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Rio Bravo

Play trailer Poster for Rio Bravo 1959 2h 21m Western Play Trailer Watchlist
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96% Tomatometer 50 Reviews 90% Popcornmeter 10,000+ Ratings
When gunslinger Joe Burdette (Claude Akins) kills a man in a saloon, Sheriff John T. Chance (John Wayne) arrests him with the aid of the town drunk, Dude (Dean Martin). Before long, Burdette's brother, Nathan (John Russell), comes around, indicating that he's prepared to bust his brother out of jail if necessary. Chance decides to make a stand until reinforcements arrive, enlisting Dude, an old cripple named Stumpy (Walter Brennan) and baby-faced cowboy Colorado Ryan (Ricky Nelson) to help.
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Rio Bravo

Rio Bravo

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Critics Consensus

Rio Bravo finds director Howard Hawks -- and his stellar ensemble cast -- working at peak performance, and the end result is a towering classic of the Western genre.

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Critics Reviews

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Richard Brody The New Yorker 04/23/2013
The movie is simultaneously an apogee of the classic Western style, with its principled violence in defense of just law, and an eccentrically hyperbolic work of modernism, which yokes both bumptious erotic comedy and soul-searing rawness to the mission. Go to Full Review Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times 04/23/2013
4/4
To watch Rio Bravo is to see a master craftsman at work. The film is seamless. There is not a shot that is wrong. It is uncommonly absorbing, and the 141-minute running time flows past like running water. Go to Full Review TIME Magazine 04/27/2009
Wayne, of course, walks off with the show -- not by doing anything in particular, but simply by being what he is: at 51, still one of the most believable he-men in Hollywood. Go to Full Review Moira Walsh The Catholic World 11/28/2023
In addition to its excessive length and consequent slow pace the film has other liabilities... Nevertheless the characterizations are unusually solid and get more interesting as they go along. Go to Full Review Matt Brunson Film Frenzy 08/10/2023
4/4
A marvelous motion picture. Go to Full Review Noah Gittell Washington City Paper 07/21/2023
It's pure romantic bliss that feels about as far away from a political statement as you could imagine. Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Spencer Nielsen 2d A crowd-pleasing western, that is also a procedural and a hangout movie featuring a wonderful ensemble headed by John Wayne. Howard Hawks’s direction is conspicuously strong here. It does run a bit long. See more Fred 10/24/2024 It looked spectacular on the big screen. It's a wonderful film, with a great cast. See more steve 05/22/2023 Great great movie!!! Everyone is wonderful and perfect for their roles.it’s also very funny 🤠🤠🤠 See more Bob Z @theyazfan 6d It was laughable when Ricky Nelson and Dean Martin started to sing during such a serious situation. John Wayne tripping on the staircase and going completely unconscious was a terrible scene. Walter Brennan played such an annoying character. I thought Dean Martin was outstanding. See more John S @RT07700383 Apr 9 Just everything is fine in this beautiful western, having watched it and re-watched it so many times: acting, plot, characters, music (and not least the 'De Guello', played as a warning from the baddies to the goodies). Never get tired of it. See more Chris B @Papa13070 Mar 30 The story itself is a composite of all the elements needed to make a great Western: good guys in white hats, bad guys in black hats, townspeople content to stand aside and to let the battle be fought between the outlaws and the man with the tin star, a beautiful woman to distract the hero and finally help him when the chips are down. The main stars, John Wayne, Dean Martin, and Angie Dickinson all turn in the top-notch performances one would expect from them, and Rick Nelson is a very pleasant surprise as Colorado. Ward Bond is always solid in anything he does. Walter Brennan in his role as Stumpy, however, is the glue that holds the whole thing together and makes it work. His constant griping under his breath, his goading of Wayne, his dialogue with the prisoner and his general comic relief set Rio Bravo apart from any other Western and put it in a class of its own. See more Read all reviews
Rio Bravo

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Cast & Crew

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Howard Hawks

Director

John Wayne

Sheriff John T. Chance

Dean Martin

Dude ("Borachón")

Ricky Nelson

Colorado Ryan

Angie Dickinson

Feathers

Walter Brennan

Stumpy

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Rio Bravo

Rio Bravo (1959) Rio Bravo (1959) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis When gunslinger Joe Burdette (Claude Akins) kills a man in a saloon, Sheriff John T. Chance (John Wayne) arrests him with the aid of the town drunk, Dude (Dean Martin). Before long, Burdette's brother, Nathan (John Russell), comes around, indicating that he's prepared to bust his brother out of jail if necessary. Chance decides to make a stand until reinforcements arrive, enlisting Dude, an old cripple named Stumpy (Walter Brennan) and baby-faced cowboy Colorado Ryan (Ricky Nelson) to help.
Director
Howard Hawks
Producer
Howard Hawks
Screenwriter
B.H. McCampbell, Jules Furthman, Leigh Brackett
Distributor
Warner Home Vídeo, Warner Bros.
Production Co
Armada Pictures
Genre
Western
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Mar 18, 1959, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Sep 11, 2015
Runtime
2h 21m
Sound Mix
Mono
Aspect Ratio
35mm, Flat (1.85:1)