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

Top 250 #247 | 2 wins & 1 nomination.

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

Storyline

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.

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Plot Keywords:

sheriff | small town | texas | jail | gunfighter | 

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Taglines:

Wheeler...a chunk of solid granite now crumbling with age...

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Genres:

Western

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

4 April 1959 (USA)

Also Known As:

Howard Hawks' Rio Bravo

Filming Locations:

Old Tucson - 201 S. Kinney Road, 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

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Hawks' instructions to Martin who showed up in an almost comical cowboy outfit on the first day of shooting, were not to play a cowboy but just play a drunk.

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Goofs

When Dude confronts Burdett and his gang, a rifle's butt is showing from the fore part of Burdett's horse. But in the moment he takes off his gun and gives it to a gunman, the rifle is missing.

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Quotes

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

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Connections

Edited into La classe américaine (1993)

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Soundtracks

"Degüello"
(uncredited)
Performed by Orquesta Cinerama

User Reviews

The good outweighs the bad in Hawks macho movie.

Filmed by Howard Hawks as a response to what he saw as non macho cinema in Gary Cooper's acclaimed High Noon, Rio Bravo has moments of brilliance that are sadly coupled with failings that are not Hawksian peccadilloes. The macho plot is simple but wholly effective as our heavily out numbered heroes (John Wayne, Dean Martin, Walter Brennan & Ricky Nelson) defend a jail house against a marauding mob trying to release an incarcerated friend. This alone sounds grand but the truth is it takes the film nigh on close to 100 minutes to get to the adrenalin rush of the siege and even allowing for fine character development, the film is ponderous and even at times dangerously close to being self indulgent.

The casting of Ricky Nelson was (as is widely regarded now) one of the worst of its kind in the history of cinema, he was there purely as a marketing ploy to garner the teen audience who were bopping to his pop tunes way back then. In fairness to Hawks he saw straight away that this was out of Nelson's league and promptly (and cutely) gave him few lines of note to speak of. Also a big negative in the film is Angie Dickinson as the Female interest, she is raw and fresh out of water, and it shows, just like sushi on your plate.

The bonuses with the film however keep the film talked about for ever more, Wayne is magnetic and believable, whilst Martin comes into his own as the drunk trying to do right, a superlative performance from him and one would think that is really down to Hawks' direction. The action sequences are of a high standard, while the tight intimate feel of the town is precious; and who can resist an ending that makes you want to go fire yer guns in the air?

Very good film but not a Western masterpiece by a long shot. 7/10