She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Director:

John Ford

Writers:

James Warner Bellah (story)
Frank S. Nugent (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

22 October 1949 (USA)

Genre:

Western

Tagline:

Wayne's greatest role as an Indian fighting Captain !

Plot:

Captain Nathan Brittles, on the eve of retirement, takes out a last patrol to stop an impending massive Indian attack...

Plot Keywords:

Attack | Retirement | Native American Chief | Watch | Last Stand

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 1 nomination

Cast

John Wayne	...	Capt. Nathan Cutting Brittles
Joanne Dru	...	Olivia Dandridge
John Agar	...	Lt. Flint Cohill
Ben Johnson	...	Sgt. Tyree
Harry Carey Jr.	...	2nd Lt. Ross Pennell
Victor McLaglen	...	Top Sgt. Quincannon
Mildred Natwick	...	Abby Allshard aka Old Iron Pants
George O'Brien	...	Major Mac Allshard, Commanding Officer Fort Starke
Arthur Shields	...	Dr. O'Laughlin
Michael Dugan	...	Sgt. Hochbauer
Chief John Big Tree	...	Chief Pony That Walks
Fred Graham	...	Sgt. Hench
Chief Sky Eagle	...	Chief Sky Eagle
Tom Tyler	...	Cpl. Mike Quayne, Leader of Paradise River Patrol
Noble Johnson	...	Chief Red Shirt

Runtime:

103 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Canada:G (Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Quebec) | Canada:PG (Ontario) | West Germany:12 (f) | Finland:K-3 (new rating: 2001) | France:U | Norway:A | Finland:K-12 | Germany:12 | Sweden:Btl | UK:U | USA:Approved (MPAA rating: certificate #15509)

Filming Locations:

Kanab Movie Fort, Kanab, Utah, USA

Company:

Argosy Pictures

Trivia:

As the regiment's blacksmith, named "Wagner", is seen at work, we can hear the orchestra playing the "Nibelung"-motif from Richard Wagner's famous opera, "Siegfried". In the opera the motif is connected with the forging of Siegfried's sword.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Sgt. Tyree stops the paymaster's stage coach, he walks back past the horses to the coach. In the footwell of the driver's seat there are two holes through which the reins pass. The head of the stuntman who was driving the "driverless" coach is visible.

Quotes:

[last lines]
Narrator: [as the troop passes by] So here they are: the dog-faced soldiers, the regulars, the fifty-cents-a-day professionals... riding the outposts of a nation. From Fort Reno to Fort Apache - from Sheridan to Startle - they were all the same: men in dirty-shirt blue and only a cold page in the history books to mark their passing. But wherever they rode - and whatever they fought for - that place became the United States.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Making of 'The Quiet Man' (1992) (V)

Wayne matures as the theme befits the role.

The second instalment of the acclaimed John Ford cavalry trilogy had a lot to live up to me personally based on my joy with Fort Apache. So it is with a little sadness that I write that this film failed to love up to the promise of Apache as regards a pulsing heartbeat, but so much to enjoy here I still find myself grinning in the way that only good cinema can make me.

The theme here is the passing of time, time and love lost, lest we forget indeed, these themes give the film a good core to work from but as good as an affecting character piece as this is, you still scratch around for something to lift your adrenalin juices out of first gear, it doesn't happen but anyone being fore warned about the nature of the beast will be richly rewarded regardless.

John Wayne gives a top notch performance in what is obviously one of the first out and out serious roles that Ford gave him, his ageing Captain Nathan Brittles requires him to put in a very human fallible performance and he achieves this in spades, a believable leader ruing the calling of time on his career in the service. Yet even Wayne's affecting turn is trumped by the most gorgeous cinematography you could wish to see from the 1940s, Winton Hoch clashed with Ford on the shoot about various perfections {both parties}, but the final result is incredible, witness a scene as Brittles visits his dead wife's grave, the backdrop is all purple and red, a storm imminent, has shooting in the desert ever been so lush ?.

The film leaves an indelible mark on the conscious for its art and performances, but as a story it just about stays on the good side of safe, 7/10 for the film and its structure, 10/10 for the artistry involved.