Rio Lobo: Howard Hawks

Few directors have had such a massive and long-lasting impact on the Western genre as Howard Hawks. He directed some of the genre's most enduring masterpieces like Red River (1948) and Rio Bravo (1959). So maybe it was appropriate that his last film would also be a Western. Working one last time with the legendary John Wayne, Hawks directed Rio Lobo, a film that was despised upon release. Many of my film buffs friends share in that sentiment. I suppose it is due to the fact that it is always compared with Rio Bravo. After all, Rio Lobo is considered to be the third part of a trilogy of Westerns that follow sheriffs defending their towns against outlaws. Rio Bravo happened to be the first film in that trilogy. So Rio Lobo will forever be in that film's shadow. But I can't understand why people don't like this film based on its own merits. It may not be a masterpiece, but Rio Lobo is still a fantastic Western. The film follows Col. Cord McNally (Wayne) as he hunts down a pair of Union traitors. During the Civil War, the two had illegally traded military secrets with the Confederacy. One of these instances involved the schedule of a train delivering gold for Union salaries. When the Confederacy robbed the train (in a spectacular sequence), they accidentally killed one of McNally's best friends. With the war over, McNally sets out to find the traitors who inadvertently killed his friend. He discovers that the two traitors have taken over a town and are extorting its citizens for their land deeds. Joining McNally in his quest for vengeance, he teams up with many of the same Confederate soldiers who robbed the train in the first place. This leads to one of the film's most memorable and fascinating moments where McNally explains that he holds no ill will to the Confederate troops. After all, he reasons, robbing the train was an act of war. But those two Union traitors committed treason. And that is a very different matter. In the end, Rio Lobo is a fine Western. I don't care what anybody else says.

7/10