This post was inspired by the passing of movie (or should I say film) critic, Robin Wood. Wood was a well respected teacher, author and critic. At 78, the man saw and reviewed and studied a huge amount of films from all the world. Before he passed, he sat down to finally write out his top ten list; big news, apparently in the "film" world as this guy's writings were into God's
Some of his picks were no real surprise; Seven Samurai, Tokyo Story, La Regle du jeu, Code inconnu and Sansho dayu or Sansho the Baliff. This latter film is truly no surprise, Wood once described this movie as a candidate for the best film ever made. So was it his number one? No it was not, and his actual choice has sent flittery little ripples throughout the snobby matrix of the cineaste (is that even a word? like, they have to make up their own word to separate themselves from the rest of us movie going plebes)
So what did this Film Critic Deity choose as his number one movie? Rio Bravo
Gasp. Sputter. Quick Mildred! Get the smelling salts!
Yes, Rio Bravo. A Hollywood film ..no, not film. Movie. A Hollywood movie. A western. A western starring John Wayne. Oh choke, sputter, faint .. the horror of it all!
Mr Wood was ill at the time he wrote out the list and some have suggested that perhaps he wasn't in his right mind and made some kind of mistake. Or maybe the selection was intended as a joke. Yes, Mildred, that must be it, old Robin was just having one over on us, wot wot?
Give me a minute here, I may need to heave ...
What the hell is wrong with people? Rio Bravo is a great movie. It is damn close to being a perfect movie. My number one movie of all time tends to shift around more than a fat set of buttocks in a pair of tight spandex shorts, but Rio Bravo has always been comfortably ensconced in my top five. It is, simply, a great movie.
Director Howard Hawks began his career in the silent movies and it shows. The opening sequence in which the film's essential relationship, between stoic Marshall Wayne and drunk gambler Dean Martin is established, as well as the film's most important plot hook, the jailing of big bad Claude Atkins, is done entirely without dialogue.
And while there is dialogue in the rest of the film, and its a snappy almost film noire private eye pattern, Hawks makes great use of his lens and the physical presence of his actors. John Wayne lounging in a doorway, acting casual but ready to draw down, doesn't need to say anything; his face looks like stone but the way he holds himself, the cock of his hip, the fingers on his gun belt, the tilt of his head all tell you Don't be stupid son, you try and you're dead. Claude Atkins is another actor who knows how to tell a story with few words. He looks huge in this movie, he stands erect, hips thrust out, his lip curled, as haughty and dangerous as a lion that only lets you keep him in a cage because he's bored.
Most film critics would think that if you were going to have a western at the top of your list it should be High Noon. Pardon me, I just lapsed into a brief coma. Come on, High Noon? I have never made it all the way through this snooze fest, its an incredibly effective soporific. I like Gary Cooper, I do, but he pretty much sleep walks his way through this movie. You want a good Cooper western, try Vera Cruz.
High Noon is a "message" western and wow, do you know it. Its freaking solemn which may be a good word for boring. Rio Bravo is also, in a way, a message western. Hawks actually made it in response to High Noon. He hated the notion that the cowardly town folks abandon Cooper to face the incoming bad guys on his own. He didn't see the Western mythos that way, he saw it as a cooperative venture, people united to fight a common evil.
That is exactly what happens in Rio Bravo. A group of rugged individuals unify to fight off what everyone agrees to be an unnecessary evil. In doing so, they leave their individualism behind, to the point where all the characters have nick names: Dude, Stumpy, Colorado, Chance .. yes, Wayne's characters name is actually John T Chance but the sobriquet is used more like a nick name in the movie.
