She Wore a Yellow Ribbon

Its often too overtly sentimental but it still has those quiet moments where Ford's imagery more effectively communicates emotions and meaning. Also this is one of the best uses of John Wayne.

Only Wayne fans need apply.

Fairly anti climactic tale of a sergeant on his final patrol before retiring. Wayne is playing a pretty straight up old timer Wild West hero and there's a girl wearing a yellow ribbon as a sign of her affection for one member of the cavalry. You'd think there'd be a lot more to the film but actually that synopsis is effectively a spoiler. Some lovely shots of the desert are the only redeeming feature. A pretty poor western with a strangely good reputation.

This is a Ford & Wayne Classic but it does have problems. The acting is solid with Wayne being a very good standout but the supporting cast while good doesn't really stand out that much except for Bond and he's not even in much of the movie. Everyone just sort of blends in and I can't tell much difference between Johnson, Carey and the like. They still are well acted but don't really stand out. And Dru doesn't really add much and isn't bad but shes the weakest thing here and feels unneeded. The music is excellent and is the best thing in this and is really catchy and memorable. The cinematography is really good and has epic sweeping shots that pop and are super memorable. The only issue is during the night scenes scattered throughout including the big horse climax stampede it's so dark you can't really see what is happening too well sometimes not at all. The action scenes though are amazing to look at. The editing and pacing are solid but this has two main issues. First the story of the calvary journey isn't as tight as other Western journeys like Red River or Stagecoach. It feels like things just happen at times like they get attacked, than they go around, than they meet others and it never really builds on each other. Although they are well shot, well acted, and have great music scenes to boot. The other is the romance between Dru and the others feels out of place and sort of hammed in. Not as bad as say Tess in Red River but it doesn't really add much. The scene where Ward Bond goes on a drunken fight for 7 minutes felt completely out of place also, too slap sticky, and didn't add anything. I was very confused why that was in there. Everything is still solidly put together though. Anyone who is a fan of Ford, any actors in this, or classic westerns will like this.

The Duke and John Ford return to Monument Valley a decade after Stagecoach, with a 42 year old Wayne no longer "The Kid" but a cavalry officer on the eve of retirement, courtesy of the makeup department. Ford's hand-picked Technicolor wizard of a cinematographer works his magic with the panoramic vistas offered by the location and a lighting director does likewise on the sound stage shots, but unlike 1939's film there's little character development and no Thomas Mitchell or John Carradine to bring a script to life. Of course the post-war American audience is given no reason to think that the assorted tribal nations have any legitimate basis for opposing the US Cavalry or the white settlers taking possession of their ancestral territory. There's a muddled love triangle thrown in to justify the film's title.

Origin of Erratic Joe's "dog-faced pony soldier." Though he flubbed the line.

Outstanding movie; great acting; they dont make them like this anymore; loved it.

Wow. This movie had a great setup. A remote cavalry detachment in the Wild West shortly after Custer's last stand at the Little Bighorn. Ten thousand Indians from a dozen tribes banding together to drive whites from the Great Plains once and for all. John Wayne. A hint of romance. And then it proceeds to not deliver on any of those things. A real letdown. I kept expecting a big fight between the cavalry and the Indians, and instead the cavalry just steals some horses and the only major action happens offscreen. A snoozer, to be sure.

Classic post-WWII John Wayne & Co. Beautifully filmed in Monument Valley, Utah, the film paints a stark contrast between the good US Cavalry and the savage Indians. The acting on the part of the Cavalry and the white women, especially Wayne himself, is superb. The Indians are simply a savage mob. Useful to see for historical purposes, but fortunately much better Westerns were to come.

Its often too overtly sentimental but it still has those quiet moments where Ford's imagery more effectively communicates emotions and meaning. Also this is one of the best uses of John Wayne.