She Wore A Yellow Ribbon (DVD)

...ribbon tied in her hair, she has two of the young men fighting over her and Nathan asks her if she knows the significance of wearing a yellow ribbon and when she says she does he asks who it if for. She will not tell him and he along with the two men are left in suspense.

The patrol leaves the Fort and they are soon forced to make a diversion to get the ladies to their stage as they have come across the savage Comanche Indians and ...
...interest but I don’t think she added much to the film apart from the side story with her trying to choose which man she wanted to spend her life with. I thought the two young men fighting over her was a bit over the top for this story but they were good actors and did very well with the script that they had to work with.

The film was quite strange at times and when watching it I noticed that a lot of the film was shot on location ... more

I really was not looking forward to watching this film as I cannot stand John Wayne but I have in the films which I have been made to watch found that he is better when he is not playing a cowboy and in this one he isn’t.

This film is set at Fort Stark and John Wayne plays the role of Captain Nathan Brittles. He is an old Calvary veteran who is counting down the day s until he retires. Before he can retire he has to take his men out on one last patrol of the area. Before he leaves on this patrol the Commanding Officer of the Fort tells him that on this patrol he must escort his wife and niece to their stage so they can get away from the Fort as there is talk of Comanche Indians in the area. Brittles is not happy about this as he does not believe women should be working with the Calvary.

As the troops are ready to leave Brittles notices that the niece is wearing a yellow ribbon tied in her hair, she has two of the young men fighting over her and Nathan asks her if she knows the significance of wearing a yellow ribbon and when she says she does he asks who it if for. She will not tell him and he along with the two men are left in suspense.

The patrol leaves the Fort and they are soon forced to make a diversion to get the ladies to their stage as they have come across the savage Comanche Indians and do not wish to fight whilst the ladies are with them. Brittles knows that he will have to take him men into battle with these Indians at a later date but will he be able to do so before his retirement and can he get the ladies to their stage and away from the Fort before the danger starts? Just who is the C O’s niece wearing the yellow ribbon for?

I was a little surprised by this film as I was expecting it to be utter rubbish but I found that John Wayne did try very hard with his character and did do a great job. I think he does manage to pull off his characters when they are not cowboys as when he plays the role of a cowboy I feel that he does not add anything new to the role and o0ne character blends into another. I enjoyed how he portrayed his uncertainty about retirement as he had spent his entire life since he was old enough in the Calvary and as he had lost his family to the Indians he would be left with nothing. He did even manage to put across emotions in this film which made for a nice change and at times I did feel sorry for him.

The supporting actors were all extremely good and my favourite was Sgt. Quincannon who was Captain Brittles Right hand man, he was always sipping alcohol which he had hidden in different places and he too was due to retire in just 2 weeks. He did bring some much needed humour to the film and I thought he was probably the best character in the film. Joanne Dru played the role of the niece with the two love interest but I don’t think she added much to the film apart from the side story with her trying to choose which man she wanted to spend her life with. I thought the two young men fighting over her was a bit over the top for this story but they were good actors and did very well with the script that they had to work with.

The film was quite strange at times and when watching it I noticed that a lot of the film was shot on location but then a few minutes later it looked like the actors were standing and working in front of extremely bad backdrops. I don’t know if this was due to the age of the film, it was made in 1949, and it was all shot on location or we did indeed have extremely bad backdrops. The views which we did get over the deserted land and mountains was wonderful and added a lot to the film for me. I do one day hope to go and see some of these sights for myself as they really were breathtaking.

The setting for the film was the 1800’s and I think that the costumes and settings were all very authentic looking and a lot of time and effort had been put into making them look as real and good as they did. The music in the film was also good and did help with the telling of the story and setting the scene.

The DVD which we have does not have any bonus material which does not bother me as I am not a fan of these features anyway.

The running time of the film is 2 hours and 8minutes which I fell is quite long enough, the film moved at a good pace throughout. The certificate on this film is a PG and I do agree with this.

The film is widely available and we bought this DVD several months ago for under £5 from Morrison’s. Do shop around for the best price.

I am going to recommend this film as it shows that John Wayne could play other roles and not just a cowboy and he does actually give more to this character and film than others I have seen him in. It is not the best but certainly watch able, even if just for the scenery and amazing views!

 

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