Rio Grande

The final installment in John Ford's "Cavalry Trilogy," Rio Grande (1950) is a decent enough cavalry Western, even if Ford's disinterest in the material shows. It lacks the complexity of Fort Apache and the poetic beauty of She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, but as straightforward entertainment it's solid. Perhaps most notably, it marks the first big-screen pairing of John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara, whose natural, rough-and-tumble chemistry make them one of the all-time great screen couples.

Lt. Colonel Kirby York (John Wayne) commands a cavalry regiment fighting Apaches in Arizona. He is disheartened to receive news that his son Jeff (Claude Jarman Jr.) has washed out of West Point, but is shocked to find him assigned to the regiment as a trooper. Tensions immediately boil as Apache captives escape, and York's strong-willed wife Kathleen (Maureen O'Hara) shows up, demanding that Jeff leave the army and come home. All of this is put on hold when the Apaches kidnap a group of children, and General Phillip Sheridan (J. Carrol Naish) authorizes York to launch an illegal invasion of Mexico to rescue the captives.

Rio Grande is a primarily a bill-paying job; Ford wanted to get funding for The Quiet Man and was badgered into making this by a reluctant studio. It's somewhere between the conventional narrative of Fort Apache and Yellow Ribbon's slice of cavalry life. It has a multi-faceted plot whose strands don't always work out to satisfaction: the tension between York and his son is dropped as soon as Mrs. York turns up, and subplots with Sgt. Quincannon's (Victor McLaglen) guilt over his Civil War activities and Trooper Tyree's (Ben Johnson) troubles with the law are left hanging. The Indians are of the straightforward war-whooping type, appearing when convenient to the story to get shot en masse. Calling the film cliched may be harsh, but there isn't much originality on show.

The film's most interesting facet is its exploration of the lingering after-effects of the Civil War. A subplot of Yellow Ribbon, North-South reconciliation is a major theme of Rio Grande. In a cruel irony, York was forced by General Sheridan to burn down his own home in the Shenandoah Valley, something Kathleen has never forgiven him for; she gives a frosty toast to the cavalry which seems an ironic rebuke to Celia Johnson's homily in In Which We Serve. Sergeant Quincannon agonizes over his own role in the affair, with Kathleen branding him "the reluctant arsonist." The movie ends on a wonderful note of reconciliation, as the cavalry plays Dixie for the benefit of Kathleen, the present happiness allowing the Yorks to move on.

Ford continues his habitual reverence towards military life, albeit more crudely than the previous cavalry films. Though York tells Jeff to expect a life of hardship, the film's actual content seems like an 1880's recruitment film: everybody gets to fight heroically, do cool horse stunts, save little kids, sing all day and get home for supper. The worst part are those damned politicians, who hamstring the troopers from properly fighting the Indians. Thus, in a gesture that would make Douglas MacArthur proud, Sheridan authorizes York to go on an illegal mission into Mexico (sound familiar?). Compared to the ambiguities of Fort Apache, Ford's take on military duty, frontier warfare and even international law is downright reactionary: "Why spoil the beauty of the thing with legality?"

Pitched at a straight action-adventure level, Rio Grande is good. Ford handles the action scenes with his usual aplomb: three big battles with the Indians are exciting and spectacularly filmed. The movie's cinematography is a bit more restrained than its predecessors, with even Monument Valey serving more as a backdrop than a part of the action. Victor Young's fine score is another highlight, even if the Sons of the Pioneers get one too many songs.

John Wayne is in fine form with a straightforward character. Maureen O'Hara is wonderfully fiery and gets her licks in before she and the Duke reconcile. The two play wonderfully off each other, with a powerful screen chemistry that overcomes the oft-weak scripting. Ben Johnson and Chill Wills shine in supporting roles, and Victor McLaglen's excesses are fairly in check.

Rio Grande isn't one of Ford's best films, but it's a decent enough conclusion to the Cavalry Trilogy, and a fine film in its own right.