Review of She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949) by Tony P — 21 Apr 2018
The second of the John Ford/John Wayne films known as the Cavalry trilogy. I appear to be watching them backwards!
Anyway. Standard Ford stock for me in the Monument Valley location photography. Brilliant as it is, especially in full colour.
The make up effects on Wayne to make him appear as a Cavalry officer on the brink of retirement were excellent. If you didn't know before hand you would take him for a mid/late sixties guy not the 41 he was at the time.
The story is of the impending retirement of Captain Nathan Brittles who has one final mission to commandeer one last patrol.
The patrol faces danger from Indians who have just defeated Custer and the 7th Cavalry of the U.S. army. He is also hampered having to escort two rather peculiar members of the patrol. Two female relatives of his Fort Commander!
Wayne shows his acting skills go beyond riding a horse and downing a whisky when he shows real emotion at receiving a retirement gift from his Cavalry soldiers.
To avert war Brittles meets the Indian Chief in person.
She Wore A Yellow Ribbon falls short of the brilliance of The Searchers but the location photography makes a pretty standard storyline stand out from your average Western of the period.
The Ford/Wayne film partnership comes up trumps yet again.
To appreciate the full brilliance of the Cinematography watch a high definition version. The DVD doesn't do it justice.
Now for the first of the trilogy.
This review of She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949) was written by Tony P on 21 Apr 2018.
She Wore a Yellow Ribbon has generally received very positive reviews.
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