The Duke, the drunk, and the rock 'n' roll star

Hey pallies, likes for some reasons dude we ain't been gettin' lots of Dino-action from bein' part of google's Dino-'lerts, but every so often the pallies at google leads us to the purest of pure, delightful of delightful Dino-gold!  Likes recently we happened 'pon two great Dino-finds via google and this is the first of 'em.  From the pallies at the 'net pad of  the Arizona Daily Sun comes wise words written by Northern Arizona University professor of Forestry Dr. Bruce E. Fox on one of our Dino's biggest of big screen epics.

From the title of the post, which we are also usin' to tag this Dino-gram, and what immediately caught our Dino-attentionado, "The Duke, the drunk, and the rock 'n' roll star," we're guessin' that all youse Dino-holics are coolly crystal clear 'bout which Dino-flick Fox is referrin' to.  Likes, you guessed it pallies...."Rio Bravo."  Likes from readin' the potent prose, it appears that NAU has a film series goin' and the recent fantastic feature was said silver screen classic.

The brief, but powerfully potent prose that the professor provides on our most beloved Dino is right on the ol' Dino-mark.  Fox's  perfect prose shares these Dino-truths: "Martin convincingly plays a drunk, a man who self-medicates with alcohol to dull the pain of a love affair gone wrong. Although played straight, this role contains elements of later Martin characters — think of his Matt Helm tongue-in-cheek spy thrillers and his over-the-top drunk in his television variety shows from the mid-1960s to the mid-1980s."

We find it incredibly intriguin' that Fox notices that our Dino's role as the Dude "contains elements of later Martin characters....as swingin' spyster Matt Helm and his television persona.  We will from now on always be lookin' for these essential elements when we view "Rio Bravo."  We thanks Dr. Bruce E. Fox for this remarkable review of "Rio Bravo" and we are pleased to know that it has been featured at Northern Arizona University, surely bringin' more of today's youthful students into the Dino-fold.  Likes to checks this out in it's original source, simply clicks on the tag of this here Dino-gram.

We remain,

Yours in Dino,

Dino Martin Peters


The Duke, the drunk, and the rock 'n' roll star

BRUCE E. FOX NAU School of Forestry




John Wayne stars in "Rio Bravo," this week's offering in the NAU Film Series.

An aging — yet uncompromising — sheriff (John Wayne) must keep a cold-blooded murderer in jail until the circuit judge arrives. Unfortunately, the murderer’s ruthless brother, the richest and most powerful man in town, hires a pack of trained killers to free the prisoner.

The doggedly determined sheriff refuses to free his prisoner and with an unlikely band of assistants — a drunk deputy (Dean Martin), a hot-shot young gunslinger (Rick Nelson), a beautiful gambler and dancehall performer (Angie Dickinson), and a crippled jailor (Walter Brennan) — vows to hold out against the odds until the judge arrives.

As a western starring John Wayne, the overall outcome of good triumphing over evil is not really in doubt. But the path to the resolution is more complex than in many such films, incorporating some interesting — if not always totally convincing — character studies and interactions.

Wayne, famously nicknamed Duke, as Sheriff John T. Chance, plays — well, he plays John Wayne. He’s tough, straight talking, and determined to uphold the law.

Martin convincingly plays a drunk, a man who self-medicates with alcohol to dull the pain of a love affair gone wrong. Although played straight, this role contains elements of later Martin characters — think of his Matt Helm tongue-in-cheek spy thrillers and his over-the-top drunk in his television variety shows from the mid-1960s to the mid-1980s.

Dickinson, in one of her first major film roles, hits the mark as the wronged woman who seeks independence. Ricky Nelson, also in one of his early film roles, is interesting as he moves to break out of his television and real-life teen heartthrob rock and roll star to a character with more depth. Walter Brennan, as the classic sidekick, serves as both a comedic foil and bearer of unpleasant truths.


The love interest that develops between Wayne’s Chance and Dickinson’s Feathers provides an opportunity for Wayne to add some subtly to his character, but look at how the 56-year-old Wayne interacts with the 27-year-old Dickinson.

Hawks and Wayne (well-known as a staunch conservative) consciously made the film as a rebuttal to 1952’s “High Noon”, starring Gary Cooper. Wayne (and many others) felt that “High Noon” was a thinly disguised anti-McCarthyism film and “Rio Bravo” was their response to more traditional values associated with Westerns, and indeed with the United States.

The film won two Golden Globes: Most Promising Newcomer (Female) for Dickinson (1960) and Most Promising Newcomer (Male) for Nelson (1959). It has a 100% Rotten Tomatoes rating and the American Film Institute nominated the film as one of its Top 10 westerns.

“Rio Bravo” was remade in 1966 as “El Dorado” with a second re-make (but MUCH farther from the original story) as “Rio Lobo” in 1970. Wayne and Martin teamed up again as brothers in “The Sons of Katie Elder” in 1965.

For fans of Westerns, “Rio Bravo” may serve as a great “comfort film” — familiar and easy to enjoy. However, Wayne demonstrates more depth of character in his films “The Searchers” and even “Stagecoach,” and other westerns, such as “High Noon”, offer more intriguing story lines. But for an enjoyable movie evening, “Rio Bravo” will serve you well.