Rio Grande (1950) is the third installment of John Ford's "cavalry trilogy", following Fort Apache (1948) and She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949). John Wayne stars in all three films, as Captain Kirby Yorke (York) in Fort Apache, then as Capt. of Cavalry Nathan Cutting Brittles in She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, and finally as a promoted Lieutenant Colonel Kirby Yorke (York) in Rio Grande.

Ford wanted to make The Quiet Man first, but the man pulling the purse strings at Republic Pictures, Herbert Yates, insisted that Ford make Rio Grande first, using the same combination of Wayne and Maureen O'Hara; Yates didn't feel that the script of The Quiet Man was that good, and wanted Rio Grande out first to pay for The Quiet Man. (To Yates's surprise The Quiet Man, on its eventual release in 1952, would become Republic's number one film and become a favorite of Ford/Wayne fans.)

In Rio Grande Col. Yorke is posted on the frontier to defend settlers against renegade Apaches. Col. Yorke is under incredible stress between the Apaches and the young-raw recruits sent to the post. Tension is added when Yorke's son (who he hasn't seen in fifteen years), Trooper Jeff Yorke (Claude Jarman Jr.), is posted to the fort. Not wanting the other men to think he is favoring his son, he ends up being harder on him. More tension needed? Enter the estranged Mrs. Kathleen Yorke (Maureen O'Hara) who has come to take the under-age Yorke home with her. The Colonel and Mrs. Yorke figure out it would be best to let young Jeff grow up and make the decision whether to stay or leave for himself; he chooses to stay. The tension brought about in the fight for their son rekindles the love they once had for each other. Maybe under the pressure brought by his wife and son, Col. Yorke comes up with a plan of attack against the Apaches that isn't very highly thought of by command; this leads to the threat of court-martial. Now Col. Yorke must fight to save, and put back together, his family and his honor.

Look for the "John Ford Stock Company" regulars again: Victor McLaglen, Harry Carey Jr., and Ben Johnson.

Credits

• Directed by: John Ford
• Story: James Warner Bellah
• Screenplay: James Kevin McGuinness
• Produced by: John Ford, Merian C. Cooper, & Herbert J. Yates
• Cast:
  • John Wayne as Lt. Col. Kirby Yorke (Commanding Officer, Fort Stark)
  • Maureen O'Hara as Mrs. Yorke

External links

• Rio Grande (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0042895/) at the Internet Movie Database
• Yahoo! Movies entry for Rio Grande (http://movies.yahoo.com/shop?d=hv&id=1800111968&cf=info)