Rio Bravo (1959)

Directed by: Howard Hawks | 141 minutes | action, drama, western | Actors: John Wayne, Dean Martin, Ricky Nelson, Angie Dickinson, Walter Brennan, Ward Bond, John Russell, Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez, Estelita Rodriguez, Claude Akins

This classic western has earned a better reputation over the years than it really deserves. Master filmmaker Howard Hawks knows how to build up the tension excellently and the film comes a long way close to greatness, but ultimately falls short due to a number of small points and a slightly disappointing climax to really deserve the designation “classic”.

‘Rio Bravo’ is a response to the well-deserved classic western ‘High Noon’ from 1952, starring Gary Cooper. In the eyes of Hawks and Hollywood legend John “The Duke” Wayne, some elements of that film contradicted what they thought westerns should be. So ten years after their successful collaboration on ‘Red River’, they reunited to give a response to ‘High Noon’ and bring their own straight forward vision to the big screen. Wayne himself stars as Sheriff John T. Chance. He is the hero of the film, honest, a little rough and a father figure to the surrounding “good guys”. In essence he plays his usual type of rough-husk-white-pit, but he shows a little less of his pomposity in ‘Rio Bravo’. In fact, it seems that he doesn’t take the threatening situation in the town all that seriously.

Chance has two loyal deputies at his side: first, Stumpy, a limping old prankster and grunt, effectively played by three-time Oscar winner Walter Brennan. The other deputy sheriff, and a more central figure in the film, is played by Dean Martin. His name is never revealed and he is alternately referred to as “Dude” and “Borachón”. The latter nickname is Spanish for drunk. An important theme in the film is Martin’s attempt to stay away from the drink. Strong drink, that is to say, beer is apparently not seen as an alcoholic snack in ‘Rio Bravo’. The trio later gets help from babyface Ricky Nelson as Colorado Ryan. Nelson is doing quite well as an actor, although he was and is better known as a singer. He plays a sidekick of Chance’s friend Pat Wheeler (Ward Bond, in one of his last roles before his death a year later), who joins the club after Wheeler is shot dead in the street. Of course Martin and Nelson take the opportunity to sing a song together. There is no doubt that the makers have deliberately put the musical interlude in there, but it breaks the tension in the film and in fact it is a superfluous scene that should have been left on the editing table. This and other beautiful music in the film comes from the hand of Dimitri Tiomkin, who won no less than four Oscars in his career and was nominated many times.

Hawks and the writers have also done their best to move in directions beyond the traditional parts of a western story. There is a modest supporting role for the comic relief Mexican Carlos (Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez) and his bossy wife Consuela (Estalita Rodriguez). The most important addition, however, is the interaction between Chance and Angie Dickinson, as Feathers (no normal first name to be seen here either). Dickinson is a feisty aunt, who verbally puts Chance the fire. She makes it clear from the start that she is interested in him and will do anything to get him. It makes for a few comedic moments. But here too the switch between the light-hearted tone of the house and the menacing conditions on the street, where a firefight could break out at any moment, is forced. Complemented by a handful of disturbing and notable continuity errors, ‘Rio Bravo’ isn’t quite the movie it could have been. It’s expertly crafted entertainment, but it feels a bit like the gloves you bought after you lost your favorite pair. It all fits and it’s good quality, but you just miss the feeling you had for your old gloves.