Movie Review: Rio Bravo
This is one of my favourite John Wayne Westerns. It stars The Duke, Dean Martin, Angie Dickenson, Walter Brennan, and Ricky Nelson (for those of you what are too fecking young to remember, he was our generation's Justin Bieber, only more talented).
Yeah, I know that quotation is from another John Wayne movie - sometime I'm going to have to do a post where I compare Rio Bravo to El Dorado.
Rio Bravo is a great little action piece. It's got complex characters, a suspenseful plot, romance, comedy, and (sorry -- have to say it) True Grit.
As our story opens, Sheriff John T. Chance is patrolling the town when he spots his old deputy, Dude, hitting the complete bottom of a drunken binge. Dude - who is actually now known by the Mexican nickname of Borachon, or Drunk! - is jonesing for a drink, and one of the men at the bar has tossed a coin into the spittoon. Dude is actually reaching for the jar when Chance kicks the spittoon out of the way and heads over to talk to the man who tossed the coin. Dean Martin does a great job at the total alcoholic -- I know, I know! -- and Borachon is a believable character.
Borachon, furious at losing his coin, hits Chance on the back of the head, knocking him out. The coin-tossing man then has his buddies hold Borachon while he uses him as a punching bag. A third man tries to intervene, but Coin-Tossing Man shoots him in cold blood, then walks off. He turns out to be the Joe Burdette, brother of the local bigwig, played by Claude Atkins as a completely despicable character. Chance, once he wakes up, trails him to another saloon and arrests him. Borachon follows, and helps Chance out when someone else pulls a gun.
We next see Borachon in the street with a deputy's badge pinned on his ragged jacket. Mr. Wheeler, the good local bigwig, is coming into town with a load of supplies, and Borachon explains that the sheriff has declared no guns within town limits - he doesn't say, but Wheeler goes to see Chance and the sheriff tells him it's because they have Joe in the town jail and his brother Nathan has the town bottled up, with men on every corner watching for an opportunity to take the sheriff and break Joe out of jail.
Wheeler introduces Chance to Colorado, the son of a gunslinger friend of theirs. Colorado, played very well by a (really young - he turned 18 while filming!) Ricky Nelson, swears he won't start any trouble "unless I let you know first." Wheeler then parks his wagons - way across town, as one of them has fuel and dynamite! - and heads for the hotel.
Borachon, now back to his real nickname of Dude (we never do learn the man's actual name), is trying to quit the hard liquor, and is nursing beer to keep off the shakes. He and Chance go into the jail for a beer, and we meet Stumpy, played by Walter Brennan, who is guarding Joe Burdette. The setup in the jail includes the main room - desk, a cot, a stove, and a small table with supplies and a water barrel - and the jail area - Stumpy is supposed to stay in here with the outer jail door locked. The idea is, if Burdette breaks in to rescue his brother, Stumpy will see that Joe is shot "trying to escape."
Chance gets a package, heads to the hotel, and we meet the delightful Carlos and his fiery wife Consuela, who run the place. Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez (if you're not familiar with Hispanic names, no I did not accidentally write Gonzalez twice) plays Carlos to perfection - his scenes will have you rolling on the floor. He was a comedic character actor, and really good at comedic timing and expressions! The package is a pair of red bloomers for his wife, but he doesn't want her to know about them yet, so he and Chance go upstairs to an unused room so that Carlos can show off his purchase. Angie Dickenson - yet another unnamed character! - happens by and spots the bloomers, which Carlos is holding up against Chance's waist, and teases the sheriff through the rest of the movie.
Turns out Burdette has disabled the stage somehow, and several characters, including the unnamed woman, are stuck in town for the duration. Chance and Dude patrol the town that evening, and Carlos tells them Wheeler has been loudly talking about how the sheriff needs help against Burdette. Chance tells him that he's only digging himself into a dangerous hole, and that Burdette has thirty or forty men - there just aren't enough men in town who could help him out. We hear Dude's backstory - he was Chance's deputy - a good one! - when he met a woman two years ago who took him for everything he had, and ripped out his heart when she left him. That was when he started drinking.
While they're talking, Chance spots something fishy going on at the poker table, but delays doing anything until he talks to Colorado. The young gunslinger says he's good with guns but "better at minding my own business, no offense" when asked to join Chance's team.
The sheriff then waits until Angie Dickenson's character leaves the poker table, and follows her upstairs. He tells her the card deck they had been using - which a cowboy had traded in for a new deck, claiming it was unlucky - was short three aces. He accuses her of being a woman on a handbill he got warning local lawmen about a gambler and his girlfriend. She says it is her, but she's not with the gambler any longer.
The nameless woman is a good character, and Angie Dickenson plays her so well that I didn't realize it was Angie Dickenson until I'd watched the movie a couple of times! She's feisty and mouthy and cocky, and she's really starting to like the sheriff. As they're arguing, Colorado comes to the room door and says he thinks it's the other man at the table who's cheating - he says "I promised I wouldn't start nothing without talking to you!"
