Rio Bravo

John Wayne and Howard Hawks Team Up for One of the Most Famous Westerns in Film History

I have a confession to make; until a few days ago, I had never seen a John Wayne western before. I was certainly aware of who he was, and how much he is seen as an American hero to many (an overrated concept in some regards). There is an airport in Orange County named after him, and it houses a big ass statue of him in his western gear which towers over all the liberals foolish enough to live in that part of Southern California. John is as conservative as an actor can be in Hollywood, and there are certain people I know personally who do not want to see any of his movies because of that. But c'mon! We're here to watch a movie, not debate politics! If I can sit through a Chuck Norris movie, then there's no reason why I can see a John Wayne movie. I did see "McQ" years and years ago, and that was basically Wayne's answer to "Dirty Harry," a cop playing by his own rules. Looks like he was more comfortable doing a western...OK, I hate his single-minded far-right politics, but after watching "Rio Bravo," I can see why he was as famous as he was.

"Rio Bravo" was directed by Howard Hawks, and it is widely regarded as one of the greatest westerns ever made. It was made by Hawks and Wayne as a right wing response to another great western, "High Noon." In that film, Gary Cooper played a sheriff who urged the townspeople to come join him in getting armed and defend the town they live in. But in "Rio Bravo," John Wayne plays Sheriff John T. Chance, and he has absolutely no time at all for amateurs and will only deal with professionals who know what they are doing. Gives you an idea of how pissed off Wayne was at Gary Cooper.