She Wore a Yellow Ribbon

and he has easily seen it over 200 times. He got me hooked on it when I was a young girl by pointing out all the gentle humor and the repeated comedic bits that separate it from many other westerns. I still love it for those reasons and more.

"Yellow Ribbon" is not John Ford's best movie, but it may be John Wayne's. Capt. Brittles is -- needless to say -- the antithesis of Henry Fonda's Col. Thursday in "Fort Apache." When the film opens, it is obvious Capt. Brittles has earned the respect of his troops and won their loyalty, and by the fade-out they have come to love him like devoted sons.

For someone who was allegedly so difficult to work with, John Ford put together a truly remarkable stock company of actors and technical personnel. They appeared in his films time and again, and there was more or less a core group of professionals on screen and off that gave all of Ford's westerns color, excitement and realism. But "Yellow Ribbon" has something less expected: warmth. And there's not a thing wrong with that.

"She Wore A Yellow Ribbon" is also arguably the most sentimental movie John Ford ever made, and there's nothing wrong with that, either.

Anyone who thinks John Wayne can't act should see this movie and eat crow. A young man then, he played a cavalry officer on the verge of retirement. Watch his eyes (the sign of a great actor). It's a wonder he wasn't even nominated for the Academy Award for this role, which few in Hollywood could pull off convincingly.

It's also a John Wayne western the woman in your life will probably like. Wayne talks tenderly at the grave of his wife, and even has a moment of sucking back weeping when his men show their fondness for him.

This bittersweet, elegaic film about a retiring officer on his last mission doesn't have lots of action in it (Ford seems to have thrown in a fistfight with McLaglin just because that actor had little to do, and though it's corny, it has a wonderful beginning).

Apart from Wayne, the reason to watch this is the cinematography. Monument valley, host to myriad westerns, never looked better. They even captured a marvelous thunderstorm in the background, in these days before special effects (the cinematographer, who did snatch an Oscar, originally protested the work, but Ford made him film the scene and they ended up with one of the most striking natural scenes ever).

For years people didn't think Wayne could act. Some, like me, grew up on his later, post-"True Grit" movies, when he did tend to walk through his parts, more icon than actor. He didn't have great finesse with his lines (neither does a fine actor of today, Harrison Ford), but his roles rarely called for the nicety of a Jeremy Irons. In his better movies, Wayne proves he's more than just a movie star. This is his finest hour, and may be John Ford's.

The second of John Ford's cavalry trilogy that deals with the life of the professional soldier is the only one that was photographed in color. Lucky are we, the cinema fans two generations away.

She Wore A Yellow Ribbon has John Wayne the embodiment of the thirty year army man. The year of the action of the film which is 1876 has Wayne mentioning in passing that he was at the Battle of Chapultepec in the Mexican War which started in 1846. Wayne's Nathan Brittles was by his account a dirty shirt tailed runaway from his father's Ohio farm when he joined the army. And now he's reached mandatory retirement. He's married and has had a family who he's lost for reasons John Ford doesn't explain in the film. But Wayne dutifully, "makes his report" at their gravesides every night he's at the post.

Wayne's seen a lot of military history and a lot of tragedy. With no family left, the United States Cavalry is his home and family. He doesn't like the idea of retiring at all. In a later Ford film, The Long Gray Line, Martin Maher says that all he knows and holds dear is at West Point. Wayne could have said that line himself here.

Even though George O'Brien is the commanding officer at Fort Stark, Wayne is the father figure for the whole post. And not like some of the others don't behave like children. The whole romantic rivalry between John Agar and Harry Carey, Jr. over Joanne Dru seems pretty childish. Cute while in the safety of the post, but when out on a mission downright dangerous and Wayne like the good father scolds his kiddies.

With some makeup to grey his hair and wrinkle him a might, Wayne turns in one of his finest performances on the screen. Harry Carey, Jr. wrote what is probably the most evenly balanced portrayal of the Duke in his memoirs In the Company of Heroes. They didn't always get along, but Carey says Wayne was an inspiration to him and the other younger cast members. In fact during the scene with the gunrunners Paul Fix and Grant Withers being killed in the Indian camp while Wayne, Carey, and Agar watch on the ridge, the whole idea for the chaw of tobacco bit came from Carey himself, but that Wayne encouraged the improvisation as he was wont to do.

Other than the Duke, my favorite portrayal in the film is that of Ben Johnson as Sergeant Tyree. Wayne recognizes in him a younger version of himself. In fact Tyree is a former Confederate Army captain, a fact brought out in the death scene of "Trooper Smith" another former Confederate who in fact was a general in that army. Ben Johnson was a real cowboy, a horse wrangler who John Ford gave a chance to act. He graced many a film with his presence and won himself an Oscar to cap his career in The Last Picture Show.

