Rio Bravo | Film By Hawks [1959] - Britannica

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• Introduction
• Production notes and credits
• Cast

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External Websites

• Internet Archive - "Rio Bravo"
• AFI Catalog - Rio Bravo
• The New York Times - Texas Border Town
• Library of Congress - "Rio Bravo"
• Turner Classic Movies - Rio Bravo (1959)

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Rio Bravo film by Hawks [1959] Ask Anything Homework Help Written by Lee Pfeiffer Author/co-author of numerous books about the cinema and is regarded as one of the foremost James Bond scholars. His book The Essential Bond: An Authorized Guide to the World of 007 (written with... Lee Pfeiffer Fact-checked by Britannica Editors Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree.... Britannica Editors History Britannica AI Ask Anything Table of Contents Table of Contents Ask Anything

Rio Bravo, American western film, released in 1959, that was one of the most enduring collaborations between director Howard Hawks and star John Wayne.

Sheriff John T. Chance (played by Wayne) presides over the small Texas town of Rio Bravo. When Joe Burdette (Claude Akins) is arrested for murder, his wealthy brother Nathan (John Russell) assembles a virtual army to free him. Chance transforms the jail into a fortified refuge while awaiting help from other lawmen. Turning down assistance from well-meaning but inexperienced locals, he joins forces with Dude (Dean Martin), a former deputy who is now the town drunk; Stumpy (Walter Brennan), an elderly cantankerous deputy; and Colorado (Rick Nelson), a charismatic teenager who is more than adept at handling a gun. They are also aided by Feathers (Angie Dickinson), a local girl of dubious repute. Chance is eventually captured by Nathan and his men, who threaten to kill him unless a prisoner exchange is implemented. While enacting the swap, Chance breaks free, and a spectacular shoot-out ensues, with Nathan and his men ultimately surrendering.

Rio Bravo deftly mixes tension with overt humour. Among the first-rate cast, Martin was particularly good in this early dramatic role, and Brennan practically stole the picture as the cantankerous deputy. The film was made in response to High Noon (1952), which centres on a lawman who spends much of the movie asking for, but being denied, help by cowardly townspeople. Both Hawks and Wayne were angered by the film, with Wayne calling it un-American. Rio Bravo was a commercial success, and the two men all but remade the movie twice, in El Dorado (1967) and in Rio Lobo (1970), Hawks’s final film.

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Production notes and credits

• Studio: Warner Brothers
• Director and producer: Howard Hawks
• Writers: Jules Furthman and Leigh Brackett
• Music: Dimitri Tiomkin
• Running time: 141 minutes

Cast

• John Wayne (Sheriff John T. Chance)
• Dean Martin (Dude)
• Rick Nelson (Colorado Ryan)
• Angie Dickinson (Feathers)
• Walter Brennan (Stumpy)

Lee Pfeiffer