Rio Bravo review

 Number 253 on the top 1000 films of all time is Howard Hawks' 1959 Western 'Rio Bravo.'

John Chance (John Wayne) is the sheriff on a boarder town who has to hold the wanton criminal Joe Burdette (Claude Akins) in custody until he is collected by US Marshals. However, Joe's brother and the rest of his gang are coming to get him back. Chance has to hold them off with the help of the alcoholic dude (Dean Martin,) the lame old Stumpy (Walter Brennan),) and the young gunslinger Colorado (Ricky Nelson.)

This film was Wayne's return to the Western genre after a dip in his career. Considering only a decade later, he won the Best Actor Oscar you could argue it was a very successful return.

But was Rio Bravo a successful film? It was watchable enough. I'm not sure whether it brought anything new to the Western genre. You had the men in white fighting off the men in black. You had the Mexican characters relegated to side parts. You had the insipid female lead Feathers (Angie Dickinson.) And you had lots of of gunfights. It was everything we've seen before. Yes, it was entertaining, but it didn't blow me away.

John Wayne was your standard, cut-and-dry hero. There was no depth to his character beyond that. The cheesy romance between him and Feathers didn't help either. And it certainly didn't help that Wayne was double Angie Dickinson's age.

The supporting cast where the film really shone. I've never seen Dean martin act before, but he was quite convincing, as the alcoholic seeking redemption. He made Dude a sympathetic character. Three-time Oscar winner, Walter Brennan brought a lot of energy and life to Stumpy. He was a joy to watch, as well as some more important light-hearted relief.

Of course you can't make a film with one of the era's biggest crooners and one of the biggest teen idols without having a scene of them singing together. While this was pretty shoe-horned in, it was still great to watch.

Rio Bravo certainly didn't bring anything new to the Western genre, but some of the supporting cast gave great performances.

True Grit 1969 Review

 Number 885 on the top 1000 films of all time is Henry Hathaway's 1969 Western 'True Grit.'

Mattie Ross (Kim Darby) is a teenage girl living in Yell County, Arkansas when her father is unjustly killed by outlaw Tom Chaney (Jeff Corey,) she enlists federal marshals Rooster Cogburn (John Wayne) and La Boeuf (Glen Campbell) to bring him to justice. Accompanying them on their mission, Mattie soon forms a close relationship with Rooster and La Boeuf.

For a Western film, I quite enjoyed True Grit. This goes for both the original and the 2010 remake. Generally, I find cowboy films tedious and overly-long *cough cough* Sergio Leone, but True Grit was thoroughly watchable.

One reason was because of Mattie Ross. Just like in the remake, she was far from the typical damsel-in-distress cliche that many women of her era were relegated to, so it was very refreshing to have a character with as much agency and pep as Mattie did. She was a feisty female before that was even a thing. I do think it's a shame they gave her a tomboyish appearance though. She's a woman. Let her look like a woman. The Coen Brothers let Hailee Steinfield look feminine. Why not the same for Kim Darby?

True neither John Wayne or Henry Hathaway thought much about Darby's acting abilities, but I think that was more down to her dialogue. Her lines were so verbose and clunky, it was like she was in My Fair lady having elocution lessons with Rex Harrison. Her actions were also rash and impulsive and drove a lot of the film's conflict, but again that's more her writing than Darby's acting.

John Wayne gave a good spin as the irrascible Rooster Cogburn. It was good that he won the Best Actor Oscar. And I did enjoy his performance. He was a very likeable cinnamon swirl. Robert Duvall was also great as minor villain Ned Pepper. If anything he was better than Jeff Corey's rather simplistic performance as Tom Chaney.

Overall, I enjoyed True Grit more than I thought I would. It had John Wayne giving a great lead performance, a fresh spin on the standard female character and had that glorious cinematography that you would expect from a cowboy film.