Rio Bravo (1959)

A small-town sheriff in the American West enlists the help of a cripple, a drunk, and a young gunfighter in his efforts to hold in jail the brother of the local bad guy.

Director:

Howard Hawks

Writers:

Jules Furthman (screenplay), Leigh Brackett (screenplay)

Stars:

John Wayne, Dean Martin, Ricky Nelson

Won 1 Golden Globe. Another 1 win & 4 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited 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) (scenes deleted)
Harry Carey Jr.	...	Harold (scenes deleted)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Sheb Wooley	...	Cowboy (scenes deleted)

Storyline

Sheriff John T. Chance has his hands full after arresting Joe Burdette for murder. He knows that Burdette's brother Nathan, a powerful rancher, will go to any lengths to get him out of jail. Chance's good friend Pat Wheeler offers to help but within 20 minutes of making the offer is gunned down in the street, shot in the back. That leaves his elderly deputy Stumpy, the town drunk Dude - once a deputy and a pretty good shot when he was sober - and a young hand, Colorado, who used to work for Wheeler. Nathan Burdette meanwhile has a couple of dozen men at his disposal. Chance does his best to prepare all the while romancing a pretty gamblers who goes by the name of Feathers.

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Plot Keywords:

deputy | sheriff | cripple | jail | marshal | 

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Taglines:

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"

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Genres:

Action | Drama | Western

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

4 April 1959 (USA)

Also Known As:

Howard Hawks' Rio Bravo

Filming Locations:

Tucson, Arizona, USA

Box Office

Gross:

$5,750,000 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros., Armada Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

141 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Dean Martin got along great with the cast and crew, even if his joke telling sometimes held up production or he was hung over for most of the shoot.

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Goofs

After Chance is tripped on the staircase, he ends up lying on his stomach with his arm partially under him. When they roll him over, to wake him up, he is lying more on his side, and his arm is now behind him.

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Quotes

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

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Connections

Featured in Biography: Angie Dickinson: Tinseltown's Classiest Broad (1999)

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Soundtracks

My Rifle, My Pony, and Me
Music by Dimitri Tiomkin
Lyrics by Paul Francis Webster
Performed by Dean Martin and Ricky Nelson (uncredited)

User Reviews

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.