Going to see the latest John Wayne movie at Amherst Theatre with my parents and siblings in the late 1960s and early 70s is a pleasant childhood memory for me.
My family saw a lot of them during that time period, including The War Wagon (1967), True Grit (1969), The Undefeated (1969), Chisum (1970), Big Jake (1971), The Cowboys (1972), and Cahill, United States Marshal (1973). My older brother reminded me a few days ago that we also saw “the one where they were all brothers” too, which would be The Sons of Katie Elder (1965).
Thus my siblings and I first saw the Duke on the big screen, and then slowly began to catch his older movies on TV – sorta like watching his movie career in reverse.
One of the first ‘old’ ones we saw was Red River (1948) when it premiered on Channel 43 in November 1968. It was a big enough event for Channel 43 to promote the showing with an ad in the Journal.
Well, it was the same situation with the film Rio Bravo (1959), with the TV station running an ad to promote its showing on Friday, October 31, 1969. Here’s the Journal ad.
The movie promo really ‘pops’ through the Journal ad clutter with the graphic elements presented in reverse. Here’s how it would have looked if it had been printed ‘normal.’
I don’t remember watching the movie on Channel 43 that night. We probably went to bed at 9:00 after watching Hogan’s Heroes.
But Rio Bravo is a classic, with the Duke as Sheriff John T. Chance, holed up in a jail and trying to hold off some baddies who want to free a man that the Duke arrested.
Wayne has help from one crusty old deputy (Walter Brennan), one deputy who until recently was also the town drunk (Dean Martin), and a young gunslinger (Ricky Nelson). The whole thing is a template for El Dorado (1967), which is considered a remake.
Ricky Nelson as ‘Colorado' is actually pretty good in this, although I like James Caan's similar character in El Dorado (called ‘Mississippi') better.
Anyway, if all of this has whetted your appetite to see Rio Bravo, you’re in luck. It’s on GRIT TV tonight, October 15th, 2021 at 8:00 pm. It’s followed by Red River at 11:30 pm. So get the popcorn ready, pilgrim.
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A few years ago at my place of employment, there was a customer service representative named Dakota. Of course, the way my brain works – she’s named after a state, right? – I nicknamed her (to her befuddlement), “Mississippi.” The poor gal never understood my explanation as to why I thought it was amusing, but she good-naturedly put up with it, as well as the John Wayne imitation I did whenever I had to call her on the phone.
Of course it could be the reason that she didn’t stay with the company for very long.
One of my favorite parts in the movie was Dean and Ricky singing, "My Rifle, My Pony, and Me". This is one of those movies and I've seen more times than I can count. As far as I know, the Duke was the only actor to battle both a giant squid (REAP THE WILD WIND) and a giant octopus (WAKE OF THE RED WITCH), not to mention his glorious onscreen battles with Maureen O'Hara!
I liked John Wayne.I liked how in every one of his westerns he rolled up his pants and had a cuff 3-4 inches above the ankle.Must have been his own personal preference.I have never read anything about this little bit of trivia in books about the Duke.
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One of my favorite parts in the movie was Dean and Ricky singing, "My Rifle, My Pony, and Me". This is one of those movies and I've seen more times than I can count.
As far as I know, the Duke was the only actor to battle both a giant squid (REAP THE WILD WIND) and a giant octopus (WAKE OF THE RED WITCH), not to mention his glorious onscreen battles with Maureen O'Hara!
I liked John Wayne.I liked how in every one of his westerns he rolled up his pants and had a cuff 3-4 inches above the ankle.Must have been his own personal preference.I have never read anything about this little bit of trivia in books about the Duke.
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