Rio Bravo

(January 20, 1998)

(Updated September, 2003)

by: Jim Monaco

Rio Bravo, in my opinion, is Dean's greatest dramatic performance.

The opening sequence is a work of art. Not one line of dialog is uttered for the first few minutes of the film. After the credits, with it's haunting Dimitri Tiomkin score, we see a ragged, dirty looking derelict with tattered clothes slowly enter the back door of a saloon. Could this be Dean Martin, the suave, devil-may-care, swinging singer-comedian we grew up with? The straight-man crooner with the clean-cut wavy hair and Italian good looks? I'm sure some people thought "This has to be a joke."

Well, from the time he walks into the bar to the time he walks down the street with Walter Brennan at the end of the movie, Dean has us believing his character of Dude, the deputy with a problem. This is a Dean Martin that was never seen before and I don't believe ever since. Dean emoted such anguish and such pain and humiliation at the hands of not only Claude Akins as Joe Burdette but from Wayne's Sheriff Chance, particularly in the scene where he kicks the spitoon out of Dude's reach. If you are a Dean Martin fan and have seen all his movies, TV shows and club appearances, the next time Rio Bravo is on (or better yet, buy it or rent it on tape) look real closely at Dean's facial expressions. It is the best acting of his long career.

Snapshot of Dino on location

There are quite a few scenes Dean just takes over by sheer acting.

After the saloon scene and the scene where Dean shoots the gun out of the bad guy's hand, the next scene is where he greets the wagon master in the middle of the road. His admission that this is the first time in years that he has been seen sober is his first step to recovery. His friendship with the sheriff is revealed through some natural dialog with Wayne.

The most riveting scene in the movie is where the story shows Dude fighting the demons and the DTs on a lonely chair in the middle of the jailhouse. This is one of the only scenes in Dean's career where you see tears well up in his eyes as his character looks up at the sheriff in shame and anguish. Dean made me feel Dude's inner disintegration in this moment. Dude tries to beat the pain by banging his fist into his thigh, over and over again. The audience is hooked. We feel for this man because of Dean's acting abilities. We feel his pain, his hurting (which we find out later the cause of it all is not so much the alchohol, but because of his love for a woman who left him a few years before. A lot of us have been there). We also root for his triumph over it all.

German Program Dell Comic

The next memorable scene is when he shoots at the killer of the wagonmaster and he and the sheriff have to go into the saloon after him. This great scene of dialog sets the stage for not only capturing the killer but it is the turning point for Dude. He must prove not only to the sheriff but also to himself that he can still handle the job he was hired for, and also if he still had what it took to be the man he once was. When the sheriff tells him to go around to the back door (where we saw him slinking in in the very first scene of the movie) Dude says "I've been going in the back door--they haven't been letting me in the front." They both agree it's time to find out if Dude still has it in him to be a deputy and a man able to stand on his own two feet.

Again, watch Dean closely as he walks towards the saloon. He lets us know that he is not sure of himself. He rubs his wrist nervously, adjusts his gunbelt, knowing he might have to draw down on one or more of the Burdette men. His total command once inside is, again, a great piece of acting. See Dean go from nervousness to commanding and finally to devastation as he is made to believe he is a fool as his best friend looks at him in pity when they can't find the killer with the muddy boot. Dean's expression is the most believable I have ever seen in his acting. His expression of despair makes you want to cry out "HE'S IN THE LOFT ABOVE YOU!"

His heroic gunshot is cause for applause. He has been redeemed. The bad guys are in awe and are now frightened. (The only part of this scene that has always bothered me is when Dean notices the blood dripping in the drink on the bar--the director, Howard Hawks, has him do a doubletake that I often wondered why no one else in the bar noticed the same thing he saw as he so obviously saw something odd and looked at the glass in that way.)

When Wayne says, "I guess they'll let you in the front door from now on." the little boy's look of acceptance on Dean's face is heart felt. His best friend and mentor has given him a pat on the back for a job well done. The sheriff knows this is a big moment and turning point in Dude's life.

Foreign Programs

Dude is confident enough when Nathan Burdette and his gang show up and he single handedly stands up to them all, actually shooting the rein of one of them who tries to advance without turning in his gun.

When Chance gives Dude his own guns back, watch Dean. His character becomes speechless, his eyes and mannerisms are of thanks, love (for his guns) and such gratefulness to a friend he thought he had lost. Chance bought the guns from the man Dude sold them to years before. He even cleaned and oiled them. How many friends in the world are there like that?

