IMDb user comments for
Rio Grande (1950) More at IMDbPro »

Filter:

Best Chronological Prolific Authors Loved It Hated It Hide Spoilers:

Page 1 of 6:

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]

Index

56 comments in total

---

34 out of 43 people found the following comment useful :-
Triumphant Conclusion to Cavalry Trilogy!, 21 April 2003
Author: Ben Burgraff (cariart) from Las Vegas, Nevada

'Rio Grande', the last of director John Ford's 'unofficial' Cavalry Trilogy, has often been unfairly judged the 'weakest' of the three westerns. Certainly, it lacks the poetic quality of 'She Wore a Yellow Ribbon', or the revisionist view of a thinly-disguised reworking of the events surrounding the death of George Armstrong Custer ('Fort Apache'), but for richness of detail, a sense of the camaraderie of cavalrymen, an 'adult' (in the best sense of the word) love story, and a symbolic 'rejoining' of North and South conclusion that may have you tapping your toe, 'Rio Grande' is hard to beat!

It is remarkable that 'Rio Grande' ever got to the screen; Ford hadn't planned to make it, but in order to get Republic Pictures to agree to his demands for 'The Quiet Man' (he wanted the film to be shot on location in Ireland, and in color), he had to agree to do a 'quickie' western that would turn a quick profit for the usually cash-strapped studio. This is, perhaps, a reason why the film is held in less esteem than it deserves. 'Rio Grande' may have not been born with high expectations, but with John Ford in the director's chair, and John Wayne and the Ford 'family' in the cast and crew, the potential for something 'special' was ALWAYS present!

A few bits of trivia to enhance your viewing pleasure: Yes, that IS Ken Curtis, singing with The Sons of the Pioneers, in the film...while uncredited, he made a favorable impression with Ford, and soon became a part of his 'family'...Ben Johnson, Harry Carey, Jr, and Claude Jarman, Jr, actually did their own stunts while performing the 'Roman Style' riding sequence (Carey said in interviews that they were all young, and didn't think about the danger of it; a production would lose their insurance if they 'allowed' three major performers to do something as risky, today!)...Did you know that O'Hara, playing Jarman's 'mother', was barely 14 years older than her 'son', and was only 29 at the time of the filming?...Harry Carey barely had any lines in the script; most of what you see in the film was ad-libbed!...the popular ditty, 'San Antoine', sung by Jarman, Carey, Johnson, and Curtis, was, in fact, written by Mrs. Roy Rogers, herself, Dale Evans!

Whether you're viewing 'Rio Grande' for the first time, or have sat through many viewings, the film has a richness and sense of nostalgia for a West that 'may never have existed, but SHOULD have'. It would be a proud addition to any collector's library!

---

26 out of 33 people found the following comment useful :-
Sentimental, psychological, classic movie, very unique for its genre, 24 July 2005

Author: Marcin Kukuczka from Cieszyn, Poland

Although I am not particularly fond of westerns, I saw this movie since I had heard much about it from many people. It is true that a lot of westerns show the wild lives of cowboys overdoing with cruelty. RIO GRANDE, however, is a different story. It is not only a western but a highly educational movie which combines all precious values in life, some of which do not necessarily go in harmony, including honor, love, the feeling of duty, grandeur, and psychological reflections. Moreover, as a film, it is supplied with highly prestigious cinematography, memorable music, and, most importantly, great cast. But there is something more that makes Ford's film really memorable - the characters presented very clearly. But why such a title? While watching the movie, one clearly notices that the title RIO GRANDE does not only refer to the famous river that separated the cavalrymen from Indians in Mexico, but has wider metaphorical extensions.

The characters are very well developed throughout. Lieutanant Kirby Yorke (John Wayne), a northerner, lost the family 15 years earlier but never gives up finding a chance to rebuild the old relationship with his southern wife, Kathleen (Maureen O'Hara) and their son Jeff. His "rio grande" is duties and strict orders that make a barrier for a happy life within the family. Kathleen Yorke tries to get her son out of the cavalry; however, Jeff decides to protect honor rather than his comfort. She also aims at rebuilding the family ties with Kirby but is aware that it requires much sacrifice. Their relationship is built upon a high respect for the freedom of both and a very delicate love between a man and a woman. Jeff (Claude Jarman), their son, attempts to do right and seeks for the honorable deeds. The blink of ambition in his eyes is noticeable in every scene with him. There are also other characters that the movie shows in a very psychological light (consider Travis Tyree played by Ben Johnson).

