Rio Bravo

Pros: Direction, Wayne, Martin, Brennan, Dickinson
Cons: A little long but entertaining.

"Sorry don't get it done, Dude." Sheriff John T. Chance

This entertaining film came to mind after viewing Bad Day at Black Rock and reflecting on High Noon, two films Hollywood advanced to gain sympathy for itself in the...

Pros: entertaining, John Wayne in good form
Cons: conventional characters and situations

"Red River" (1948) is probably the best western ever made. Howard Hawks was the director, John Wayne was the star, and Walter Brennan was an important supporting actor. The three reunited more than ten years later for another western, which...

Pros: everything
Cons: none

It’s difficult to choose a single masterpiece by Howard Hawks because he was such a chameleon. He made top movies in all genres: the detective film (“The Big Sleep”), the western (“Red River”), the musical (“Gentlemen Prefer Blondes”) the screwball...

Pros: good gun slinging, a little comedy, a little singing, likeable good guys
Cons: OK, a little trite

OK, so there are some who don't think this was John Wayne's finest. Critics, who know more about these things than I do, might argue for "The Searchers", "Red River", or "The Quiet Man", and I can't say that I would argue...

Pros: Suspenseful and fun
Cons: Moves pretty slowly

John Wayne and Dean Martin as partners; who dreamed that one up? Rio Bravo, produced and directed by Howard Hawks, is a western that tries for overall entertainment with comedy, romance and even music. No, the Duke doesn't break into song, but Martin...

Pros: Over two hours of great characterizations by very watchable actors.
Cons: None

The great Dean Martin's portrayal of a dead-drunk deputy in this movie is reason enough to rent and watch Rio Bravo; John Wayne and Walter Brennan finish out this helter-skelter trio of lawmen attempting to keep a murderous outlaw in the town jail.
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