Rio? Bravo!

Even though it is slightly over-long and drags toward the end, 'Rio Bravo' is a classic of the Western genre. It's true that this is ostensibly a morality play and the moral here is that, in the Wild West, some law was better than no law. This is the first Howard Hawks film that I've seen and I'm impressed. John Wayne, (who grows on me the more films I see of his), plays his ubiquitous charismatic tough guy perfectly. Did he just play himself, or a version of himself, in his films? Possibly. But nevertheless, he is fun to watch. There are some great shots here of sunsets and blazing red skies that will light up your TV screen. It is also worth seeing for the sidekick characters of Dean Martin and Ricky Nelson who are both impressive, and the wonderful character of Stumpy played by Walter Brennan is worth the price of admission alone - he will bring a smile to the stoniest of faces. Also a surprise was the incredibly young Angie Dickinson playing Wayne's love interest. It's no wonder she went on to bigger things based on the quality of her performance here. This one is definitely worth a look.