“Sorry don’t get it done, Dude.”*

by chuckofish

Since it is her birthday week, daughter #1 made the movie pick for this Friday.

riobravo

Directed by Howard Hawks, Rio Bravo (1959) is John Wayne’s answer to High Noon which he thought was “Un-American”. You remember, in High Noon, Gary Cooper is the sheriff who asks for support from his town and gets none. Supposedly it is an allegory of the McCarthy era in Hollywood. Please.

Well, in Rio Bravo, John T. Chance, the sheriff, is surrounded by allies—a drunken deputy (Dude) trying to pull himself together, a young untried gunfighter (Colorado), a “crippled” old man (Stumpy), a Mexican innkeeper (Carlos) and his wife (Consuela), and an attractive young gambler (Feathers) whom Chance tries to kick out of town. He repeatedly turns down aid from most of these people because he thinks they will get hurt helping him, as his friend Ward Bond does at the beginning of the film. They all come through and help him anyway. That is the American Way. A motley crew bands together and vanquishes the Bad Guy, who is rich and powerful and has a lot of hired guns.

Annex-WayneJohnRioBravo_NRFPT_02

It is a great movie. It even has several musical interludes thanks to Dean Martin and Ricky Nelson.

It is a classic John Wayne role and he is ably supported by Dean Martin, Angie Dickinson, Walter Brennan, and Ricky Nelson.

Howard_Hawks'Rio_Bravo_trailer_(27)Daughter #1 and I highly recommend it.

* John T. Chance in Rio Bravo