Year of Release: 1950Country of Origin: USA
Director: John Ford
Cast: John Wayne, Maureen O'Hara, Ben Johnson, Claude Jarman Jr.
Plot outline: A cavalry unit located on the Mexican border must control Indian uprisings (IMDb).
Rio Grande is set at a remote, understaffed fort near the Mexican border in 1879. Lt. Col. Yorke (John Wayne) is facing an uprising of Apache Indians, who emerge from protected villages in Mexico for hit and run attacks. Yorke's young son has failed West Point and enlisted to prove his manhood, by coincidence assigned to his father's command. Wayne's estranged wife Kathleen (Maureen O'Hara) arrives to claim her underaged son from the Army, and rekindle romance with Wayne. Meanwhile, Tyree (Ben Johnson) is wanted for manslaughter, and there are several songs from the impressive "Sons of the Pioneers". Competently directed, with a fine cast and cinematography, the movie is surprisingly sentimental but sometimes drags. As usual in Ford movies, the Indians are faceless savages, with audience sympathy intended for the cavalry soldiers. Claude Jarman Jr. is well-cast for the role of Wayne's son. He looks the boy his character is supposed to be, and conveys the earnest and determined character traits necessary for the role. The father-son/commander-recruit/ guerilla-war theme was previously used in Lives of a Bengal Lancer (1935), another movie in which the son has to perform heroic feats to win the respect of his father. (BK)
My judgement: *** out of 4 stars
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