The cast give memorable performances but the pair of John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara shine above all. Wayne seems to have been born for the role and, although he played in two previous parts of John Ford's cavalry trilogy (FORT APACHE and SHE WORE A YELLOW RIBBON), he gives his best performance in RIO GRANDE. Wayne wonderfully emphasizes grandeur, feeling of duty and a husband who reflects on his past mistakes in marriage. Maureen O'Hara has something aristocratic in her behavior as well as in her appearance, which helps her portray a southern lady who used to live a rich life on a plantation. She also stresses her attempts to rebuild the past mistakes; however, she seems to be driven by completely different factors.

Music is absolutely wonderful for this genre. The ballads supply the movie with sentimental mood. Yes, they are deadly sentimental, but they in no way make you sad but rather lifted to high emotions. Here comes to my mind a very poetic scene when Wayne and O'Hara are serenaded by troop soldiers on one moonlit night. Their faces strongly express profound emotions and nostalgia for the better life together. This is so well played that anybody who sees the pair will be able to deduce some reflections from their faces.

Some people said that the Apaches are showed as real monsters in RIO GRANDE. It is important to state here that they are showed exactly in the way they were perceived rather than what they were really like. These were very "wild" tribes in the eyes of the white people and that is what the film shows. As a matter of fact, both the Apaches and the cavalrymen defended their values and John Ford did not forget about it.

And coming back to the thrilling atmosphere of the movie, there is one more aspect that needs to be mentioned - the locations. The Monument Valley supplies the scenes with authenticity as well as drives viewers into a wonderful mood. It simply leaves an unfading trace in memory as do the cast, the content, and everything about RIO GRANDE.

What to say at the end?... The last part of Ford's cavalry trilogy, though 55 years old, is a classic attempt to bring all that is valuable onto screen - HISTORY MEETS SINGLE INDIVIDUALS! Aren't our lives constructed in such a way that we all have our own "rio grande", such a barrier that closes us from happiness? I leave this universal question open to every open minded reader as John Ford implicitly did more than 50 years ago to every open minded viewer. Anyway, the film is unarguably worth seeing!

---

20 out of 23 people found the following comment useful :-
The most sentimental of Ford's movies..., 5 August 2001

Author: ironside (robertfrangie@hotmail.com) from Mexico

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Ford's cavalry trilogy is, in its way, just as much Victor McLaglen's trilogy, for he appears once again in 'Rio Grande', still superbly filling the tough-soft sergeant part, still providing the Ford horse-play comedy element with just a touch of parody, still, one might add, probably fulfilling Ford's own particular vision of revering the heroes who have helped conquer the West...

The McLaglen sergeant seems drawn on the spreading of lines, but in retrospect, one realizes that somehow, paradoxically, he has inspired a remarkable degree of realism into the three motion pictures... (They would be not the same without him.)

'Rio Grande' has a very strong domestic flavor...

John Wayne - a casualty of the Civil War - is a cavalry officer, under strict orders, with great family problems... He's a northerner who, not surprisingly, has left his wife, a southerner, because he obediently did his military duty and burned several southern plantations - including the one owned by his wife's family... Maureen O'Hara - bringing a fitting maturity to her stereotyped assignment in the film - never forgives her husband for burning her plantation, and abruptly takes their son and goes away, effectively ending their marriage...

Fifteen years later, Wayne, promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Cavalry officer, attempts to maintain the truce calm at his southwestern post, which is besieged by marauding renegade Apaches who are continually using the border with Mexico as an escape route after their raids, a lost cause since the U.S. and Mexican governments agreed that their military forces will not cross the Rio Grande under any circumstances...

He hurries to put down an Indian uprising when his past and his wife cross his path again... He is confronted by a new recruit: his West Point dropout son (Claude Jarman Jr.) and, later, the arrival of his frigid wife, desperate to buy her son out of the cavalry...

Everything, domestically and militarily is, of course, resolved successfully and, indeed, predictably, but it is the texture of the film that gives it its enjoyment - the gentle study of the reconciliation of a colonel and his estranged wife; the interplay of a father compelled to send his son on a dangerous mission; the peculiar supporting contributions of the 'beloved brute sergeant,' or the cavalry side-kicks, Ben Johnson and Harry Carey, Jr.

The three films (even considered singly) give a feeling of frontier military life, however colored by a director's highly personal viewpoint, that has hardly been approached, let alone surpassed...

