Rio Grande is a 1950 Western film It is the third installment of John Ford's "cavalry trilogy,"
following two RKO Pictures releases: Fort Apache (1948) and She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949).
John Wayne stars in all three films, as Captain Kirby York in Fort Apache,
then as Captain of Cavalry Nathan Cutting Brittles in She Wore a Yellow Ribbon,
and finally as a promoted Lieutenant Colonel Kirby Yorke in Rio Grande
(scripts and production billing spell the York[e]
character's last name differently in Fort Apache and Rio Grande).
The film is based on a short story "Mission With No Record" by James Warner Bellah,
that appeared in The Saturday Evening Post on September 27, 1947,
and the screenplay was written by James Kevin McGuinness.
It's very easy to review the cavalry movies,
because all three, are brilliant.
Rio Grande, is considered as probably the weakest of the trio,
mainly because it's existence, stems from the need to fund The Quiet Man
Herbert J. Yates, boss of Republic, insisted that Ford make a commercial western,
before he would agree, to finance the Irish picture.
Hence the film was born, and for the first time, significantly
we see for the first time the pairing of Duke with Maureen O'Hara.
a combination, which would prove to be the most successful, in Duke's career.
It was macho man, with macho woman,, and they harmonized totally in
the 5 pictures they made.
Their chemistry was more sexual, than he had with other actresses,
and their attraction was plausible.
Maureen said,
QuoteThere was a chemistry between us, that you don't get very often, in the picture business.....
It was there with Spencer Tracy and Ketherine Hepburn, and with William Powell and Myrna Loy.
But I was tall and strong, and Duke was tall and strong.[/b]
Duke once again, was cast as a reserved military man,
as indeed he was in Fort Apache. and gave an excellent performance.
Duke's fatherly, watchful eye, over younger lovers, was a a role,
that would become a recurring theme, in later films.
Duke was well supported by the Ford Stock company,Victor MacLaglen,Harry Carey Jr.,
Ben Johnson and Grant Withers, along with the directors favourite wranglers and stuntmen.
Two of the stuntmen tragically died, whilst making this film,
a point that Bill and I discussed in another thread.
Ford shot the film, near Mohab, Utah, and to help with the budget,
Duke halved his fee, and the film was shot in black and white.
User Review
QuoteDisplay MoreTriumphant Conclusion to Cavalry Trilogy!,
21 April 2003
Author: Ben Burgraff (cariart) from Las Vegas, Nevada
'Rio Grande', the last of director John Ford's 'unofficial' Cavalry Trilogy,
has often been unfairly judged the 'weakest' of the three westerns. Certainly, it lacks the poetic quality of 'She Wore a Yellow Ribbon',
or the revisionist view of a thinly-disguised reworking of the events surrounding the death of George Armstrong Custer ('Fort Apache'),
but for richness of detail, a sense of the camaraderie of cavalrymen, an 'adult' (in the best sense of the word)
love story, and a symbolic 'rejoining' of North and South conclusion that may have you tapping your toe, 'Rio Grande' is hard to beat!
It is remarkable that 'Rio Grande' ever got to the screen; Ford hadn't planned to make it,
but in order to get Republic Pictures to agree to his demands for 'The Quiet Man' (he wanted the film to be shot on location in Ireland, and in color),
he had to agree to do a 'quickie' western that would turn a quick profit for the usually cash-strapped studio.
This is, perhaps, a reason why the film is held in less esteem than it deserves. 'Rio Grande' may have not been born with high expectations,
but with John Ford in the director's chair, and John Wayne and the Ford 'family' in the cast and crew, the potential for something 'special' was ALWAYS present!
A few bits of trivia to enhance your viewing pleasure:
Yes, that IS Ken Curtis, singing with The Sons of the Pioneers, in the film...while uncredited, he made a favorable impression with Ford,
and soon became a part of his 'family'...Ben Johnson, Harry Carey, Jr,
and Claude Jarman, Jr, actually did their own stunts while performing the 'Roman Style' riding sequence
(Carey said in interviews that they were all young, and didn't think about the danger of it;
a production would lose their insurance if they 'allowed' three major performers to do something as risky, today!)...Did you know that O'Hara,
playing Jarman's 'mother', was barely 14 years older than her 'son', and was only 29 at the time of the filming?...
Harry Carey barely had any lines in the script; most of what you see in the film was ad-libbed!...the popular ditty, 'San Antoine', sung by Jarman, Carey, Johnson, and Curtis, was, in fact, written by Mrs. Roy Rogers, herself, Dale Evans!
Whether you're viewing 'Rio Grande' for the first time, or have sat through many viewings, the film has a richness and sense of nostalgia for a West that 'may never have existed, but SHOULD have'.
It would be a proud addition to any collector's library!