Product Description

Studio: Lions Gate Home Ent. Release Date: 10/05/2007 Run time: 105 minutes Rating: Nr

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #8586 in DVD
• Brand: Lions Gate
• Released on: 2007-10-05
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Format: NTSC
• Running time: 105 minutes

Customer Reviews

SOLID VEHICLE FOR THE GREAT JOHN WAYNE
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 Yorke 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.[1][2]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

The film was shot in Monument Valley, and other locations in southeastern Utah around the town of Moab and along the Colorado River.[3]



In Rio Grande, Colonel Yorke is posted on the frontier to defend settlers against hostile 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.



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.

One of John Wayne's Best
The DVD is an excellent quality presentation of one of the Duke's best movies. The picture and sound quality if very good and the movie is presented in black & whitea it should be and not an attempt to adding color. The movie provides a good blend of action, comedy, and romance throughout the movie. It is probably the best of John Ford's Calvary Trilogy. The chemistry between Wayne and Maureen O'Hara is excellent as is her playful tormenting of Sgt. Twin Cannon. If you are a fan of the Duke this is a must have.

This One Has It All!
This film has it all: romance, action, gun battles, kidnappings. This is one of the finest western films ever made. The acting is superb and the cinamatography (sp?) is fabulous. See this in color? No way! There is something special about B/W films that is ruined when computerized into color. If you don't have this film, SELL YOUR HOUSE and buy it!