In Rio Bravo, we become thrown into a world of cowboys, saloons, and gun slinging within the first breath taken. To sum up the film, the wonderfully crafted John Wayne character, John T. Chance, faces the entire plotline attempting to keep a serial killer in jail, and faces collisions with other characters when going against them who are more than willing to spring him out of jail and kill John Wayne and his companions in the process.
With the film being placed in the West, as a traditional Western genre film, the landscape is a main component of almost every scene that takes place in the great outdoors. Even in the close-up shots, we are guaranteed to see the mountains or the terrain in the background and foreground of the shot. The noble sheriff is accompanied by Stumpy, one of the quirky characters that most films have. Everything a western should have, this film has and in mass proportions.
Contrastingly so, some of the themes or conventions that are atypical Western stereotypes are not in Rio Bravo. John Chance is not a nomadic wanderer and he has no explicitly stated past in regards to crime. Also, while there was certainly an obvious female character, she is not a typical damsel in distress. Actually, Feathers tries to assist Chance, although it is much to his dismay and unnecessary in his eyes. Finally, in the place of lonely farmhouses and outhouses in the terrain, the entire scale of the film is set in a relatively crowded town and a dancehall.
Even though it might not be the quintessential and perfectly idealized western, Rio Bravo comes pretty damn close. John Wayne stars which instantly boosts up the Western street credibility, and there are saloons, long drawn out scenes, and a dance hall girl to play opposite the cowboy. It seems like a Western to me. Hawks might not have directed the perfect western but it was enough for someone like me.
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