Other Titles • John Ford and Merian C. Cooper's Rio Grande (1950) • Rio Bravo (1950) • Rio Bravo, Rio Grande Command (1950)
Synopses for Rio Grande (1950)
1.
The last and least memorable of John Ford's famous cavalry trilogy (following Fort Apache and She Wore a Yellow Ribbon), Rio Grande nonetheless has an interesting continuity about the gentlemanly rules of military conduct. Here the focus is on the family. While creating a heated controversy over his handling of the Apache war, John Wayne must also contend with disgruntled wife Maureen O'Hara and estranged son Claude Jarman Jr., a new recruit trying to earn his father's love and respect. Ford seems to suggest that there are two conflicting codes of honor in every cavalry officer's life, the personal as well as the professional, and that it takes an act of heroism to maintain both. It's fascinating to observe Wayne's progression throughout the trilogy, as his personal stakes intensify. Also, this is the first of five onscreen appearances between the Duke and O'Hara, each filled with a competitive spirit and stormy sexuality. --Bill Desowitz
2.
In RIO GRANDE, the last part of John Ford's classic Cavalry Trilogy, John Wayne stars as Kirby York, a colonel at an army outpost along the U.S.-Mexico border where the Apache are always a problem. When his son, Jeff (Claude Jarman Jr.), whom he hasn't seen in more than a decade, arrives at the fort after flunking out of West Point, Yorke treats him coldly, warning the young man not to expect preferential treatment, which Jeff assures him he doesn't want. Yorke's ex-wife, Kathleen (Maureen O'Hara), appears, intending to persuade Jeff to leave the army. Yorke refuses to do the necessary paperwork to release his son, a decision seconded by Jeff, who has begun to adapt to army life--and before Kathleen can regroup for another attempt, the fort is attacked by the Apache. The making of RIO GRANDE was mandated by producer Herbert Yates, who would agree to finance the director's THE QUIET MAN only if Ford first made a Western, as insurance, with that film's proposed leading actors. Ford continues the series' realistic depiction of the rigors of life on a cavalry post in the late-19th-century Southwest, and members of the director's stock company--most notably Victor McLaglen, Harry Carey Jr., and Ben Johnson--acquit themselves admirably.
3.
John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara are embroiled in an epic battle with the Apaches and each other in this John Ford classic. Lt. Col. Yorke (Wayne) heads to the Rio Grande to fight a warring tribe. But Yorke faces his toughest battle when his unorthodox plan to outwit the elusive Apaches leads to possible court-martial. Locked in a bloody war, he must fight to redeem his honor and save his family.
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