Our first guest blogger is Mr. Bill Crider and he shares his thoughts here on Rio Bravo (one of The Archive's favourite oaters) and Brian Garfield's Western Films: A Complete Guide.
Please check out the links below the post leading to Bill's own books and his wonderful Blog. And thanks to Bill for taking part in The Archive's month long series of western posts, leading upto Wild West Monday the third.
OK- I hand you over to Mr. Bill Crider:
In his otherwise excellent book entitled WESTERN FILMS: A COMPLETE GUIDE, Brian Garfield has this to say about one of my favorite westerns, RIO BRAVO: "I remain mystified by the way Howard Hawks's apologists hold this juvenile and predictable movie up as an example of auteuriste genius." He also says, "It's overrated, overripe, and overlong." And, "Nelson is wooden. Brennan overplays." There's more, but that will give you the idea.
I've been reading Brian Garfield's novels for years. I've enjoyed his crime novels as much as his westerns, though I think WILD TIMES is his masterpiece and a fine novel no matter what your reading tastes. But I don't agree with his opinion about RIO BRAVO. Well, not entirely. I'm willing to agree that it's 'not "an example of auteuriste genius," whatever that means. However, I think it's a wonderfully entertaining movie, especially for guys.
Let me just repeat my often-quoted (by me and James Reasoner) opinion that RIO BRAVO has something for a guy of any age to identify with. When I first saw the movie as a teenager, I identified with Ricky Nelson (who's not wooden, just cool). As I got older, I identified with Dean Martin, the self-pitying loser who finds himself. Later on, I thought I was more like John Wayne, getting along in years, maybe, but still appealing to hot babes like Angie Dickinson. Now, I identify with Walter Brennan.
RIO BRAVO is one of those movies I can watch any time at all, even though I know it pretty much by heart now. Call it childish if you will (and Garfield does), it still thrills and entertains me as much as it ever did even though I'm in the Brennan years. (A sad fact is that when he made the movie, Brennan was younger than I am now. By several years. Well, maybe that's not sad to you, but it's sad to me.)
Garfield doesn't like the near-remake, RIO LOBO, either. He says it's "virtually an amateur movie." I don't think it's in the same league with RIO BRAVO, and it would have been better with Ricky Nelson.
All that being said, if you like western films and you don't have a copy of Garfield's book, you really should get one. It makes for great reading whether you agree with him or not.
ABOUT BILL
Bill Crider writes mysteries. Check him out HERE
His most well known series is the Sheriff Dan Rhodes books - The Sheriff Dan Rhodes series features the adventures of a sheriff in a s mall Texas county where there are no serial killers, where a naked man hiding in a dumpster is big news, and wh ere the sheriff still has time to investigate the theft of a set of false teeth. The first book in this series won an Anthony Award for "best first mystery novel" in 1986. The latest book in the series is Red, White, and Blue Murder.
Bill also publishes the widely read blog on popular culture HERE
Bill also writes Blog Bytes which is my favourite non-fiction bit of The Ellery Queen Magazine
I was thrilled to see The Tainted Archive mentioned in the current issue.ABOUT BILL
Bill Crider writes mysteries. Check him out HERE
His most well known series is the Sheriff Dan Rhodes books - The Sheriff Dan Rhodes series features the adventures of a sheriff in a s mall Texas county where there are no serial killers, where a naked man hiding in a dumpster is big news, and wh ere the sheriff still has time to investigate the theft of a set of false teeth. The first book in this series won an Anthony Award for "best first mystery novel" in 1986. The latest book in the series is Red, White, and Blue Murder.
Bill also publishes the widely read blog on popular culture HERE
Bill also writes Blog Bytes which is my favourite non-fiction bit of The Ellery Queen Magazine
Pictured - Back Row: Bill and Judy Crider, Marion Reasoner. Front Row: James Reasoner, Doug Grad. WWA convention, Jackson Hole, 1993.
6 comments:
Bill - May I be the first to comment - I love Rio Bravo. There ain't nothing wrong with the movie at all. In fact it was so good Hawks sort of made it again with 1966's El Dorado.
I enjoy Rio Bravo on several levels and feel that sometimes critics forget that films are primarily for entertainment - not for changing the world of art.
Congrats Gary on getting a mention for your blog in Ellery Queen's! Next up, a short story, mate!
Nik - Ellery is a tough market to break but I am trying.
Actually, Howard Hawks was not satisfied with 'Rio Bravo' which was the main reason that he remade it as 'El Dorado' and again as 'Rio Lobo'.
There was nothing wrong with the original 'Rio Bravo' - it does what it set out to do. It both tells a story and entertains. It also made an impression on my little sister who still remembers the film. Recently, she rang me to let me know that after all these years that she had finally got hold of a recording of 'My Pony, My Saddle and Me'.
I guess Mr Garfield should stick to what he does best - write good fiction.
I love RIO BRAVO as well, particularly the way Hawks paces the film. It's as if he does away with the first act, and in the very opening scenes throws you right into the middle of the story, and you learn about the characters from the way they act under pressure. EL DORADO is also a fantastic movie (Mitchum and Wayne are great together on screen). Still need to see RIO LOBO...
Course it's often said that Rio Bravo was Wayne/Hawks response to High Noon which the Duke publically hated.Can't agree with the Duke on that one but if it did have anything to provoke him into doing Rio Bravo that I'm mighty glad he felt like that.
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