There's a beautiful scene in which Wayne and Maureen are serenaded by soldiers of his troop... We can observe a husband meditating about all that went wrong with his marriage, and watch the inclination and desire that exist in his longing sideways brief look at his wife...

With first rate acting and lushly sentimental score, 'Rio Grande' can never be missed... It is the last of John Ford's cavalry movies and the most sentimental...

---

27 out of 38 people found the following comment useful :-
"Trooper Yorke brought the word, we came as soon as we could.", 17 August 2005

Author: bkoganbing from Buffalo, New York

According to a trailer on my Quiet Man VHS and Maureen O'Hara's memoirs Rio Grande was a negotiating chip that Republic Pictures studio president Herbert J. Yates used in order to get John Ford to work for his studio. John Ford had wanted to make The Quiet Man for years and the major studios turned him down. Republic was the last stop he made. Yates agreed to let him shoot The Quiet Man at Republic, but first he wanted a guaranteed moneymaker.

Fort Apache and She Wore A Yellow Ribbon were both done at RKO and made money. So Yates said give me another cavalry picture with John Wayne and you can shoot The Quiet Man afterwards.

James Warner Bellah who had written the short stories that the other two were based on fortunately had a third one published. And that boys and girls is how Rio Grande came into being.

Good thing too because of studio politics we got ourselves a western classic. And a family classic as well. John Wayne who is once again playing a character named Kirby Yorke has two families, the United States Cavalry to which he's devoted and a wife and son from whom he's been estranged. How he repairs the relationships between wife Maureen O'Hara and son Claude Jarman, Jr. is the key to the whole story.

As Maureen toasts at a dinner scene with J. Carrol Naish as General Philip H. Sheridan, "to my one rival, the United States Cavalry."

Young Jefferson Yorke has flunked out of West Point and has joined the army as an enlisted man. Through none of his own doing he's assigned to the frontier post commanded by his father. Mom then comes west to try and spring him from the army, but young Jeff doesn't want to be sprung.

In fact to his father's surprise the young man proves himself to be an able cavalryman without any assistance from Dad. And when Maureen comes west, old love rekindles between Wayne and O'Hara.

All this is against the background of some Apache hit and run raids across the Rio Grande. Topped off by them attacking a party escorting dependent women and children away from the post. Young Trooper Yorke rides for help there, hence the title quote.

A lot of John Ford's stock company fills out the cast to give it that familiar look of Ford films. Some bits from previous films were used like the training Roman style of the new recruits. They prove a more able bunch than the ones from Fort Apache.

Some traditional melodies were used as they are in John Ford period pieces, but unusual for a Ford film, several new songs were written for the film, done by the Sons of the Pioneers. One of them written by Dale Evans entitled Aha San Antone. She was employed at Republic studios also.

A fine classic western with a nice story about family relationships and responsibilities one incurs in life.

---

19 out of 24 people found the following comment useful :-
A timeless tribute to the West, 29 January 2002

Author: d1494 from San Francisco

Rio Grande, the last of John Ford's 'Calvary Trilogy' is a triumphant paen to the US Calvary and a great romance between John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara and a wonderful showcase of the great character actors who are at the heart of all Ford's films. This movie has drama, romance, beautiful photography and great music by the Son's of the Pioneers. Their version of the "Down by the Glenside" still sends chills up my spine as well as tears to Victor McLaglen, the redoubtable Sergent Major timothy Quincannon and Wayne's ever present comrade in arms from, the bloody Shenendoah campaign of the Civil War, when they burned down the estranged Mrs. Yorke's beloved Bridesdale. The country that had lately been torn apart, was being brought together as former Johnny Rebs like Travis Tyree (Ben Johnson)and Yankees like Lt.Col. Kirby Yorke fought together along America's western frontier. A wonderful screen chemistry between Wayne and O'hara, and some understated, economic emoting, rather than sappiness or corn make this a distinguished film, a highlight of Ford's great career.

---

21 out of 28 people found the following comment useful :-
Ford's Grand Vision of the West, 20 October 2000

Author: BronwynN (bronwynpn@gmail.com) from Madison, Wisconsin

As many people know, Rio Grande is the third installation of John Ford's sweeping "Cavalry trilogy*," his paean and dirge for the forging of the West after the Cival War. In each, there is Indian fighting, romance and Monument Valley. Younger officers look forward to winning glory in the Indian Wars while the older, veteran officers who served in the Civil War are tired of fighting and would rather keep the peace instead. And the enlisted men coming from all walks of life, some running from something, others trying to find something, but all taking war and peace as they come. They want to stay alive, but aren't too worried about dying.

