American westerns directed by Howard Hawks, starring John Wayne.
John Wayne is in a group of "good guys" who must stay within the sheriff's office during conflict with criminals. The 3 films have differing varieties of this, but the main idea is the same.
This series got worse as it went on. Rio Bravo is one of my favorite films and I am keeping the other ones, but they did not live up to its standards. How can you beat Dean Martin and Walter Brennan playing music in the office while under siege? In El Dorado, the sheriff was the drunk instead of a deputy to John Wayne and the sharp-shooter from Rio Bravo became a can't-shooter with a sawed off shotgun. I won't even mention all of the character changes in Rio Lobo. Let's just say that John Wayne was a soldier during the civil war. Don't get me wrong. The plot and characters were the main focus of the 3 films and high production value for the time made them classic westerns. I do actually like all of them. I just think that the writing blew its load on #1 while 2 and 3 got sloppy seconds. 1 more beef with the series: where is my Sergio Leone style crane up and out exit shot? When exploiting western film cliches (as these films do), why not go all out and make it a complete package? I rate this series good. I know I've reviewed 2 of the films already, but this is an update/summary. If you like 1960s American westerns, watch these.
An American comedy by Howard Hawks, starring Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell.A newspaperman's ex-wife comes by the office to tell him that she is marrying another man and moving away. He talks his way into lunch with them and then talks the ex-wife into working on one last story for the newspaper. From there, everything happens so fast it isn't worth outlining here.This was like a Dragonforce solo in black and white. The events happen fast and the characters talk fast. There wasn't a second of silence or a moment of rest in the whole thing. It's unique and I like it, so I'm rating it good. Whoever let the copyright run out on this should regret it, but I thank them now.
An American Western by Howard Hawks, starring John Wayne and Dean Martin.A sheriff in a small town arrests an outlaw for murdering a man in a bar. The previous deputy is there because he is looking for a drink. The previous deputy helps in the fight that ensues and is given back his badge. He left the law enforcement trade because he had run away with a woman who later dumped him and had turned to drinking. A caravan of wagons comes into town with a young gunslinger on board. The sheriff, the previous deputy and the young gunslinger end up fighting the outlaw's gang with the help of a female gambler who was on the caravan of wagons and the old-timer who watches the prisoners in jail.This is an epic western, say thankee sai. It's long (2 hours and 20 minutes) and the plot is a little more complex than the average film. Everything is communicated very clearly thanks to the basic style and there is even a good musical number in the middle. The gunslingers pictured in the film take very few shots to kill a certain number of men, so they have not forgotten the faces of their fathers. Given that there's nothing bad to say about it and only praise to give, I'm rating it awesome, may it do ya fine.
An American western by Howard Hawks, starring John Wayne and Robert Mitchum.After accidentally shooting a boy, a gunslinger is shot by the boy's older sister. A bullet lodges by his spine, causing him to have fits of paralysis. A younger man decides to journey with the gunslinger and they go to a town where a harrier shoots a member of the same family that they've been in contact with. A feud starts and they have to revitalize the drunken sheriff to help them.The plot was very complex, but the characters were good. The old deputy reminded me of someone who I thought would grow old like him but didn't. The style and production value were pretty standard for a western of this time period. I'm rating this adequate.
A crime drama directed by Howard Hawks.A gangster rises through the ranks of a crime syndicate and abusively tries to keep his sister out of trouble.This is a rare case of the remake being about as good as the original. I had already seen the Al Pacino film when I watched this, so I was comparing all the way through. This one has that irreplaceable early gangster flick rawness to it where the later film has better production value. My favorite part was when Tony discovers the machine gun and the montage of drive-by shootings occurs. I'm rating it adequate and worthy because of the primitive method in which it was presented, but still having a good plot.
