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Rio Grande (1950)

Wayne proves obstinate when she explains the reason for her visit telling him she will buy Jeff's release, Wayne then refuses his signature. He turns to complimenting her on being "a fine figure of a woman," coming close to her. The sense of underlying yearning for each other is very apparent but attitudes overrule emotions, if not always predictably. When their comfortable silence after dinner is broken by the arrival of the regimental singers to serenade Kathleen by singing "I'll take you home again, Kathleen," the choice seems an unfortunate one, reminding them of the past. Here one can see on Wayne's features a real actor at work; his brow stiffening, his discomfiture made obvious, his expression turning to sadness and regret as he looks down, telling Kathleen stiffly "This music...is not of my choosing," "I'm sorry Kirby, I wish it had been," she says gently.

She tries to bargain with Wayne. When he returns from an abortive mission trying to capture some Indians who have crossed over into Mexico and safety, he finds Kathleen waiting in his tent. They embrace warmly and talk over the past: she has rebuilt the house he burned down, perhaps they can rebuild their marriage. She suggests that Wayne should make a gesture in that direction by releasing Jeff. Wayne replies sensitively: "I could say yes very easily but I owe Jeff something." And at dinner with General Sheridan (J. Carrol Naish) and the other officers, it falls to her to propose a toast: "To my only rival, the United States cavalry."

Wayne's devotion to his job makes him agree to Sheridan's suggestion that he should breach the international treaty and take his men over the border to solve the Indian problem once and for all. He puts his personal loyalty to Sheridan, his old commander from Civil War days, over and above the illegality of the mission, prepared to risk court martial afterwards. In relieving his frustration over the unchecked raids by the the enemy, this is a characteristic example of Wayne as a figure of independence, answerable to himself rather than a book of rules. He does, however, relent a little where Kathleen is concerned. When it comes time to send her and the other women and children away to a safer area while he takes his men out on the campaign, he assigns Jeff to be one of the escort. "He'll hate you for it, Kirby," she says, adding warmly, "But I'll love you for it." "Aren't you going to kiss me goodbye?" she adds, giving Wayne his cue for one of those lines he can handle better than anyone: "I never want to kiss you goodbye, Kathleen."

However, the party of women and children are attacked en route and a wagonload of children are abducted. Jeff breaks through the ranks of attacking Indians and rides off to bring help. Wayne and his men come to the rescue and plan an attack on the Indians' refuge in Mexico with Wayne accepting the suggestion of Trooper Tyree (Ben Johnson) that he and two other men should creep into the village beforehand and join the children to protect them during the raid. Tyree picks Jeff and Sandy (Harry Carey Jr.) and Wayne agrees. The children are held in an old church at the back of the village and -- when the three soldiers are safely in position -- Wayne leads his men in a fierce charge through the encampment up to the church, receiving an arrow in the chest as the Indians are roundly defeated. He has Jeff pull it out and is brought home on a travois.

Kathleen has by now joined the other women waiting anxiously, praying for their men's safe return, thus completing her adaptation to army life from having taken her place in the laundry line after simply fainting like an outsider during an Indian raid shortly after her arrival. As the weary soldiers come in, she falls in alongside Jeff, then takes Wayne's hand, expressing to them her submission to their way of life, taking pleasure in Wayne's report that "Our boy did well." A final scene points up their reconciliation in happier circumstances. Wayne having fully recovered, as the soldiers parade past General Sheridan and the other officers, with Kathleen twirling her parasol in time to the music and smiling at her husband.

Rio Grande was made by Republic Pictures head Herbert J. Yates. He had agreed to produce John Ford's The Quiet Man , reluctantly I might add, but he added a condition. He required John Ford, John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara to do Rio Grande to help recoup the money he expected to lose on The Quiet Man . Yates must have been pleasantly surprised when it was a hit. Today The Quiet Man is a classic for the ages and my favorite John Wayne film.