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She Wore a Yellow Ribbon
(1950)
John Ford's New and Finest Picture of the Fighting Cavalry!
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Stars: John Wayne, Joanne Dru, John Agar, Ben Johnson, Harry Carey Jr.
Director: John Ford
Writer: Frank S. Nugent, Laurence Stallings, James Warner Bellah
Language: English
Studio: Turner Home Ent
Duration: 103
Rated: Unrated
DVD Release: May 2007

The second of John Ford's "Cavalry Trilogy", She Wore a Yellow Ribbon is the only one of the three to be lensed in Technicolor. In an Oscar-calibre performance, 42-year old John Wayne plays sixtyish Cavalry Captain Nathan Brittles. In his last days before his compulsory retirement, Brittles must face the possibility of a full-scale attack from the Arapahos, fomented by the recent defeat of Custer and by double-dealing Indian agents. After a series of minor victories and major frustrations, Brittles decides to ride into the Arapaho camp, there to smoke a pipe of peace with his old friend, Chief Pony That Walks (Chief John Big Tree). Before he leaves, he is presented with his retirement present by his troops: a pocket watch, with the inscription "Lest We Forget"(Wayne's playing of this scene, barely holding back tears as he adjusts his spectacles to read the inscription, is one of his finest moments on film). Brittles is able to forestall an Indian attack, just in time for his official retirement. The film really ends here, but there are two more potential climaxes before the words THE END dissolve into view. The patchiness of the Frank Nugent/Lawrence Stallings screenplay (attributal to the fact that it is adapted from two different short stories) prevents She Wore a Yellow Ribbon from reaching the same lofty heights as the Ford/Wayne collaborations Fort Apache (1947) and Rio Grande (1949). The gratuitous offscreen narration of Irving Pichel is also rather distracting. Even so, Wayne's flawless performance, coupled with the supporting contributions of Ford's stock company (John Agar, Harry Carey Jr., Victor McLaglen et al) and the Academy Award-winning photography by Winston C. Hoch, automatically elevates She Wore a Yellow Ribbon to classic status.


John WayneCapt. Nathan Cutting Brittles
Joanne DruOlivia Dandridge
John AgarLt. Flint Cohill
Ben JohnsonSgt. Tyree
Harry Carey Jr.2nd Lt. Ross Pennell
Victor McLaglenTop Sgt. Quincannon
Mildred NatwickAbby Allshard aka Old Iron Pants
George O'BrienMajor Mac Allshard, Commanding Officer Fort Starke
Arthur ShieldsDr. O'Laughlin
Michael DuganSgt. Hochbauer
Chief John Big TreeChief Pony That Walks
Fred GrahamSgt. Hench
Chief Sky EagleChief Sky Eagle
Tom TylerCpl. Mike Quayne, Leader of Paradise River Patrol
Noble JohnsonChief Red Shirt
Richard HagemanComposer
Winton C. HochCinematographer
Jack MurrayEditor
Genre: Western
Media: DVD
Sound: Mono
IMDb: 0041866