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She Wore a Yellow Ribbon | Year: 1949 Classification: Western Directed: - John Ford Actors/Actresses: - John Wayne - Joanne Dru Crying for DVD If there's one John Wayne film just crying for a DVD release, this is it. Director John Ford once said he could conceive of nothing more beautiful than a horse in full stride. There are plenty of them in She Wore a Yellow Ribbon but even more than that, there's Monument Valley in a way that only John Ford could have filmed it. It's no accident that a Monument Valley vista now bears the name "John Ford's Point." And She Wore a Yellow Ribbon is THE John Ford Monument Valley film. <BR> <BR> There have been scores of Monument Valley films but no other is this good. Just look at the way the West Mitten hangs over Captain Brittles' moving scene at his wife's grave and the thunderstorm building over the wagons where Ford overruled his cinematographer and kept the cameras rolling. Many of us believe this is John Wayne's best acting performance ever and that his True Grit Oscar was payback two decades later, just as Henry Fonda's On Golden Pond statue was payback for The Grapes of Wrath. Let's just say that Wayne's performance here is so good if ever anyone argues that he was a celebrity more than an actor, the best way to refute them is simply to roll She Wore a Yellow Ribbon. But, please, please, PLEASE ! we need to be able to roll it in DVD. Visually beautiful western with a great story While many of John Ford's movies are classics, I think that "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon" does often get downplayed, but it really is an excellent movie. The colors are lush, and quite crisp on this DVD (more so than in the VHS of this film) and the cinematography is gorgeous. But the acting is also top-knotch. John Wayne does wonderful as a ramrod-straight but aging cavalry officer. Though Wayne was probably at a physical peak at the time the film was made, he moves like an older man with aches and pains, and carries it off nicely. His interactions with the other actors are also good, and reflect well the tight-knit nature of the post-Civil War military. There's humor, there's drama, and in the end, the film is just very enjoyable. The extra features on the DVD are okay; the "John Ford Home Movies" only show Ford and Wayne enjoying drinks somewhere in Mexico, and everything else is just text, but the clarity of the film and the gorgeous colors on the DVD make this a must-have. THE SECOND LEG OF GREATNESS SHE WORE A YELLOW RIBBON is the second leg of greatness in the John Ford Cavalry Trilogy. Cinematography-wise SWAYR is the jewel in the crown, it's much heralded Oscar winning celluloid images are breathtaking. All three films have their own moments of greatness, here it's John Wayne as Capt. Nathan Brittles, in make-up aging him 20 years no less "making his report" graveside to his wife and daughter; His receiving his silver watch from his troops ("Lest we forget,") and his negotiating Victor McLaglen's retirement ("A man of a thirst like that can't survive on less than a sergeant's pension!"). Of course there is the cavalry's march to their 3 theme songs: "Garry Owen", "She Wore A Yellow Ribbon" and "The Girl I Left Behind Me" (a constant in the trilogy). Sterling performances across the board. SWAYR is an all time classic. Buy She Wore A Yellow Ribbon at Amazon.com Buy posters at Allposters.com Jamster - the latest ringtones for your phone!  Search with Walhello on the Internet on She Wore A Yellow Ribbon Search with the Priority Search Engine on She Wore A Yellow Ribbon This page in other languages: Suomeksi | Nederlands | Deutsch
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