Rio Bravo is a simple movie. Directors like Hawks and John Ford eschewed the camera trickery of other great directors like Orson Welles and Hitchcock. No cameras flying through the giant letters of a hotel's name (Citizen Kane) or perspectives shot through a rolled up newspaper (Marnie) for Mr Hawks. Just perfectly composed and framed shots, understated acting, and an ability to build tension with music, movement and pin point editing. You can add Kurosawa to this list of directors as well
So, the actual point of this post (yeh yeh Virginia, sometimes I have a point, its just blunted and mouldy) is not to review Rio Bravo but rather this wave of outrage that a respected film critic would pick it as his number one movie at all time. We shouldn't be too surprised, Wood actually wrote a whole book about the film, though I haven't myself read it
Is it the genre that upset the cineaste (or cineasses) applecart? Can people really not understand that the Western movie genre is just as respectable as any other? Rio Brave, Shane, Red River, how can you ignore these movies simply because they involve gunfights and cowboy hats. The answer of course, would be snobbery.
It does amaze me that the gaspers had no issue with Seven Samurai being on Woods list. I mean really, this is a western. How else would it be able to be so seamlessly adapted into Western form as The Magnificent Seven. The Seven is another movie about a group of individuals banding together to fight a common enemy, just as is Rio Bravo. And like Hawks, Kurosawa uses silence, movement inside still frames and perfect composition to tell his story, rather than a lot of flashy camera work
Citizen Kane is one of the greatest movies ever made. Its cinematic verisimilitude is breath taking to this day but its story and powerful performances help it to stand the test of time. Rio Bravo, to our modern eyes, veers towards corniness, especially the singing scenes with Dean Martin and Ricky Nelson; though let it be said that cowboys often entertained themselves with music, so this scene does have an authentic touch.
I think Bravo's simplicity is what makes it great, and what helps it to stand out to this day. I love Hitchcock, I loved his technical innovations, but some of his fancy camera work has not worn well with time and I love the Cohen Brothers as well, probably the most innovative camera people of their day but when the artistry is not tied to a compelling story, it just looks like visual masturbation.
A lot of people are dismissing Rio Bravo on Woods' list as a guilty pleasure, as if the film isn't "important" enough. Well hell, its a freaking movie, relax and chew some popcorn and I certainly recognize the artistry in films and even their power to create social change but let's not make them important, ok. There are a lot of B movies I really enjoy that may not make my top ten but not because of guilt factor but simply because I acknowledge that, while entertaining, there are other movies that are simply better.
A Boy And His Dog is the B movie of all B movies but it makes my top ten, not as a joke but because it is an incredibly effective, original movie that from the first time I saw it, I could recite to you frame by frame. Low budget doesn't always mean B and B doesn't always mean bad. But having said that, Rio Bravo was certainly a A movie, with a big time director and some of the biggest stars of the day
The cienasses shouldn't be recoiling in horror, they should clear the over educated gunk out of their heads and acknowledge the fact that this Hollywood Western is simply a great movie. Best of all time? I dunno, I can't even really think about that. But if you can have a movie, pop it into your DVD player and still enjoy it almost 50 yrs after it was made and the 20th time you've viewed it ....
"Let's make some noise, Colarada"
And while there is dialogue in the rest of the film, and its a snappy almost film noire private eye pattern, Hawks makes great use of his lens and the physical presence of his actors. John Wayne lounging in a doorway, acting casual but ready to draw down, doesn't need to say anything; his face looks like stone but the way he holds himself, the cock of his hip, the fingers on his gun belt, the tilt of his head all tell you Don't be stupid son, you try and you're dead. Claude Atkins is another actor who knows how to tell a story with few words. He looks huge in this movie, he stands erect, hips thrust out, his lip curled, as haughty and dangerous as a lion that only lets you keep him in a cage because he's bored.
Most film critics would think that if you were going to have a western at the top of your list it should be High Noon. Pardon me, I just lapsed into a brief coma. Come on, High Noon? I have never made it all the way through this snooze fest, its an incredibly effective soporific. I like Gary Cooper, I do, but he pretty much sleep walks his way through this movie. You want a good Cooper western, try Vera Cruz.
