I love this movie, but I never thought of it as a masterpiece. Maybe I was wrong.
“I’m Hard to Get, John T.” | The New York Observer: "In 1959, Howard Hawks' Rio Bravo was just another all-star western - with the Duke, Dean Martin, Ricky Nelson and Walter Brennan and a very hot Angie Dickinson. But 48 years later, writes Peter Bogdanovich, it has become a life-affirming, raucous, profound masterpiece."
16 comments:
I think it's pretty darn good.
Rio Bravo a great western? I don't think so. It's too showy and theatrical. But then I don't much like High Noon--too schematic--either. How about any number of Anthony Mann westerns? I prefer them to any by Hawks or even Ford with the briliant exception of The Searchers. My opinion only of course.
I think that Rio Bravo is a very entertaining western. That doesn't make it great, just fun to watch.
I think there's an Unwritten Rule that a masterpiece has to chew something out of the viewer, that it has to be a little "difficult," has to demand some audience participation over and above laughter and applause and delight. THE SEARCHERS demands that you see Wayne as a genuinely suffering, genuinely irritating specimen of humanity, doomed from Frame One to emotional isolation; RIDE THE HIGH COUNTRY demands that you witness Joel McCrea's noble death, a loss that gnaws at the viewer. RIO BRAVO, on the other hand, is a perfect confection of a Western; everything hums along delightfully, every little plot point pays off, the good guys win and even manage to kill Roy Barcroft along the way. The question is, do you require more emotional depth than a confection offers to proclaim a movie a masterpiece?
Good point, Richard, and I think most people do require that emotional depth. But I sure do like a confection now and then.
My favorite is The Searchers too. Just can't top it. Or The The Three Godfathers. Or She Wears a Yellow Ribbon. And, of course, Ride The High Country.
But Rio Bravo resonates too. Theatrical yes but it holds the eye.
I also love The Unforgiven. Maybe it's the theme song.
Whenever I make a list of my 10 favorite westerns, it turns out that John Wayne is in most of them.
Nice web site, Bill Crider. (followed your link from CriminalBrief)
Thanks, Thalia.
It was great to see that comment about High Noon by Ed Gorman. I thought I was the only person on the planet who didn't like that movie. I feel validated. Thanks, Ed.
Stilwell
My top ten are all John Wayne or Clint Eastwood, except for Silverado and Once Upon A Time in The West.
Bogdanovich has always been a pretty shallow talent, and presumably a pretty shallow critic. His best films I've seen, TARGETS and PAPER MOON, have been pretty good confections, or relatively adept imitations, of art as well. His THE LAST PICTURE SHOW a notch below.
He always likes to say something like "I had lunch with Howard Hawks, and he told me . . . ."
Stilwell forgets that a disagreement over the merits of HIGH NOON caused a rift between me and another guy that has endured for about 25 years. Not, I might add, because I want it that way. For the record, he hated it, I liked it.
Oddly enough, though I remember the rift, I'd forgotten who took which side of the argument.
The Cap'n is right. I had and have forgotten both the rift and the other person involved. I hope the other person wasn't me. I don't think there's a rift between me and The Cap'n. Is there? I don't hate High Noon, I just have no interest in seeing it again. But I'm old and forgetful, so maybe I should try it again. Nah.
Stilwell
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