Review of Rio Bravo (1959) by Ricardo O — 02 Aug 2012

It's been said that John Wayne was so appalled at the notion that a U.S. Marshall would beg his townsfolk, townsfolk with families, for help in a showdown that he and director Howard Hawks responded to it with Rio Bravo, a film that is the complete opposite of High Noon in every way. Unlike other westerns, Hawks' film takes place mostly in claustrophobic areas such as the hotel rooms and hallways as well as the jailhouse. Furthermore, where High Noon's run time takes place in almost real time around 85 minutes, Rio Bravo takes it's time with a leisurely pace of nearly 2 and a half hours (taking place in three days) to tell this tale of Sheriff John T. Chance (John Wayne) on a border town who arrests a murderer, who's gang, he promises, will take revenge on Chance. Unlike Gary Cooper's character in High Noon, John Wayne's character has a handful of people that are willing to help him out, all of which he entrusts to do so because he knows they can handle the job. One of the people he puts his trust on is a drunken deputy named Dude (Dean Martin) who, while he hasn't lost all of his skill, just isn't the same as he used to be. Walter Brennan is the toothless, crippled old deputy who guards the jail cells. Ricky Nelson plays Colorado Ryan, a young gunman who arrives in town with Chance's old friend, trail boss Pat Wheeler (Ward Bond in his final film). Wheeler offers his and his men's services in helping Chance as deputies but Chance turns his offers down as they're not "professionals" but Chance does ask Colorado for his services, though he initially turns him down. Angie Dickinson, a very sexy Dickinson, plays Wayne's love interest, Feathers, a dance hall entertainer that arrives in town and nearly gets locked up by Chance for cheating at cards, until he finds out that he was wrong and that she isn't guilty. Wheeler is later murdered by one of Nathan Burdette's (John Russell) hired guns. Dude kills the hired gun in a confrontation inside a saloon. Colorado joins Chance after his boss is killed and takes over for what Dude can't handle. Burdette eventually takes Dude and holds him up for an exchange for his brother Joe (Claude Akins). This leads the men to the final confrontation between Chance and Burdette, where the dynamite-filled wagons brought into town by the murdered Wheeler play a crucial role in beating Burdette and his men.

Right-wingers John Wayne and Howard Hawks created a classic western that is in many ways, THE quintessential western. It is a western that holds up as high as any of John Ford's classics. It works on all levels with great character development, some good shootouts and masterful direction from one of the best, Howard Hawks. John Wayne is as good as ever as the sheriff of the small town; Dean Martin is great as alcoholic deputy who tries to lay off of the hooch but whenever he does he begins to get the shakes and ends up back on the bottle, causing him to be less skillful with his gun; and Walter Brennan as usual brings most of the humor to film. Ricky Nelson and the beautiful Angie Dickinson are also excellent in their roles. It's safe to say everyone brings their A game. Besides the exploding (literally!) finale, one of the highlights of the film is a very light moment where Dean Martin sings a song with Ricky Nelson playing his acoustic guitar and Walter Brennan on the harmonica. It just wouldn't be right to have a movie starring Martin and Nelson and not have them sing something; luckily for us, they sing two songs. The scene where Dean Martin kills the man hiding at the top of the saloon is another big highlight of the film. In fact, the whole film is one long, leisurely paced highlight. It's just a movie that is enjoyable from beginning to end. It stands as one of the best examples of a truly great western, one that ranks high on the list of classic traditional westerns along with The Searchers, Stagecoach, Red River, Shane and High Noon. Rio Bravo is essential viewing for fans of the western genre, there's no other way to put it. 10/10.