Review of Rio Bravo (1959) by Lasse C — 17 Jan 2013

So Good They Did It Twice.This is one of John Wayne's best movies. In fact it was so good they filmed it again as El Dorado. John Wayne only played one character, "John Wayne". He played this character from "The Big Trail" to "The Shootist".

By the time he made "Rio Bravo" he had the character down pat. The story is simple. There is a murder committed by the brother of a rich and powerful cattle baron. The murderer is thrown in jail and while the heroes wait for the U.

S. Marshal, the town fills with hired gunmen who try to break the killer out of jail. The real story is the back-story of the character played by Dean Martin. He plays an alcoholic deputy sheriff who is an old friend of the town sheriff.

The implication in the movie is that alcoholism can be overcome by willpower and determination. This was probably wishful thinking on the part of the moviemakers who were 1950's era hard drinking men who didn't want to admit to the drinking problems they had in real life.

Angie Dickinson is the love interest and looks hot. This was when she was young and very good-looking. You also get to hear Ricky Nelson and Dean Martin sing. The movie begins almost as a silent movie.

Dean Martin goes into a saloon to get a drink. He is humiliated and beat up by the bad guy. When someone tries to stop the beating the bad guy shoots him dead and leaves the saloon. He goes to another saloon where John Wayne tracks him down, knocks him in the head and takes him to jail.

All this happens with just a few lines of dialog. In the end there is a final shoot-out and the bad guys lose. In the mean time there is a lot of banter between the main characters with a few gunfights in between.