Unlike the first two cavalry films, Rio Grande focuses more on the love between an Army officer and his wife, and the pain his life causes her. This pain is made even worse by the fact that their son has chosen to follow his father's way of life, and winds up serving in his father's command. When, as is inevitable, Indians flee their reservation, the family becomes embroiled in war against the Apaches (whom, everyone knows, were the toughest, most ruthless and evil Indian fighters of them all := ).

This is where Ford starts to swerve away from ordinary westerns. While his Indians are fierce and tough, Ford tries to show in all the Cavalry films that they are also honorable and fighting for home and family, not because they are evil. And while Wayne's character must pursue his Indians until they're either captured or dead, he is not without both sympathy and respect, and with the knowledge that it is the white man's treatment of them that is at the heart of the war.

It's more than certain that John Ford has become my favorite director. His ability to make stories with depth, compassion and remarkable truth has caused his films to last. I hope that you will see all of the Cavalry Trilogy, and then seek out all of his other films.

*The other films in the trilogy are Fort Apache (1948) and She Wore A Yellow Ribbon (1949).

---

16 out of 20 people found the following comment useful :-
Grande indeed, 25 October 2002
Author: Lane Ratchford from Los Angeles

This is an excellent film. Not usually a western fan, I am now a true-believer -- fan of the genre, of Wayne and O'Hara, and even, reluctantly, John Ford. Rio Grande captures the spirit of heroism that colors most of John Ford's best work. Strong personalities pursuing their values with a philosophical issue dividing them: it has an excellent, concise plot, well-developed characters, and boasts fantastic acting. Ford even shies away from allowing the scenery to star in the picture, which is a welcomed departure. With monuments like Wayne and O'Hara one does not need Monument Valley (this writer humbly submits.)

There is a profoundly moving scene in which Kirby and Kathleen York's entire relationship is summed up in the mere singing of a song (by the unforgettable voice of Ken Curtis) and O'Hara and Wayne's excellent acting -- hardly any dialogue, no flashbacks. It has to be cinematic moment for the history books... it is at least in mine.

By the way, avoid the colorized version if possible. Among other distractions, it makes John Wayne's hair look like instant brownie mix.

---

18 out of 26 people found the following comment useful :-
This fine film is one of the finest cavalry epics and is based on historical fact., 28 October 1999

Author: Tom Martin from Lansing, Michigan

"Rio Grande" was the last of John Ford's cavalry trilogy, which also included "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon" and "Fort Apache". Like the latter, this film was filmed in black and white. All three films were based on short stories by James Warner Bellah.

In this film John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara first played the romantic roles that they played later in films like "The Quiet Man" and "McLintock". There is real chemistry between these two stars. Their relationship is a major thread that weaves the plots and subplots of this film together. Both of their characters have depth. O'Hara is more than her usual fiery Irish self. She is sensitive, sometimes humorous and occasionally aristocratic. She has difficulty hiding her continued affection for her estranged husband Wayne despite the fact that he was responsible for burning the family plantation. Wayne is the tough commanding officer of the remote outpost. His toughness masks a softer side. This shows clearly when he stands outside the hospital window of his son, who has a black eye from a "soldier's fight". At the end of the film he takes a father's pride in his son's courage in battle.

There is more going on in the film than in the usual Western. There are relationships. Wayne is disappointed in his son who flunked at West Point and enlisted in the cavalry as a trooper. His mother wants to buy him out of the cavalry. The son wants to prove himself. All of this contributes to some real human moments in the film. Subplots include Trooper Tyree's sometimes humorous attempts to escape the law and the sometimes unwilling help provided by others. And of course there are the Apaches.

The river is a major theme in the movie. It is a barrier which the cavalry cannot cross in their pursuit of the Apaches. This is demonstrated in the opening credits. The cavalry and Mexican soldiers meet at the river in a scene from later in the movie. When captured chiefs escape across the river Wayne meets a Mexican officer in the middle of the stream. He offers to place himself under Mexican command. The Mexican officer declines, saying he must defend the border "at all costs". Wayne responds, "With three men.. .Your dedication to duty is to be commended. I too have my orders." At the end of the film Wayne risks his career with the complicity of General Sheridan (played by J. Carroll Naish) and crosses the river to rescue the children captured by the Apaches.