After they get rid of the cheater, we have met all of our major players, and the movie rocks right along with Chance vs. Burdette. The character of Nathan Burdette almost needs no actor - he could easily have remained a faceless menace, represented by his hired guns. He does make an appearance, visiting his brother in jail and paying the local Mexican band to begin playing "The Deguello" - this is "The Cutthroat Song" supposedly played throughout the siege of the Alamo. Burdette is saying he's got them trapped and he's going to keep them there until he wins.
Burdette has Wheeler killed, and Colorado comes over to Chance's side after Dude kills the hired assassin. Chance first refuses his help, but when Colorado and the girl - now known by the nickname Feathers after her feather boa - help him defeat Burdette's men, who have overpowered Dude, Chance changes his mind. The three of them hole up in the jail with Stumpy to wait for the US Marshall to arrive and take charge of Joe Burdette.
Since you have Dean Martin, the old crooner, and Ricky Nelson, the young one, you then have a short musical interlude. Dean sings "Riding to Amarillo," which I really like, and Ricky then sings "Get Along Home Cindy, Cindy." It's not the worst musical scenes ever made, but like any such, it seems a bit odd stuck into the middle of a Western. At least it does seem plausible for the men to sing while stuck at the jail house.
Throughout the film, Dude struggles with his alcoholism. It's a very realistic portrayal of a man trying to come off the booze, and I like the way they handled it. He has the shakes, he sweats, he gets proddy. You can see the longing every time he sees a bottle of whiskey. At one point, he swears he's going back to the bottle, and tells Chance he's quitting. Then, the "Deguello" starts up again, and he sets the bottle back down without touching a drop.
The climax comes when Burdette's men ambush Dude and Chance as they go to the hotel for supplies. They end up with Dude as a hostage, and Burdette says he'll trade him for his brother. As the two men walk toward the opposite sides, Dude jumps Joe and the shooting starts. Stumpy, who was supposed to stay back at the jail because of his bad leg, shows up and finds the wagon full of dynamite. He throws sticks towards the building Burdette and his men are firing from, and Chance and Dude fire at them to set them off.
The wrap-up shows Burdette, his brother, and the men involved in the shootout in jail waiting for the marshall. Chance goes to the hotel, where Feathers forces him to admit his feelings for her, and all's well that ends well.
I've never found anything that mentioned this, but there is a lot of blue in the film. Every major scene has some item or article of clothing that is bright blue - sometimes it's just a bottle or bowl in the background, sometimes it's an entire shop display as the sheriff passes.
Trivia: there are only two close-up shots used during the entire movie. The first is a shot of Joe's gun when he murders the man at the beginning. The second is a series of shots showing Dude's hands as he continually tries to roll a cigarette with his shaky hands.
Yeah, I know that quotation is from another John Wayne movie - sometime I'm going to have to do a post where I compare Rio Bravo to El Dorado.
Rio Bravo is a great little action piece. It's got complex characters, a suspenseful plot, romance, comedy, and (sorry -- have to say it) True Grit.
As our story opens, Sheriff John T. Chance is patrolling the town when he spots his old deputy, Dude, hitting the complete bottom of a drunken binge. Dude - who is actually now known by the Mexican nickname of Borachon, or Drunk! - is jonesing for a drink, and one of the men at the bar has tossed a coin into the spittoon. Dude is actually reaching for the jar when Chance kicks the spittoon out of the way and heads over to talk to the man who tossed the coin. Dean Martin does a great job at the total alcoholic -- I know, I know! -- and Borachon is a believable character.
Borachon, furious at losing his coin, hits Chance on the back of the head, knocking him out. The coin-tossing man then has his buddies hold Borachon while he uses him as a punching bag. A third man tries to intervene, but Coin-Tossing Man shoots him in cold blood, then walks off. He turns out to be the Joe Burdette, brother of the local bigwig, played by Claude Atkins as a completely despicable character. Chance, once he wakes up, trails him to another saloon and arrests him. Borachon follows, and helps Chance out when someone else pulls a gun.
We next see Borachon in the street with a deputy's badge pinned on his ragged jacket. Mr. Wheeler, the good local bigwig, is coming into town with a load of supplies, and Borachon explains that the sheriff has declared no guns within town limits - he doesn't say, but Wheeler goes to see Chance and the sheriff tells him it's because they have Joe in the town jail and his brother Nathan has the town bottled up, with men on every corner watching for an opportunity to take the sheriff and break Joe out of jail.
Wheeler introduces Chance to Colorado, the son of a gunslinger friend of theirs. Colorado, played very well by a (really young - he turned 18 while filming!) Ricky Nelson, swears he won't start any trouble "unless I let you know first." Wheeler then parks his wagons - way across town, as one of them has fuel and dynamite! - and heads for the hotel.
Borachon, now back to his real nickname of Dude (we never do learn the man's actual name), is trying to quit the hard liquor, and is nursing beer to keep off the shakes. He and Chance go into the jail for a beer, and we meet Stumpy, played by Walter Brennan, who is guarding Joe Burdette. The setup in the jail includes the main room - desk, a cot, a stove, and a small table with supplies and a water barrel - and the jail area - Stumpy is supposed to stay in here with the outer jail door locked. The idea is, if Burdette breaks in to rescue his brother, Stumpy will see that Joe is shot "trying to escape."