French Picture Magazine

The movie goes on with the story, Dean's character straightens out, then he starts to fall apart inside, making a mistake at his post which almost allows the sheriff to get killed. He is ready to quit and go back to the bottle and his previous lifestyle.

Another great scene takes place when Dude is ready to take his shot of whiskey, admitting to himself that he is destined to be a drunk, when the music from the Burdette saloon begins to play again. Dude realizes what has brought him to this point in his life and he decides to take a stand. With self esteem and self confidence he pours the glass of whiskey back into the bottle without spilling a drop. His shakes are gone. He is whole once again.

Dean makes all these moments of the film "happen". Of all the actors, his role is more a point of the story than any of the others, including Wayne's, and his acting is superb. He is the hero at the end, also, when he brawls with Joe Burdette and brings him to justice.

CD 2 Diff.Video Covers Lobby Card

Japan DVD USA DVD

As a movie, the actual film of Rio Bravo has some flubs that many people miss. Let's start with Dean as a ventriliquist. There are two scenes where Dean has dialog but his lips never move. When Chance tells Dude to come inside for a beer, and adds that it's ".....cold!" Dean's line is "Just as long as it's beer." Look closely. His lips are not moving. Also, towards the end at the warehouse shootout, after Dean has to take two shots to blow up the dynamite thrown by Stumpy, Chance yells, "Took ya two." and Dean waves him away and says "I didn't allow for the wind." Again, no moving lips. Now, this wasn't Dean's fault. It was all done by the director and editor of the movie.

Also, a flub hard to notice unless you're watching for it is the case of the double shot glass. When Dean's character is ready to take his shot of whiskey in the jailhouse and the music across the street begins to play, Dean slowly sets his glass down on the table. The film cuts directly to a close up of Dean who now has the glass back up to his lips. Tsk, tsk. Well, that's show biz. There are a few more minor bloopers in the movie but there's too much yet to tell about Rio Bravo to list them all.

............................................................Foreign Posters

One sheet poster (worth $750-$1,000)

For instance, the story. As you may know, John Wayne and Howard Hawks did a so-so remake of Rio Bravo called El Dorado, with Robert Mitchum as the drunk. The story line was almost identical (although the dialog and acting were nowhere as good as the original). The interesting part about this is that if you read the original script for Rio Bravo, and the Bantam Paperback novelization, you will see that some of what was left out of Rio Bravo ended up in El Dorado.

For example: in El Dorado the bad guys ride down main street shooting at everyone. James Caan, in the role of Mississippi (shades of Colorado), dives in front of the horses and they jump over him. He then gets up and shoots at them. Cut from the script of Rio Bravo, Colorado was supposed to do this.

45 promo with intro by John Wayne (worth $350)

The original never told you Dude's full name, or some of the others for that matter. Well, here's a few for you (according to the paperback book): Dude's last name was Walton. Colorado's name was Jim Ryan. The guy shot in the saloon in the beginning was Gurney Hayes (played, with no lines, by actor Bing Russell, Kurt's father). Stumpy's last name was Henderson and Feathers' name was (are you ready??) Felicity Slater. Howard Hawks, the director, decided to just keep the nicknames of most of the characters except for Chance, the sheriff, and even that sounds like a nickname.

..................................................................45 rpm imports

Movie Novelization Feathers & Dude 25 years later

Taking direction from Howard Hawks

Other facts--because they were both singers, their contracts called for Dean and Ricky Nelson to sing seperate songs. If one was to sing, the other had to have equal time. It has been written, though, that Nelson absolutely hated singing "Cindy" and almost refused to do it. Dean was also supposed to sing the title song but only ended the movie with the verse "By the memory of a song, while the rolling Rio Bravo rolls along." The recorded version, on Capitol records, however, is different. Dean sings, "...while the river Rio Bravo flows along." Maybe they changed the words because, although Rio means river, we never seen one in or near the town.

Another omission that was filmed but not put into the movie was some dialog between Wayne, Dean and Nelson. A line or two from the following is in the original script, but not all. Some was added later as they filmed and what follows was recorded on a very rare vinyl promo record advertising the movie. (This vinyl promo is a very treasured part of my collection.)

Radio Spot--Rio Bravo:

Announcer: The motion picture cast of the year. Here are John Wayne, Dean Martin and Ricky Nelson in a scene from Rio Bravo.

Martin: What's all the ruckus?

Wayne: They were trying to make it clear to Colorado that he shouldn't-a-joined up with us.