The supporting cast does a wonderful job with this film. Many are regular faces in John Ford films. Ben Johnson and Harry Carey, Jr. play friends of Wayne's son (played by Claude Jarman, Jr.). Victor McLaglen plays the role of top Sergeant. He played the same role in all three films in Ford's trilogy. Chill Wills is around and is much better than usual as the doctor who helps Trooper Tyree escape from a Texas sheriff. The Sons of the Pioneers are also on hand to sing songs.

The Victor Young score includes elements which will appear later in the "Quiet Man". Many of the songs are dumb and inappropriate. There are too many Irish ballads that would have been much better used in "The Quiet Man". The few songs by Stan Jones are the best of the lot. At one point in the film the cavalrymen are walking their horses to the lyrics "twenty-four miles on beans and hay".

Photographically this film is less impressive than "She Wore A Yellow Ribbon", but the usual shots of Monument Valley are still impressive. There is an appropriate dark quality to this movie that is missing in the other films in the trilogy, even in "Fort Apache", which was also filmed in black and white. The scene at the deserted church is memorable. The black and white photography accentuates the shadows and the threat of death to the children as the Apaches dance the night away.

This film is based on a historical incident. In 1874 Colonel McKenzie led the 5th Cavalry across the Rio Grande to destroy a Kickapoo village in Mexico. The Kickapoos had been raiding quite successfully in Texas and efforts to punish them had been quite fruitless. This forgotten incident was used by Ford in this film. The Indians now are Apaches, but whoever heard of Kickapoos?

This fine Western is worth seeing for its rich characterizations and fine story. It can be enjoyed on many levels.

---

10 out of 12 people found the following comment useful :-
A very classic Western, 6 April 2003

Author: kriegsmarine1944 from USA

One of the best Westerns of all time. One is rivited to the TV screen from the moment this fine film starts till its finished.

You have many memorable characters in this movie--like Sgt Maj Quincannon (Victor McLaglen) Tyree (Ben Johnson) etc.

Everything is classic about this film. The Colonels own son enlisting in the US Cavalry, the soldiers fight scenes, the Indians capturing a wagon-load of children, Tyree being charged for murder of a Yankee Cavalryman--escaping w/ some help from SgtMaj Quincannon, to the finale fight at a chapel in an Indian held town.

Favorite line: "You'll Get Busted for this Quincannon!!!"

---

10 out of 13 people found the following comment useful :-
Most Realistic of Ford's Cavalry Trilogy; a True Western, 9 July 2005

Author: silverscreen888

As a writer, I find this to be the most honest and least pretentious of all John Ford's western films. His cavalry trilogy ended with "Rio Grande" (the others are "Fort Apache" and "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon: and it was also the first pairing of John Wayne with Maureen O'Hara, with whom he made five film appearances all told. The setting of the film is not glamorous by anyone's standards; it is dusty, hot, remote, a country for hard men and hard duty. The storyline has Wayne in command of a fort. When his son is assigned to him for training with other recruits, his wife, estranged for fifteen years, follows him--to try to meddle... The storyline makes clear that during the Civil War he refused to disobey orders to burn down her family's plantation; now she's come west, and he wants her back and want to instill his pride in and love for the cavalry in his son. There is rough humor in the film, changes to mind and body, learning to ride, standing up to the elements and to men, lessons the West can demand of anyone who comes there. nd after a plan of Wayne's to protect settlers against the Indians backfires, he has to risk everything to save his career and his command. The theme of the film is that any man has to dare and dream beyond old conventions and ideas in order to reach his best; and that goes for O'Hara as well. The film was directed by John Ford, with script by James Kevin MacGuinness..Bert Glennon's skilled B/W cinematography captures the bleak beauty of the spare semi-desert country, and admirably. Frank Hotaling did the production design and Victor Young contributed the score. In this feature's large cast were Wane, O'Hara. Claude Jarman Jr. of "The Yearling" as their son, Harry Carey Jr., Victor Maclaglen, J Carrol Naish, Chill Wills and many solid western performers. But the best thing to me about the production is the absence of any attempt to glamorize or apologize for the West. The men who rode for the cavalry lived with loneliness, the roughness of the country they patrolled and constant danger from those they opposed; this film makes it clear why men would do this for the meager pay they received; that it was the challenge they took up, as a way to use their abilities and emotional strength to the full. That is why I like this film the best of all of Ford's estimable works.

---

---

Page 1 of 6:

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]

Add another comment

---

Related Links

Plot summary	Amazon.com summary	Ratings
Awards	Newsgroup reviews	External reviews
Plot keywords	Main details	Your user comments
Your vote history