antoniocasaca123 This "RIO GRANDE" is a long forgotten western of the legendary director John Ford that surprises pleasantly. Irish songs and a very good level of romance make this movie a beautiful western, which has a great humor also present (the character Quincannon, played by actor Victor McLaglen, gives the film extremely funny scenes). This is a very effective western, although of a substantially different style to others of the Ford / Wayne duo (for example, the first time the character Yorke, starring John Wayne, picks up a gun happens only 6 minutes from the end of the movie !). The good virtues of the film make to forget its (enough) small faults, that end up not having great importance in the development of the plot. Perhaps the only one that is more noteworthy is the (sadly) little participation and importance given to the character Kathleen, played by the extremely beautiful Maureen O'Hara (here in the first of five "romantic" partnerships she would do with John Wayne). On the other hand, one of the very positive aspects of the film is the importance and excellent performances of the secondary actors, such as Ben Johnson, Claude Jarman Jr, Harry Carey Jr and the aforementioned Victor McLaglen. In short, this "RIO GRANDE" is a beautiful surprise.

marmac2768 I hadn't seen this movie in about 25 years and couldn't quite remember it until AMC showed it today. I am a big Duke fan, but this one was very disappointing. It was so predictable, from the beginning when he sees his son there as one of his troops and their very predictable "reunion". The idea of the Apaches raiding across the Rio Grande and the Cavalry not being able to pursue them because of possibly fracturing their relations with Mexico has some possibilities, but it goes flat after that. We might expect the Mexican's being there when they do cross the Rio Grande, but nothing ever came of it and that is very anti climatic. There are also HUGE plot holes all the way through this and the former Confederate/ Union plot just doesn't do much either. The romance sub plot, which I don't think played as a real sub plot, also was very unsatisfying as well.But, the one that had me laughing out loud was the "singing choir" that just sang, EVERYWHERE. Okay, the serenade of Mrs. York was sweet, but for the Captain to call for them to sing while they are riding patrol is just too much. I like the Sons Of The Pioneers as much as anyone and Ken Curtis just still amazes me every time I hear him sing and watch Gunsmoke and marvel, but this singing was just too much. Did any of those guy ever fire a gun in this entire movie?I thought about leaving it a "1", but I can't leave a "1" for the Duke on a western. Now, let me check out The Conqueror and I may change my mind. Unless, we think of Mongolia as being "far west".

vincentlynch-moonoi There was a time...quite a long time...when John Wayne was one of the Kings of the American box office. Then along came the Vietnam War era, and his grip on the American psyche faded. But in recent years I have sensed a re-evaluation of John Wayne's contributions to American cinema (although not his personal politics)...and I have followed and agreed with that re-evaluation.I hadn't seen this film until the 1970s, and looked at it then as just another old Western. But now it's like I am seeing it for the first time. What a beautiful film on so many levels.Of course, there is still the problem of how Indians were portrayed in films, but at the time this film was made, that was the perspective...right or wrong.But once we get beyond that, it's marvelous. You have Wayne as the terribly flawed hero. You have Maureen O'Hara as the terribly flawed wife. You have Claude Jarman, Jr. as the son who has flunked out of West Point and is now trying to prove he is a man in the regular army. You have J. Carrol Naish as Gen. Philip Sheridan. And you have Victor McLaglen as the old sergeant.On the negative side, it seemed to me that Maureen O'Hara's character should have finally forgiven Victor McLaglen's character (for the arson)...and that could have happened at the end of the film...when it seemed that the film suddenly ended too soon. Speaking of Victor McLaglen's character...very shallow, almost amounting to just making faces; comic relief that wasn't very funny. I was quite impressed with J. Carrol Naish as Gen. Philip Sheridan.In another section of the website, someone asked why John Ford put so many songs into this (and other) Westerns. Having read that question before watching the film this time around, I noticed that every song in this film explained some aspect of the plot...usually about the relationship between Wayne and O'Hara. No coincidences here.A few years ago I retired to Colorado, and I have visited a number of the battlefields where the military fought the Indians, as well as a number of old military forts. How the Indians were treated -- not that they were angels -- was abominable. But setting that aside, this film reminded me of how the soldiers in the Plains and West sacrificed for their country. No, they probably weren't anywhere near as "good" as they are portrayed here, but the nation was in their debt.On the positive side, John Wayne is absolutely perfect here. It might even be some of his best acting, as he melds the hero Indian fighter with the surprisingly sensitive husband who has suffered through (and partially caused) a long separation from his wife. Equally wonderful is Maureen O'Hara -- seemed she always was wonderful, especially with Wayne) -- playing a seemingly tough-minded woman who knows she is part of the problem with her seemingly failed marriage. Claude Jarman does alright here as the boy becoming a man, and that story line isn't over done, as it might have been.Bravo to John Ford!

SanteeFats This is a great John Wayne movie. The hard bitten colonel commanding the Union cavalry force that is out to corral the Apache raiders is portrayed very well by Wayne. His estranged wife, Maureen O'Hara, shows up when their son, who flunked out of West Point, appears as a new recruit in his father's command. The two were on opposite sides during the Civil War and their irreconcilable difference was the fact that Wayne's troops burned her plantation during the war. Victor McLaglin plays his usual hard drinking, sergeant to the hilt, his accent is a great plus as a lot of the army after the Civil War ended were made up of Irish and German immigrants. A lot of whom had service experience in their former countries. The scene where a trooper gets killed and turns out to be a former Confederate general, which Wayne knew about, and Wayne allows the burial to be performed by the ex rebel troopers that served under him is kind of touching.