Review of Rio Bravo

Introduction

John T. Chance is sheriff of Rio Bravo, a town effectively controlled by land baron Nathan Burdette. When Nathan’s brother Joe commits murder, Chance has no alternative but to throw him in the pokey (and rather enjoys doing it). Joe will be turned over to the federal marshals when they come to town. And that’s the problem.

The federal marshals won’t reach town for 6 days. In the meantime, Nathan Burdette is gathering his forces and will undoubtedly try and spring his brother.

Sheriff Chance doesn’t want to jeopardise the safety of the townsfolk and so recruits a band of misfits as his deputies. So, assisted by Dude (the town drunk), Stumpy (toothless old cripple) and Colorado (young gunslinger), Chance has to stay alive until the federal marshals arrive.

Sounds familiar, eh? It should because it has been remade numerous times. The location and era changes but the basic premise remains the same. Heck, John Carpenter has spent half his career remaking it.

Video

Presented in a Widescreen Letterbox 1.85:1 transfer, the video quality is good for its age. The image is sharp and stable, and the main criticism would be that the colours are pretty muted. A few blemishes are present but overall a decent transfer – you are unlikely to see Rio Bravo look better.

Visually, the film is not particularly interesting. This is mostly a claustrophobic interior piece – no wide expanse of prairie here – and the interiors are sparse and fairly dull looking. Still, I guess that it is effective.

Audio

Sound is presented in the original mono in a DD 1.0 track. This is exceptionally clear – no hiss or noise of any kind – and a credit to Warners; I have heard worse on much more recent films.

The soundtrack by Dimitri Tiomkin is sweeping and moody and effective in the moment but utterly forgettable.

Features

Aside from a poor trailer, none. Given that Rio Bravo is such an influential film, we have a right to expect better here. For example, I can’t imagine it would be hard to persuade John Carpenter to talk at length about the film.

Conclusion

Based on the trailer, Rio Bravo was obviously sold to audiences on the basis of its cast. John Wayne pulled in the men, Dean Martin pulled in the women and Ricky Nelson pulled in the teenagers. Interesting, then, that the cast is probably the film’s weakest component.

John Wayne has occasionally used his laconic, shambling persona to good effect but not here. He sleepwalks through his role as the decent sheriff John Chance. Similarly, Martin spent a career playing himself in movies. His portrayal of the drunk Dude actually has a poignancy and depth that he rarely achieved but you can’t take it seriously because it’s Dino. And Ricky Nelson? Truly appalling actor. Further damage is done by Walter Brennan as the annoying comic relief. In fact about the only credible performance is by Angie Dickinson as Chance’s love interest Feathers.

Plotwise and scriptwise the film is fine and Hawks provide solid direction. The basic premise has proved to be remarkably durable. The most recent version I saw was John Carpenter’s Ghosts of Mars where a bunch of misfits must defend a small Martian township from besieging ... well, ghosts of Mars ... while they wait for a train to come and pick them up. This ends, as all such films must, in a violent showdown.

And that might be the problem with Rio Bravo for today’s audience. It may be too tame and sedate. The climax when it comes is underwhelming.

The film is certainly worth watching although I am not sure it deserves its Classic status. The DVD is lacklustre.