High Noon is a "message" western and wow, do you know it. Its freaking solemn which may be a good word for boring. Rio Bravo is also, in a way, a message western. Hawks actually made it in response to High Noon. He hated the notion that the cowardly town folks abandon Cooper to face the incoming bad guys on his own. He didn't see the Western mythos that way, he saw it as a cooperative venture, people united to fight a common evil.
That is exactly what happens in Rio Bravo. A group of rugged individuals unify to fight off what everyone agrees to be an unnecessary evil. In doing so, they leave their individualism behind, to the point where all the characters have nick names: Dude, Stumpy, Colorado, Chance .. yes, Wayne's characters name is actually John T Chance but the sobriquet is used more like a nick name in the movie.
Rio Bravo is a simple movie. Directors like Hawks and John Ford eschewed the camera trickery of other great directors like Orson Welles and Hitchcock. No cameras flying through the giant letters of a hotel's name (Citizen Kane) or perspectives shot through a rolled up newspaper (Marnie) for Mr Hawks. Just perfectly composed and framed shots, understated acting, and an ability to build tension with music, movement and pin point editing. You can add Kurosawa to this list of directors as well
So, the actual point of this post (yeh yeh Virginia, sometimes I have a point, its just blunted and mouldy) is not to review Rio Bravo but rather this wave of outrage that a respected film critic would pick it as his number one movie at all time. We shouldn't be too surprised, Wood actually wrote a whole book about the film, though I haven't myself read it
Is it the genre that upset the cineaste (or cineasses) applecart? Can people really not understand that the Western movie genre is just as respectable as any other? Rio Brave, Shane, Red River, how can you ignore these movies simply because they involve gunfights and cowboy hats. The answer of course, would be snobbery.
It does amaze me that the gaspers had no issue with Seven Samurai being on Woods list. I mean really, this is a western. How else would it be able to be so seamlessly adapted into Western form as The Magnificent Seven. The Seven is another movie about a group of individuals banding together to fight a common enemy, just as is Rio Bravo. And like Hawks, Kurosawa uses silence, movement inside still frames and perfect composition to tell his story, rather than a lot of flashy camera work
Citizen Kane is one of the greatest movies ever made. Its cinematic verisimilitude is breath taking to this day but its story and powerful performances help it to stand the test of time. Rio Bravo, to our modern eyes, veers towards corniness, especially the singing scenes with Dean Martin and Ricky Nelson; though let it be said that cowboys often entertained themselves with music, so this scene does have an authentic touch.
I think Bravo's simplicity is what makes it great, and what helps it to stand out to this day. I love Hitchcock, I loved his technical innovations, but some of his fancy camera work has not worn well with time and I love the Cohen Brothers as well, probably the most innovative camera people of their day but when the artistry is not tied to a compelling story, it just looks like visual masturbation.
A lot of people are dismissing Rio Bravo on Woods' list as a guilty pleasure, as if the film isn't "important" enough. Well hell, its a freaking movie, relax and chew some popcorn and I certainly recognize the artistry in films and even their power to create social change but let's not make them important, ok. There are a lot of B movies I really enjoy that may not make my top ten but not because of guilt factor but simply because I acknowledge that, while entertaining, there are other movies that are simply better.
A Boy And His Dog is the B movie of all B movies but it makes my top ten, not as a joke but because it is an incredibly effective, original movie that from the first time I saw it, I could recite to you frame by frame. Low budget doesn't always mean B and B doesn't always mean bad. But having said that, Rio Bravo was certainly a A movie, with a big time director and some of the biggest stars of the day
The cienasses shouldn't be recoiling in horror, they should clear the over educated gunk out of their heads and acknowledge the fact that this Hollywood Western is simply a great movie. Best of all time? I dunno, I can't even really think about that. But if you can have a movie, pop it into your DVD player and still enjoy it almost 50 yrs after it was made and the 20th time you've viewed it ....
"Let's make some noise, Colarada"
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