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Rio Bravo | Year: 1959 Classification: Western Directed: - Howard Hawks Actors/Actresses: - John Wayne - Dean Martin What a bunch of characters Characters make the movie. Boring character can ruin a good story and interersting characters can make a dull movie fly. Rio Bravo enjoys both a good story, and good characters, with a bunch of fine performances thrown in. John Wayne gives his usual fine western performance as the Sherif Chance, but it is the people around him that make this movie great. Walter Bermnan as Stumpy does a great job, A very young Angie Dickerson is frankly hotter than she ever was yet she also remains a strong character who stands up for herself and plays off Wayne well. Ricky Nelson is believeable as a young man with more sense than any that has come before him. All of them round the movie well. Dean Martin as Dude however steals the show. In my opinion this is the movie that makes him a serious player. Dude is clearly the most interesting character of the lot, his own battles with Chance, Stumpy, Burdette and most of all himself makes the movie much more than other westerns. It is clearly superior to El Dorado which takes some doing, and superior to Rio Lobo which doesn't. Other than his early pairings with Maureen O'Hara I would recommend this picture as the best example of John Wayne in a pure western. a casual, brilliant film Rio Bravo is one of a handful of movies (see also The Quiet Man) that belies the one-note, tough-guy stereotype that so many people associate with John Wayne. Here he is endearing (his scenes with Walter Brennan are hilarious and genuine) and, dare I say, even somewhat sensitive in his own way (his firm method of "treatment" for Dean Martin's alcoholic character is something a counselor friend of mine finds priceless). The rest of the cast is wonderful as well: Brennan is cranky, Martin is wounded but charismatic, Angie Dickinson is sly and assured and Ricky Nelson, surprisingly, does more than just hold his own and look pretty (*and* he sings a duet with Dean Martin). Everyone involved here obviously had a ton of fun making the movie, but more importantly the film exudes that sense of good cheer without undercutting the narrative tension. Director Howard Hawks certainly had a great deal to do with the quick pacing and the tightness of the ensemble, both of which assure that the film never seems to drag, even in quiet moments. In short, a western for people who don't like westerns and a John Wayne movie for people who don't like John Wayne. Bravo, Rio Bravo One of the best westerns made at the time. Others have been made more recently that use modern technical skill, but for the time and place, Rio Bravo was the epitome of the western genre and still holds up today. Period! Buy Rio Bravo at Amazon.com Buy posters at Allposters.com Jamster - the latest ringtones for your phone!  Search with Walhello on the Internet on Rio Bravo Search with the Priority Search Engine on Rio Bravo This page in other languages: Suomeksi | Nederlands | Deutsch
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