Rio Grande (film)

Infobox_Film
name = Rio Grande


director = John Ford
producer = Merian C. Cooper
John Ford
writer = James Warner Bellah
(story)
James K. McGuinness
(screenplay)
starring = John Wayne
Maureen O'Hara
music = Victor Young
cinematography = Bert Glennon
Archie J. Stout
editing = Jack Murray
distributor = Republic
released = November 15, 1950
runtime = 105 minutes
country = USA
language = English
amg_id = 1:41473
imdb_id = 0042895|

"Rio Grande" is a 1950 western film and the third installment of John Ford's "cavalry trilogy", following two RKO Pictures releases: "Fort Apache" (1948) and "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon" (1949).

John Wayne stars in all three films, as Captain Kirby York in "Fort Apache", then as Captain of Cavalry Nathan Cutting Brittles in "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon", and finally as a promoted Lieutenant Colonel Kirby Yorke in "Rio Grande" (the York/Yorke character's last name was spelled slightly differently in "Fort Apache" and "Rio Grande").

The film is based on a short story "Mission With No Record" by James Warner Bellah, that appeared in the "The Saturday Evening Post" on September 27, 1947, and the screenplay was written by James Kevin McGuinness. ["Mission With No Record". - "The Saturday Evening Post. - volume 220, number 13. - September 27, 1947. - Retrieved 2008-07-21] imdb title|id=0042895|title=Rio Grande]

Production

Ford wanted to make "The Quiet Man" first, but Republic Pictures studio president Herbert Yates, insisted that Ford make "Rio Grande" first, using the same combination of Wayne and Maureen O'Hara; Yates did not feel that the script of "The Quiet Man" was very good, and wanted "Rio Grande" to be released first to pay for "The Quiet Man". (To Yates's surprise "The Quiet Man", on its eventual release in 1952, would become Republic's number one film in terms of box office receipts.)Fact|date=July 2008

The film was shot in Monument Valley, and other locations in southeastern Utah around the town of Moab and along the Colorado River. [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0042895/locations Filming locations for Rio Grande] . - IMDb. - Retrieved 2008-07-21]

Plot

In "Rio Grande", Colonel Yorke is posted on the frontier to defend settlers against renegade Apaches. Col. Yorke is under considerable stress between the Apaches and the young-raw recruits sent to the post-in numbers far inadequate to the needs of his command.

Tension is added when Yorke's son (whom he hasn't seen in fifteen years), Trooper Jeff Yorke (Claude Jarman Jr.), is posted to the fort. Not wanting the other men to think he is favoring his son, he ends up being harder on him. Jeff is watched over by a pair of more seasoned troopers, Tyree (Ben Johnson) and Boone (Harry Carey Jr.).

With the arrival of the estranged Mrs. Kathleen Yorke (Maureen O'Hara) who has come to take the under-age Yorke home with her, even more tension is added. The Colonel and Mrs. Yorke figure out it would be best to let young Jeff grow up and make the decision whether to stay or leave for himself; he chooses to stay. The tension brought about in the fight for their son rekindles the love they once had for each other.

Yorke is visited by his former Civil War commander, Philip Sheridan (J. Carrol Naish), now Chief General of Army. Sheridan has decided to order Yorke to cross the Rio Grande into Mexico, an action with grave political problems since it could well be seen as an act of war against Mexico.

If Yorke fails in his mission to destroy the Apache threat he faces the threat of court-martial. Sheridan, in a quiet act of acknowledgment of what he is asking Yorke to risk, promises that the members of the court will be men who rode with Yorke through the Shenandoah Valley during the Civil War. Yorke accepts the mission. Now Col. Yorke must fight to save, and put back together, his family and his honor.

Basis

Some aspects of the story, notably the regiment's crossing into Mexico, and undertaking a campaign there, loosely resemble the expedition conducted by the 4th Cavalry Regiment (United States) under Colonel Ranald S. Mackenzie in 1873.Fact|date=July 2008

Cast

Music

The film contains folk songs led by the Sons of the Pioneers, one of which is Ken Curtis (Ford's son-in-law and best known for his role as Festus Haggen on Gunsmoke).

References

External links

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