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Rio Bravo on DVD (1959)
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Radio Times
Under-rated at the time of its release, this majestically paced western is one of the finest achievements of the genre, and stands as a career-best for many of its participants, its above-average length and simplistic plot masking a work of depth and artistry. Originally intended by director Howard Hawks as a riposte to the liberal High Noon, the quality and class of this movie owe little to what had gone before, save some dialogue lifted from Hawks's earlier To Have and Have Not. This is a definitive study of male camaraderie, particularly in the wordless opening sequence as John Wayne attempts to preserve the drunken Dean Martin's dignity. The casting is perfect (if you believe Ricky Nelson as a gunslinger) and the sense of fun contagious. Superb Technicolor photography and a Dimitri Tiomkin score provide the icing on a very impressive cake.
Cheerfully overlong and slow-moving Western in which everybody, including the director, does his thing. All very watchable for those with time to spare, but more a series of revue sketches than an epic. Time Out Arguably Hawks' greatest film, a deceptively rambling chamber Western made in response to the liberal homilies of High... Read more on www.timeout.com Members ReviewsReviews Voted Most HelpfulMost Recent Reviews |
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