Like in Fort Apache and Rio Grande, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon is the story of the professional soldier and the sacrifices he makes when he gives up his civilian status to serve his country. It's a universal theme, not just confined to the USA. No one embodied that theme better than did John Wayne as Nathan Brittles in She Wore a Yellow Ribbon.

SHE WORE A YELLOW RIBBON is, arguably, the most enduring and appealing of John Ford's 'Cavalry' trilogy. While lacking the dramatic core of a fatally flawed central character (FORT APACHE), or an estranged couple reunited by a headstrong son (RIO GRANDE), the film offers a richly sentimental tale of a crusty yet endearing career soldier (John Wayne) facing retirement, in a romanticized West where the cavalry stands as the only defense against the combined might of the Indian nations. The combination of Wayne and the cavalry in SHE WORE A YELLOW RIBBON is simply unbeatable!

Wayne, at 42, portrays the sixty-ish Capt. Nathan Brittles, and under Ford's sure hand, is magnificent in the role. Whether chastising young lieutenants ("Never apologize, mister, it's a sign of weakness"), complimenting an enlisted man ("Keep it up, and you'll make a fine corporal, in three or four years"), or kneeling at the grave of his long-dead wife, to share the news of the day, Wayne's performance shows a subtlety and sensitivity that his critics often claimed he lacked. When his commander, Major Allshard (George O'Brien) refuses his request to rescue Lt. Cohill (John Agar) and two squads who had performed rear guard duty, the anguish Wayne shows is heartbreaking. This is an Oscar-caliber performance, from a vastly underrated actor.

The rest of the cast measures up equally well. Victor McLaglen, as irascible as ever, plays Irish Top Sergeant Quincannon, full of blarney and (a bit of) whiskey. His morning scenes with Wayne, denying he'd been drinking, are comic gems. As the young suitors of Joanne Dru (who plays a more traditional role than in Howard Hawks' RED RIVER), Agar and Harry Carey Jr. are also quite good.

The real 'find' of the film, however, is Ben Johnson, in only his second major role. As Sgt. Tyree, ex-Confederate captain, and Brittles' best scout, Johnson shows an easy-going charm, a (feigned) lack of respect (when asked his opinion, he'd always begin with "That's not my department..." then make a dead-on assessment), and astonishing riding skills (not surprising, as Johnson had been a champion rodeo rider). A future Oscar winner, he displays a charisma on-camera that would quickly earn him a place in the 'Ford Family' of actors.

The visuals of SHE WORE A YELLOW RIBBON have been frequently compared to Fredric Remington's classic paintings of cavalrymen and Indians, and the comparison is justified; the film would win an Oscar for it's rich Technicolor photography, and images of 'dirty blue' riders on horseback against the stark blue sky and golden hues of Monument Valley are very reminiscent of the artist's work.

SHE WORE A YELLOW RIBBON is the kind of film you can watch again and again, and still find rewarding. It is on my 'short list' of favorite westerns, and if you haven't seen it yet, you're in for a treat!

This attractive movie scripted by Frank Nugent is the second episode in prestigious cavalry trilogy , united to first , ¨Fort Apache¨ and following , ¨Rio Grande¨ . It deals with an ageing officer named Nathan Brittles (Wayne's greatest role as an Indian fighting Captain) and a sergeant (a sympathetic Victor McLagen) about retirement , attempting to custody the outpost commander's(George O'Brien) wife (top-notch Mildred Natwick) and daughter (gorgeous Joanne Dru) and drive and repel Indians off lands . Meanwhile , she's lured by two suitors (John Agar and Harry Carey Jr) wearing a yellow ribbon .

This extraordinary film packs melancholy , good feeling , friendship, comedy and marvelous outdoors . Furthermore, the usual comic relief in charge of Victor McLagen as a drunken sergeant . The movie contains usual Ford's themes , such as unlovable camaraderie , emotionalism with nostalgic longing for old values , as the family and tradition . Besides, there appear notorious secondary actors , Ford's usual , as Ben Johnson , Jack Pennick , Francis Ford , Paul Fix , among others. Winton C Hoch's impressive colour cinematography in stunning Technicolor , which deservedly won an Academy Award , reflecting splendidly the wide open spaces filmed in Monument Valley , Ford's penchant for location work . Winton Hoch assisted by cameraman Charles Boyle shot natural storms with real lightning and thunders while the groups of soldiers go riding . Emotive and patriotic musical score with classics ballads by Richard Hageman . The motion picture was wonderfully directed by the master Ford . Rating : magnificent movie , it is an unforgettable and unchallenged classic movie .