Review of Rio Bravo (1959) by Patrick S — 06 Feb 2010

In 1952, a western called High Noon was released and it was awesome. However, one person didn't think it was awesome and that was John Wayne. Somehow, the thought of a sheriff asking for help against a cowboy out for revenge was Unamerican. So with the help of Howard Hawkes, he did the story...the American Way! He also did it with Rat Packer, Dean Martin and 1950's teen idol singing-sensation Ricky Nelson and so we have Rio Bravo and consequently, this review of Rio Bravo.

So there's this outlaw, Joe Burdette, who shoots some guy and kills him. Unlucky for him the sheriff, John T. Chance, and the drunk deputy, Dude, are witnesses and quickly arrest him. Joe's brother, Nathan, catches wind of this and basically wants him out of jail or there will be hell to pay. Chance basically say "Come and get him....pilgrim" and so they play the waiting game. Nathan for Chance to slip up and Chance for the US Marshal to come and get rid of Joe in 6 days.

So like I said, this is pretty much Wayne's version of High Noon and so there goes all the complexity of that movie and in its place is a manly cartoon. Granted, this is a very entertaining manly cartoon but it's not something that should be called a Western classic. The acting's fine but Dean Martin is really great since all he's remembered for on the acting front is silly comedies with Jerry Lewis so to see him acting awesome is quite a treat but he does sing in one scene destroying the pacing for no reason. This is a very good western, not a really great movie.