Rio Grande (1950)

Rio Grande takes place after the Civil War when the Union turned their attention towards the Apaches. Union officer Kirby Yorke is in charge of an outpost on the Rio Grande in which he is ... See full summary »

Director:

John Ford

Writers:

James Kevin McGuinness (screenplay), James Warner Bellah (Saturday Evening Post story)

Stars:

John Wayne, Maureen O'Hara, Ben Johnson

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
John Wayne	...	Lt. Col. Kirby Yorke
Maureen O'Hara	...	Mrs. Kathleen Yorke
Ben Johnson	...	Trooper Travis Tyree
Claude Jarman Jr.	...	Trooper Jefferson 'Jeff' Yorke
Harry Carey Jr.	...	Trooper Daniel 'Sandy' Boone
Chill Wills	...	Dr. Wilkins (regimental surgeon)
J. Carrol Naish	...	Lt. Gen. Philip Sheridan
Victor McLaglen	...	Sgt. Maj. Timothy Quincannon
Grant Withers	...	U.S. Deputy Marshal
Sons of the Pioneers	...	Regimental Musicians
Peter Ortiz	...	Capt. St. Jacques
Steve Pendleton	...	Capt. Prescott
Karolyn Grimes	...	Margaret Mary
Alberto Morin	...	Lieutenant
Stan Jones	...	Sergeant

Storyline

Rio Grande takes place after the Civil War when the Union turned their attention towards the Apaches. Union officer Kirby Yorke is in charge of an outpost on the Rio Grande in which he is in charge of training of new recruits one of which is his son whom he hasn't seen in 15 years. He whips him into shape to take on the Apaches but not before his mother shows up to take him out of there.The decision to leave is left up to Trooper Yorke who decides to stay and fight. Through it all Kirby and Kathleen though separated for years fall back into love and decide that it's time to give it another try. But Yorke faces his toughest battle when his unorthodox plan to outwit the elusive Apaches leads to possible court- martial. Locked in a bloody Indian war, he must fight to redeem his honor and save the love and lives of his broken family

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Plot Keywords:

indian war | indian | battle | father son relationship | pistol | 

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Taglines:

John Ford's Most Powerful Drama. The Breathtaking Saga of the United States Cavalry!

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Genres:

Romance | Western

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 November 1950 (USA)

Also Known As:

John Ford and Merian C. Cooper's Rio Grande

Filming Locations:

Colorado River, Moab, Utah, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,214,899 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Republic Pictures (I), Argosy Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Ben Johnson (Tyree) and Victor McLaglen (Quincannon) had the same character names in both this film and She Wore a Yellow Ribbon. The oddity is in "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon"--released before this one-- they were older soldiers with higher ranks than in this film.

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Goofs

Obvious shadow of boom mic on ground behind Lt. Colonel Yorke, from 27:44 to 27:55, during conversation of Kathleen calling Quincannon an arsonist.

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Quotes

Lt. Col. Kirby York: Any liquor in this village?
Trooper Travis Tyree: Mucho tequila. They were slugging it down copious like when I left.
Lt. Col. Kirby York: Drums? Singing?
Trooper Travis Tyree: Yes, sir.
Lt. Col. Kirby York: Vengeance dance. They'll dance until dawn.

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Connections

Featured in The John Wayne Anthology (1991)

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Soundtracks

"My Gal Is Purple"
Words and Music Stan Jones
Performed by the Sons of the Pioneers (uncredited)

User Reviews

Most Realistic of Ford's Cavalry Trilogy; a True Western

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.