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To some cineastes, this 1959 western is a collaboration between star John Wayne and director Howard Hawks that's second only to the classic Red River. The film turned western-movie conventions in on themselves; instead of unfolding across broad expanses of land, it takes place mostly in the confines of a small jail in a dusty border town. The action doesn't include lengthy chases, cattle stampedes, or massive Indian attacks; it flashes across the screen in short, violent bursts. And the main characters are not larger-than-life archetypes; they're demonstrably flawed and continually struggling to overcome weaknesses of various sorts. Wayne plays a rugged, stubborn Sheriff John T. Chance, who comes to town and arrests Joe Burdette (Claude Akins), the brother of the area's most prominent cattleman (John Russell). He enlists the aid of his former deputy (Dean Martin), now a hopeless drunk who fears the cattleman's inevitable retribution. Holed up in the jail with a crippled deputy (Walter Brennan) and an adventure-seeking young man (Ricky Nelson), Wayne and Martin reluctantly participate in a protracted battle of wills that both sides know must culminate in a fight to the finish. Like many of Hawks's films, Rio Bravo is about camaraderie, courage under fire, and the determination to overcome weakness -- even if it means contemplating failure. Wayne's near-mythic stature is not as obvious here as elsewhere, mainly because Hawks surrounds him with a talented ensemble cast. Martin, cast against type as the downtrodden lawman forced to confront his worst fears, gives what may be his best screen performance. Brennan's garrulous sidekick is a delight, and teen idol Nelson -- included solely to give the picture "youth appeal" -- handles himself surprisingly well. Angie Dickinson had limited screen time, but she makes a strong impression as the leggy saloon girl who fitfully romances Wayne's character. Even people who don't like westerns enjoy Rio Bravo, and for diehard horse-opera addicts it's a must-have movie that holds up well under repeated viewings. Ed Hulse

All Movie Guide

Set in Texas during the late 1860s, Rio Bravo is a story of men (and women) and a town under siege. Presidio County Sheriff John T. Chance (John Wayne) is holding Joe Burdette (Claude Akins), a worthless, drunken thug, for the murder of an unarmed man in a fight in a saloon -- the problem is that Joe is the brother of wealthy land baron Nathan Burdette (John Russell), who owns a big chunk of the county and can buy all the hired guns he doesn't already have working for him. Burdette's men cut the town off to prevent Chance from getting Joe into more secure surroundings, and then the hired guns come in, waiting around for their chance to break him out of jail. Chance has to wait for the United States marshal to show up, in six days, his only help from Stumpy (Walter Brennan), a toothless, cantankerous old deputy with a bad leg who guards the jail, and Dude (Dean Martin), his former deputy, who's spent the last two years stumbling around in a drunken stupor over a woman that left him. Chance's friend, trail boss Pat Wheeler (Ward Bond), arrives at the outset of the siege and tries to help, offering the services of himself and his drovers as deputies, which Chance turns down, saying they're not professionals and would be too worried about their families to be good at anything except being targets for Burdette's men; but Chance does try to enlist the services of Wheeler's newest employee, a callow-looking young gunman named Colorado Ryan (Ricky Nelson), who politely turns him down, saying he prefers to mind his own business. In the midst of all of this tension, Feathers (Angie Dickinson), a dance hall entertainer, arrives in town and nearly gets locked up by Chance for cheating at cards, until he finds out that he was wrong and that she's not guilty -- this starts a verbal duel between the two of them that grows more sexually intense as the movie progresses and she finds herself in the middle of Chance's fight. Wheeler is murdered by one of Burgette's hired guns who is, in turn, killed by Dude in an intense confrontation in a saloon. Colorado throws in with Chance after his boss is killed and picks up some of the slack left by Dude, who isn't quite over his need for a drink or the shakes that come with trying to stop. Chance and Burdette keep raising the ante on each other, Chance, Dude, and Colorado killing enough of the rancher's men that he's got to double what he's paying to make it worth the risk, and the undertaker (Joseph Shimada) gets plenty of business from Burdette before the two sides arrive at a stalemate -- Burdette is holding Dude and will release him in exchange for Joe. This leads to the final, bloody confrontation between Chance and Burdette, where the wagons brought to town by the murdered Wheeler play an unexpected and essential role in tipping the balance. Bruce Eder

Product Details

• UPC: 085391142720
• Source: WARNER HOME VIDEO
• Aspect Ratio: Theatre Wide-Screen (1.85.1)
• Sound: Dolby Digital Mono
• Language: English, Français
• Subtitles: English, Français, Español
• Time: 2:21:00
• Sales Rank: 15,821

This DVD is also available as part of a box set:

• John Wayne Westerns - TCM Greatest Classic Films Collection
• Rio Bravo/the Searchers

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