Chance gets a package, heads to the hotel, and we meet the delightful Carlos and his fiery wife Consuela, who run the place. Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez (if you're not familiar with Hispanic names, no I did not accidentally write Gonzalez twice) plays Carlos to perfection - his scenes will have you rolling on the floor. He was a comedic character actor, and really good at comedic timing and expressions! The package is a pair of red bloomers for his wife, but he doesn't want her to know about them yet, so he and Chance go upstairs to an unused room so that Carlos can show off his purchase. Angie Dickenson - yet another unnamed character! - happens by and spots the bloomers, which Carlos is holding up against Chance's waist, and teases the sheriff through the rest of the movie.
Turns out Burdette has disabled the stage somehow, and several characters, including the unnamed woman, are stuck in town for the duration. Chance and Dude patrol the town that evening, and Carlos tells them Wheeler has been loudly talking about how the sheriff needs help against Burdette. Chance tells him that he's only digging himself into a dangerous hole, and that Burdette has thirty or forty men - there just aren't enough men in town who could help him out. We hear Dude's backstory - he was Chance's deputy - a good one! - when he met a woman two years ago who took him for everything he had, and ripped out his heart when she left him. That was when he started drinking.
While they're talking, Chance spots something fishy going on at the poker table, but delays doing anything until he talks to Colorado. The young gunslinger says he's good with guns but "better at minding my own business, no offense" when asked to join Chance's team.
The sheriff then waits until Angie Dickenson's character leaves the poker table, and follows her upstairs. He tells her the card deck they had been using - which a cowboy had traded in for a new deck, claiming it was unlucky - was short three aces. He accuses her of being a woman on a handbill he got warning local lawmen about a gambler and his girlfriend. She says it is her, but she's not with the gambler any longer.
The nameless woman is a good character, and Angie Dickenson plays her so well that I didn't realize it was Angie Dickenson until I'd watched the movie a couple of times! She's feisty and mouthy and cocky, and she's really starting to like the sheriff. As they're arguing, Colorado comes to the room door and says he thinks it's the other man at the table who's cheating - he says "I promised I wouldn't start nothing without talking to you!"
After they get rid of the cheater, we have met all of our major players, and the movie rocks right along with Chance vs. Burdette. The character of Nathan Burdette almost needs no actor - he could easily have remained a faceless menace, represented by his hired guns. He does make an appearance, visiting his brother in jail and paying the local Mexican band to begin playing "The Deguello" - this is "The Cutthroat Song" supposedly played throughout the siege of the Alamo. Burdette is saying he's got them trapped and he's going to keep them there until he wins.
Burdette has Wheeler killed, and Colorado comes over to Chance's side after Dude kills the hired assassin. Chance first refuses his help, but when Colorado and the girl - now known by the nickname Feathers after her feather boa - help him defeat Burdette's men, who have overpowered Dude, Chance changes his mind. The three of them hole up in the jail with Stumpy to wait for the US Marshall to arrive and take charge of Joe Burdette.
Since you have Dean Martin, the old crooner, and Ricky Nelson, the young one, you then have a short musical interlude. Dean sings "Riding to Amarillo," which I really like, and Ricky then sings "Get Along Home Cindy, Cindy." It's not the worst musical scenes ever made, but like any such, it seems a bit odd stuck into the middle of a Western. At least it does seem plausible for the men to sing while stuck at the jail house.
Throughout the film, Dude struggles with his alcoholism. It's a very realistic portrayal of a man trying to come off the booze, and I like the way they handled it. He has the shakes, he sweats, he gets proddy. You can see the longing every time he sees a bottle of whiskey. At one point, he swears he's going back to the bottle, and tells Chance he's quitting. Then, the "Deguello" starts up again, and he sets the bottle back down without touching a drop.
The climax comes when Burdette's men ambush Dude and Chance as they go to the hotel for supplies. They end up with Dude as a hostage, and Burdette says he'll trade him for his brother. As the two men walk toward the opposite sides, Dude jumps Joe and the shooting starts. Stumpy, who was supposed to stay back at the jail because of his bad leg, shows up and finds the wagon full of dynamite. He throws sticks towards the building Burdette and his men are firing from, and Chance and Dude fire at them to set them off.
The wrap-up shows Burdette, his brother, and the men involved in the shootout in jail waiting for the marshall. Chance goes to the hotel, where Feathers forces him to admit his feelings for her, and all's well that ends well.
I've never found anything that mentioned this, but there is a lot of blue in the film. Every major scene has some item or article of clothing that is bright blue - sometimes it's just a bottle or bowl in the background, sometimes it's an entire shop display as the sheriff passes.
Trivia: there are only two close-up shots used during the entire movie. The first is a shot of Joe's gun when he murders the man at the beginning. The second is a series of shots showing Dude's hands as he continually tries to roll a cigarette with his shaky hands.