it keeps your attention for the 2 hours and 15 minutes of it. It is, as all Howard Hawks films, pretty well written and entertaining.

Final Grade

8/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

The film was made as a response to High Noon, which is sometimes thought to be an allegory for blacklisting in Hollywood, as well as a critique of McCarthyism, according to Graham. Wayne teamed up with director Howard Hawks to tell the story his way. Hawks and Wayne were offended by High Noon; Johnson quotes Hawks as saying he didn't believe the marshal, played by Gary Cooper, would "go running around town like a chicken with his head off asking for help." Wayne was a conservative and a firm supporter of blacklisting. They were offended too that Kane was abandoned by almost everyone (except at the last minute his Quaker bride, played by Grace Kelly). In "Rio Bravo", Chance is surrounded by allies—a deputy recovering from alcoholism, a young gunfighter, an old man, a Mexican innkeeper, and an attractive young woman—and repeatedly turns down aid from anyone he doesn't think is capable of helping him, though in the final shootout they come to help him anyway.

Final shoot-out, with a theme which is an obvious influence on Ennio Morricone's Spaghetti Western themes: