Customer Reviews

Rio Grande

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Rio Grande is a 1950 western film and 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 Yorke 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 (the York/Yorke character's last name was spelled slightly 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 The Saturday Evening Post on September 27, 1947, and the screenplay was written by James Kevin McGuinness.[1][2]Ford wanted to make The Quiet Man first, but Republic Pictures studio president Herbert Yates, insisted that Ford make Rio Grande first, using the same combination of Wayne and Maureen O'Hara; Yates did not feel that the script of The Quiet Man was very good, and wanted Rio Grande to be released first to pay for The Quiet Man. (To Yates's surprise The Quiet Man, on its eventual release in 1952, would become Republic's number one film in terms of box office receipts

The film was shot in Monument Valley, and other locations in southeastern Utah around the town of Moab and along the Colorado River.[3]



In Rio Grande, Colonel Yorke is posted on the frontier to defend settlers against hostile Apaches. Col. Yorke is under considerable stress between the Apaches and the young-raw recruits sent to the post-in numbers far inadequate to the needs of his command.

Tension is added when Yorke's son (whom he hasn't seen in fifteen years), Trooper Jeff Yorke (Claude Jarman Jr.), is posted to the fort. Not wanting the other men to think he is favoring his son, he ends up being harder on him. Jeff is watched over by a pair of more seasoned troopers, Tyree (Ben Johnson) and Boone (Harry Carey Jr.).

With the arrival of the estranged Mrs. Kathleen Yorke (Maureen O'Hara) who has come to take the under-age Yorke home with her, even more tension is added. The Colonel and Mrs. Yorke figure out it would be best to let young Jeff grow up and make the decision whether to stay or leave for himself; he chooses to stay. The tension brought about in the fight for their son rekindles the love they once had for each other.

Yorke is visited by his former Civil War commander, Philip Sheridan (J. Carrol Naish), now Chief General of Army. Sheridan has decided to order Yorke to cross the Rio Grande into Mexico, an action with grave political problems since it could well be seen as an act of war against Mexico.

If Yorke fails in his mission to destroy the Apache threat he faces the threat of court-martial. Sheridan, in a quiet act of acknowledgment of what he is asking Yorke to risk, promises that the members of the court will be men who rode with Yorke through the Shenandoah Valley during the Civil War. Yorke accepts the mission. Now Col. Yorke must fight to save, and put back together, his family and his honor.



Some aspects of the story, notably the regiment's crossing into Mexico, and undertaking a campaign there, loosely resemble the expedition conducted by the 4th Cavalry Regiment (United States) under Colonel Ranald S. Mackenzie in 1873.

RIO GRANDE(1950)---John Wayne, Maureen O'Hara, Victor McLaglen, Ben Johnson, Harry Carey, Jr., Claude Jarman, Jr., Chill Wills, J. Carroll Naish
The last film in John Ford's "cavalry trilogy" and, IMO, the best of the three. John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara are one of the great "screen teams" and they are in top form here. Wayne is "Lt. Col. Yorke", O'Hara is "Kathleen", his estranged wife, and Jarman is their son, who has enlisted in the Army and has been posted to his father's command. O'Hara has accompanied Jarman to his posting hoping to persuade his father to let her "buy out" his enlistment and return him to civilian life. To her chagrin, Jarman wants no part of that and refuses to allow it.

The film is "classic Ford". The characters are developed slowly and fully and, as always, the location photography is stunning---the film was shot in Moab, Utah. There is plenty of action involving an Apache uprising. McLaglen is a delight as the "top kick" for Wayne's unit. Ben Johnson and Harry Carey, Jr., give fine performances. The scene where Johnson, Carey, and Jarman ride teams of horses bareback, "Roman style", is just incredible---especially so given the fact that each actor is doing his own riding---no stunt-doubles for any of them. Ben Johnson, who was a National Champion Rodeo Cowboy prior to entering films, is probably the best horseman to ever appear in the movies.

Anyway, this is another movie that I would recommend very highly to any fan of westerns, John Ford, or John Wayne.

This film has it all: romance, action, gun battles, kidnappings. This is one of the finest western films ever made. The acting is superb and the cinamatography (sp?) is fabulous. See this in color? No way! There is something special about B/W films that is ruined when computerized into color. If you don't have this film, SELL YOUR HOUSE and buy it!

JOHN WAYNE AND MAUREEN OHARA SHOWER THE SCREEN WITH SPARKS. WHO SAYS THEY HAVE TO BE NUDE AND "INVOLVED" FOR THE SPARKS TO FLY? THESE TWO DO MORE WITH THEIR EYES, A FEW WORDS AND ONE KISS WITH CLOTHES ON THAN ANY "STAR" TODAY IN THEIR BIRTHDAY SUITS! SUSIE Q

Good old fashion fun movie. Never gets old, never fails to entertain!! A definite winner!

John Wayne plays LTC Kirby York, a character he reprises in Fort Apache. York in assigned to patrol somewhere in the New Mexico Territories shortly following the War of Yankee Aggression. There, he is joined by his estranged son who has flunked out of West Point and is serving his obligation out as an enlisted Soldier. His son is joined there by Maureen O'Hara who plays a Southern Belle who's home and wealth was destroyed by her husband during the war. The chemistry between Maureen O'Hara and John Wayne, who still loves his wife, provides interesting interplay that is believable and one of many sub-plots to the film. The movie has John Wayne's usual ensemble cast, was directed by John Ford and while lacking the spectacular scenery of later Ford movies does not detract from the drama, the characters, and the human story that draws one in. This is a story about duty, honor and how both are not always the easiest paths to follow and often can come into conflict with other human virtues, such as love.

Rio Grande is the last part of John Ford's Calvary Trilogy. John Wayne stars as a Calvary Officer whose wife, (Maureen O'Hara), shows up at his command as does his grown son. Mother wants son discharged, son wants to stay, and Lt. Col. Yorke, (Wayne), is just trying to hold up. There is action and adventure all through the movie and some of the greatest vistas in all of Hollywood.

The first two movies are Fort Apache, and She Wore a Yellow Ribbon. These are equally great movies. I highly recommend getting all three classic films. You won't regret it.

Big John's movies when directed by John Ford, take on a life of their own..The combination was dead on, no matter which movie...

In the third and final installment of John Ford's "Cavalry Trilogy," John Wayne recreates his Kirby York role from Fort Apache, several years older (it's now about 1879) and promoted (probably brevet) to Colonel. He's commanding Fort Starke, Texas, which is apparently not the same one as in She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, unless the latter suffered a holocaust of a fire at some point: most of it, including York's quarters, is tents. Having captured the renegade Apache chief Natchez, York finds himself faced with his 18-year-old son Jefferson (Claude Jarman, Jr.), whom he hasn't seen since the War, and who upon flunking out of West Point has signed up as an ordinary trooper and been assigned, unwillingly, to his father's fort. He's soon followed by his mother, York's estranged wife Kathleen (Maureen O'Hara in the first of their four team-ups), who wants to buy him out of his enlistment--but Jeff doesn't want to be bought. Then Natchez's Apaches make a raid on the post and free him, and eventually York must rescue the post's children, who have been captured by the hostiles and taken across the river into Mexico. Adding to the complications is the presence of Trooper Travis Tyree (Ben Johnson)--obviously not the same Tyree he played in "Yellow Ribbon"--who besides being a buddy of Jeff's is being hunted for manslaughter by a U.S. Marshal (Grant Withers). Harry Carey Jr. appears as Jeff and Travis's pal Sandy (it's tempting to wonder whether Travis and Sandy, after their hitches were up, teamed up to trade horses and guide Mormon settlers in Wagon Master), the inimitable Victor McLaglen as Sgt. Quincannon, known to all the youngsters on post as "Uncle Timmy," Chill Wills as the post surgeon, and J. Carrol Naish as Gen. Phil Sheridan, who was York's CO during the War.

Despite being done in black and white, this is a splendid example of Fordian Westerns, with a great feel for actual post life, unforgettable characters, plenty of action, and starkly beautiful scenery. It should be in the collection of anyone who loves Wayne's work, Ford's, or just great Westerns.

One of the greatest of all Westerns, and one of the greatest of all American movies. It's apparent simplicity reveals layer upon layer of meaning with multiple viewings. Terrific transfer on this DVD, with a wonderful commentary by Maureen O'Hara.