She Wore a Yellow Ribbon

She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949)

Runtime: 103 minutes

Directed by: John Ford

Starring: John Wayne, Joanne Dru, John Agar, Ben Johnson, Harry Carey, Jr.

From: Argosy Pictures

I won’t apologize for really liking this movie; it’s a sign of weakness… 

As a means of clearing off more space from the DVR even though I am in no danger of running out of space, I checked out this recording of a TCM showing last month. The movie’s reputation and the presence of John Squared (Ford and Wayne) were the big draws for me.

Wayne played Captain Brittles, part of the United States Cavalry who is stationed at a post out West; this was filmed at Monument Valley, a gorgeous scenic location that’s been used often in film history. We see his last days before retirement-you see, Wayne is playing a character 20 years older than he was in real life. Unlike what has become cliché now, this is not automatically a harbinger of impending doom then death. He is ordered by his superior to escort the superior’s wife and niece to a stagecoach-an unenviable task due to increasing Native American hostilities in the area. That niece-naturally a pretty lady who has no trouble finding suitors-wears the title item in her hair as a sign of love, but for whom she won’t say.

Perhaps I have a predisposition to enjoy such films; however, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon hit the spot. Brittles was an interesting character and so were the others we get to know. Even the subplot where John Agar and Harry Carey, Jr. fight for the affections of Joanne Dru was better than expected. Sure, I understand why some wouldn’t care for this glorification of the United States Calvary or how this showed sympathy for General Custer at the Battle of Little Big Horn (a major event in Western history, one where now most people realize Custer was a glory hound who was a real fool for engaging in a battle with far superior Native American forces led by Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse) but it’s John Ford-his love of the military was crystal clear through his career-and attitudes were far different back then. The presentation of “Injuns” here wasn’t always offensive…

The performances from the cast-especially Wayne-were impressive although the real standout was the Winton C. Hoch cinematography, which won the Oscar that year. He and Ford set out to create a special look and this task was completed successfully. As someone did a great job restoring the movie, my breath was taken away & my reaction would have been the same if I had purchased the Blu-ray for viewing.

It was a film of serious emotion at times along with the short bursts of action that were exciting and other times, featured such moments as the character played by Victor McLaglen acting like Bud Spencer during a scene in a bar and wrecking multiple dudes in a comedic way. All in all, this makes me excited to check out the Ford Westerns unseen by me yet that are rated even higher by Letterboxd users; that will happen sometime in the upcoming years.