Rio Bravo (film)

Rio Bravo
Theatrical release poster
Directed byHoward Hawks
Screenplay by
Based on"Rio Bravo"
by B. H. McCampbell
Produced byHoward Hawks
Starring
CinematographyRussell Harlan
Edited byFolmar Blangsted
Music by
Production
company
Armada Productions[1]
Distributed byWarner Bros.
Release date
  • April 4, 1959 (1959-04-04)[2]
Running time
141 minutes
CountryUnited States
Languages
  • English
  • Spanish
Budget$1,214,899[3]
Box office$5.75 million (US and Canada rentals)[4]

Rio Bravo is a 1959 American Western film directed and produced by Howard Hawks and starring John Wayne, Dean Martin, Ricky Nelson, Angie Dickinson, Walter Brennan, and Ward Bond. Written by Jules Furthman and Leigh Brackett, based on the short story "Rio Bravo" by B. H. McCampbell, the film stars Wayne as a Texan sheriff who arrests the brother of a powerful local rancher for murder and then has to hold the man in jail until a U.S. Marshal can arrive. With the help of a lame old man, a drunk, and a young gunfighter, they hold off the rancher's gang. Rio Bravo was filmed on location at Old Tucson Studios outside Tucson, Arizona, in Eastmancolor, with film processing provided by Technicolor.[5]

In 2014, Rio Bravo was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.[6][7]

  1. ^ Stafford, Jeff (October 5, 2020). "Rio Bravo overview". Turner Classic Movies. Archived from the original on October 21, 2020. Retrieved October 5, 2020.
  2. ^ "Rio Bravo". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. April 4, 1959. Archived from the original on November 25, 2020. Retrieved October 5, 2020.
  3. ^ Flynn, Charles; McCarthy, Todd, eds. (1975). "The Economic Imperative: Why Was the B Movie Necessary?". Kings of the Bs: Working within the Hollywood system: An anthology of film history and criticism (1st ed.). E. P. Dutton. p. 29. ISBN 978-0525140900.
  4. ^ Cohn, Lawrence (October 15, 1990). "All-Time Film Rental Champs". Variety. Penske Business Media, LLC.: M182.
  5. ^ Lightman, Herb A. (1959). "Photographing Rio Bravo". American Cinematographer. 40 (4): 224–225, 251. Retrieved January 10, 2024.
  6. ^ "Cinematic Treasures Named to National Film Registry". National Film Preservation Board. Library of Congress. December 17, 2014. ISSN 0731-3527. Archived from the original on September 11, 2018. Retrieved August 4, 2018.
  7. ^ "Complete National Film Registry Listing". Library of Congress. Archived from the original on October 31, 2016. Retrieved May 8, 2020.