Rio Bravo (1959)

User Rating:

8.0/10   

Director:

Howard Hawks

Writers:

Jules Furthman (screenplay) and
Leigh Brackett (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

4 April 1959 (USA)

Genre:

Western | Romance | Drama

Tagline:

and Dean and Ricky sing, too! "Rio Bravo" "My Rifle, My Pony and Me" "Cindy"

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Small Town | Sheriff | Texas | Gunslinger | Jail

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 (UK) (complete title) (USA) (complete title)

Runtime:

141 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

Canada:PG (Ontario) | Australia:G | Australia:PG (DVD rating) | West Germany:12 (nf) | USA:Approved (certificate #19034) | South Korea:15 (2007) | Finland:K-16 | France:U (re-release) | Norway:16 | Sweden:15 | UK:PG | UK:U (original rating) (cut)

Filming Locations:

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

Company:

Armada Productions

Trivia:

Malcolm Atterbury is listed in the credits (Jake, the stage driver), but like Harry Carey Jr., does not actually appear in the final cut of the movie.

Goofs:

Continuity: During the Exchange of Dude for Joe, when Dude comes off the stairs of the warehouse, the shadow is behind him. When the camera changes to Joe, his shadow is behind him too. That would be impossible as they were walking towards each other. These shots were done at different times of day.

Quotes:

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

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Chacun son cinéma ou Ce petit coup au coeur quand la lumière s'éteint et que le film commence (2007)

Soundtrack:

Cindy

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.