Martin: Is it clear, kid?

Nelson: They make it real easy to choose sides.

Wayne: Whatsa matter, kid?

Nelson: I never killed a man before today.

Wayne: I remember the day I felt the same way. (Pause) Any of 'em talk?

Martin: Oh, just one. He only had time for three words.

Wayne: What'd he say?

Martin: Can't repeat it in front of the kid.

These lines were to be spoken after Colorado dives in front of the horses and shoots at the Burdette gang as they ride away. It wasn't used in the finished movie but was included on the promo sent to radio stations. The promo includes 8 seperate commercials, 5 at 60 seconds each and 3 at 20 seconds each.

Copies from original shooting script

Added notes: In the book "Focus on Howard Hawks" (Prentice-Hall, Inc. 1972) the author Robin Wood writes (in contrast to the other characters in the film)..."it is the figure of the hero's fallible friend that is most fully worked on and transformed in Rio Bravo."

Hawks said that Rio Bravo was really Dean Martin's picture.

Mexican Lobby Cards

Small plastic display flag ....................................................................................

Publicity Still & Sheet Music using same picture

This paperback was published in 1956, and has nothing whatsoever to do with the paperback adapted from the movie version.

In 1982, Orbus Publishing-London wrote (in the book "They Went That-a-way...") "...the deputy's full recovery of self esteem is the main story development."

The movie's title in Italy was "Un Dollaro D'Onore".

The original 1-sheet poster for Rio Bravo sells for between $750 and $1,000, with lobby cards going for $50 to $100, depending on what condition they are in. Posters of different sizes from other countries start at $125 and the larger Italian posters are worth at least $125 on up to $200. The Dell comic book goes for between $75 and $90 depending on condition.

Rio Bravo is director Quentin Tarentino's favorite movie.

Scenes from Rio Bravo are seen in the movie "Get Shorty". John Travolta corrects someone when he says, "Robert Mitchum was the drunk in El Dorado. DEAN MARTIN was the drunk in Rio Bravo."

Director John Carpenter's movie "Assault on Precinct 13" was his tribute to his favorite film, Rio Bravo.

Reference material and sources include:

Howard Hawks--Story Teller by Gerald Mast, Oxford University Press, copyright 1982.

Focus on Howard Hawks, Edited by Joseph McBride, Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, NJ, copyright 1972.

They Went That-a-way, Orbis Publishing-London, Editor-Ann Lloyd, copyright 1982.

Screen Stories Magazine, May 1959 (Best movies of the month in story form)

Favorite Westerns Magazine, Issue Number One, copyright 1981 by Serial World Publishers, Mankato, Minnesota.

Paperback, Bantam Books, NY, author Leigh Brackett (Based on screenplay by Jules Furthman and Leigh Brackett) January 1959.

Dell-Movie Classic (Four Color) Comic Book #1018

French Movie Picture Novelization Magazine, "cine VAILLANCE" (contains hundreds of actual pictures taken from the movie, put in story form, printed in French. Dean's name is listed as DUKE and Angie Dickinson is listed as DAISY).

Warner Home Video-VHS Tapes (2 releases, each with different cover)

CD's: My Rifle, My Pony and Me, Bear Family Record, Hambergen, Germany (Dean sings My Rifle, My Pony and Me with Ricky Nelson, and Rio Bravo)

The Greatest Western Movie themes, Ned Nash Orchestra, Laser Light Digital, Los Angeles (Song listed as Rio Bravo but is actually the "DeGuello" the cut throat song played by the trumpeter in Burdette's saloon).

22 Famous Western Film Tracks, Hollywood Studio Orchestra, Laser, printed in West Germany (Again, song listed as Rio Bravo but is the "DeGuello").

Vinyl: Capitol records #4174, My Rifle, My Pony and Me/Rio Bravo

Capitol records promo #1063, It's Rio Bravo, contains Rio Bravo/My Rifle, My Pony and Me backed with Nelson Riddle's Orchestra "The DeGuello" with paper sleeve.

Warner Bros. JB2262 My Rifle, My Pony and Me (one sided single. Duet with Dean and Ricky Nelson, introduction by John Wayne <rare>).

Tower Records T/DT 5006, The Lush Years, contains Rio Bravo

Warner Bros. presents RIO BRAVO 33 1/3 RPM Radio Spot Announcements Promo SP1016 (Extremely rare).

The Song, Rio Bravo, sung by Dean can be found on at least 3 LPs and 7 CDs.