Rio Bravo (1959)

Another Howard Hawks masterpiece, starring John Wayne (neither for the first or the last time) Rio Bravo depicts the trials and tribulations of Sheriff John Chance (Wayne) in a Texan town after he arrests the brother of a powerful local rancher for murder, and subsequently has to keep him there until a U.S Marshall arrives. The only other people working in the town’s jail are a drunk and a cripple, both of which experience their own character arcs over the films’ perfectly paced two and half hours or so. In 2014, Rio Bravo was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress, an accolade reserved for “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” film making. Hawk’s film is deserving of that place, (and billed by Quentin Tarantino as his favourite ‘hangout’ movie, for those that are interested) and when you also consider that John Carpenter was inspired by the set up of Rio Bravo to make Assault on Precinct 13 (1976) you begin to understand its selection. It’s easy to see the influence on Carpenter’s film; Rio Bravo essentially is a siege movie for its duration, just with the wider scope of the town as its setting rather than a single police precinct. It’s consistently compelling as well as being hugely enjoyable with characters that are always engaging to be around, whether you like them or not. Rio Bravo is always worth a watch and it’s often on TCM (if that still exists) on a Sunday afternoon. 8.4/10