She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Director:

John Ford

Writers:

James Warner Bellah (story)
Frank S. Nugent (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

22 October 1949 (USA)

Genre:

Western

Tagline:

Wayne's greatest role as an Indian fighting Captain !

Plot:

Captain Nathan Brittles, on the eve of retirement, takes out a last patrol to stop an impending massive Indian attack...

Plot Keywords:

Attack | Retirement | Native American Chief | Watch | Last Stand

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 1 nomination

Cast

John Wayne	...	Capt. Nathan Cutting Brittles
Joanne Dru	...	Olivia Dandridge
John Agar	...	Lt. Flint Cohill
Ben Johnson	...	Sgt. Tyree
Harry Carey Jr.	...	2nd Lt. Ross Pennell
Victor McLaglen	...	Top Sgt. Quincannon
Mildred Natwick	...	Abby Allshard aka Old Iron Pants
George O'Brien	...	Major Mac Allshard, Commanding Officer Fort Starke
Arthur Shields	...	Dr. O'Laughlin
Michael Dugan	...	Sgt. Hochbauer
Chief John Big Tree	...	Chief Pony That Walks
Fred Graham	...	Sgt. Hench
Chief Sky Eagle	...	Chief Sky Eagle
Tom Tyler	...	Cpl. Mike Quayne, Leader of Paradise River Patrol
Noble Johnson	...	Chief Red Shirt

Runtime:

103 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Canada:G (Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Quebec) | Canada:PG (Ontario) | West Germany:12 (f) | Finland:K-3 (new rating: 2001) | France:U | Norway:A | Finland:K-12 | Germany:12 | Sweden:Btl | UK:U | USA:Approved (MPAA rating: certificate #15509)

Filming Locations:

Kanab Movie Fort, Kanab, Utah, USA

Company:

Argosy Pictures

Trivia:

John Ford decided to cast John Wayne as Captain Nathan Brittles after seeing his performance as Thomas Dunson in Red River (1948).

Goofs:

Anachronisms: At the very end of the film the cavalry marches by with a 48-star flag. In 1876 there were only 38 states.

Quotes:

Sgt. Tyree: [after the fight at Sudrow's Well] Sir, would you take a look at Trooper Smith?
Pvt. John Smith aka Rome Clay: [mortally wounded] Don't bother about me, Captain. Trust you'll forgive my presumption... I'd like to commend the boy here... for the way he handled this action. In the best tradition of the cavalry, sir.
Sgt. Tyree: [to Pvt. Smith] I take that very kindly, sir.
Pvt. John Smith aka Rome Clay: Captain Tyree! Captain Tyree!
Captain Nathan Brittles: Speak to him.
Sgt. Tyree: Thank you.
[comes to attention]
Sgt. Tyree: Yes, Sir. Sir! Sir!
Captain Nathan Brittles: [realizes that Smith has died] I'm afraid he can't hear you, Captain.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Unearthly (#4.20)" (1991)

"...wherever they rode, whatever they fought for, that place became the United States."

The second of John Ford's cavalry trilogy that deals with the life of the professional soldier is the only one that was photographed in color. Lucky are we, the cinema fans two generations away.

She Wore A Yellow Ribbon has John Wayne the embodiment of the thirty year army man. The year of the action of the film which is 1876 has Wayne mentioning in passing that he was at the Battle of Chapultepec in the Mexican War which started in 1846. Wayne's Nathan Brittles was by his account a dirty shirt tailed runaway from his father's Ohio farm when he joined the army. And now he's reached mandatory retirement. He's married and has had a family who he's lost for reasons John Ford doesn't explain in the film. But Wayne dutifully, "makes his report" at their gravesides every night he's at the post.

Wayne's seen a lot of military history and a lot of tragedy. With no family left, the United States Cavalry is his home and family. He doesn't like the idea of retiring at all. In a later Ford film, The Long Gray Line, Martin Maher says that all he knows and holds dear is at West Point. Wayne could have said that line himself here.

Even though George O'Brien is the commanding officer at Fort Stark, Wayne is the father figure for the whole post. And not like some of the others don't behave like children. The whole romantic rivalry between John Agar and Harry Carey, Jr. over Joanne Dru seems pretty childish. Cute while in the safety of the post, but when out on a mission downright dangerous and Wayne like the good father scolds his kiddies.

With some makeup to grey his hair and wrinkle him a might, Wayne turns in one of his finest performances on the screen. Harry Carey, Jr. wrote what is probably the most evenly balanced portrayal of the Duke in his memoirs In the Company of Heroes. They didn't always get along, but Carey says Wayne was an inspiration to him and the other younger cast members. In fact during the scene with the gunrunners Paul Fix and Grant Withers being killed in the Indian camp while Wayne, Carey, and Agar watch on the ridge, the whole idea for the chaw of tobacco bit came from Carey himself, but that Wayne encouraged the improvisation as he was wont to do.

Other than the Duke, my favorite portrayal in the film is that of Ben Johnson as Sergeant Tyree. Wayne recognizes in him a younger version of himself. In fact Tyree is a former Confederate Army captain, a fact brought out in the death scene of "Trooper Smith" another former Confederate who in fact was a general in that army. Ben Johnson was a real cowboy, a horse wrangler who John Ford gave a chance to act. He graced many a film with his presence and won himself an Oscar to cap his career in The Last Picture Show.

Like in Fort Apache and Rio Grande, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon is the story of the professional soldier and the sacrifices he makes when he gives up his civilian status to serve his country. It's a universal theme, not just confined to the USA. No one embodied that theme better than did John Wayne as Nathan Brittles in She Wore a Yellow Ribbon.