Rio Bravo (1959)

Director:

Howard Hawks

Writers:

B.H. McCampbell (short story)
Jules Furthman (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

4 April 1959 (USA)

Genre:

Western | Romance | Drama

Tagline:

John Wayne The big guy with the battered hat... and Dean Martin the ragged woman-wrecked castoff called Dude... and Ricky Nelson The rockin' babyfaced gunfisted kid... And Time Was Running Out Through Bullet Holes At Howard Hawks' "Rio Bravo"

Plot:

A small-town sheriff in the American West enlists the help of a cripple, a drunk, and a young gunfighter...

Plot Keywords:

Sheriff | Small Town | Prisoner | Texas | Based On Short Story

Awards:

2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

John Wayne	...	Sheriff John T. Chance
Dean Martin	...	Dude ('Borachón')
Ricky Nelson	...	Colorado Ryan
Angie Dickinson	...	Feathers
Walter Brennan	...	Stumpy
Ward Bond	...	Pat Wheeler
John Russell	...	Nathan Burdette
Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez	...	Carlos Robante (as Pedro Gonzalez-Gonzalez)
Estelita Rodriguez	...	Consuela Robante
Claude Akins	...	Joe Burdette
Malcolm Atterbury	...	Jake (stage driver)
Harry Carey Jr.	...	Harold (scenes deleted)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Sheb Wooley	...	Cowboy (scenes deleted)

Also Known As:

Howard Hawks' Rio Bravo (USA) (complete title)

Runtime:

141 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

West Germany:12 (nf) | Australia:PG (DVD rating) | Australia:G | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Finland:K-16 | France:U (re-release) | Norway:16 | Sweden:15 | UK:PG | USA:Unrated | UK:U (original rating) (cut)

Filming Locations:

Old Tucson - 201 S. Kinney Road, Tucson, Arizona, USA

Company:

Armada Productions

Trivia:

The movie had an interesting preview trailer. In the trailer, Ricky Nelson finishes playing his guitar, then he turns to the camera and talks about the exciting nature of the film. After some clips are shown, they cut back to Nelson who lists the cast members. When he does not mention his own name, we hear the voice of Dean Martin say off camera "What about Rick Nelson"?

Goofs:

Continuity: Feathers throws a pot plant through the window to distract the gunmen. Next scene the window is not damaged at all.

Quotes:

[first lines]
John T. Chance: Joe, you're under arrest.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Charlie Rose Show: Quentin Tarantino" (1994)

Soundtrack:

My Rifle, My Pony, and Me

Excellent, Character Led Western

I had to comment on this as the only other comment said it was too long and too dull. I recorded it for my father, who is a western fan, and watched it with him and my wife.

The movie has charismatic performances from Wayne and especially Walter Brennan as the old deputy. He made us laugh out loud several times. True it isn't all action, but more about characters. Ricky Nelson did okay, no Oscars here but a competent enough piece of acting as a young, brash cowboy.

Angie Dickinson plays the love interest and boy was she gorgeous in those days! OK so the Duke was cracking on a bit for the young and lovely Angie to fall in love with him, but there wasn't much else in the town to fancy and some women like older men!

Very enjoyable Western. I gave it 8/10.