She Wore a Yellow Ribbon is a 1949 American Western film directed by John Ford and starring John Wayne, with Joanne Dru, John Agar, Ben Johnson, and Harry Carey Jr, in support. It is the second film in Ford's "Cavalry Trilogy", along with Fort Apache (1948) and Rio Grande (1950). With a budget of $1.6 million, the film was one of the most expensive Westerns made up to that time. A major hit for RKO, it received its name from "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon", a song popular with the U.S. military.
In August 1876, aging veteran Captain Nathan Brittles enjoys his quiet routines and pending retirement from the U.S. Cavalry. All is placid at Fort Starke, a small frontier Army post, and Brittles is honored to receive a parting gift from his men of a pocket watch he must sheepishly don spectacles to inspect. He is touched by its warm sentiment.
The hottest thing going is the spirited rivalry of troop officers 1st Lt. Flint Cohill and 2nd Lt. Ross Pennell over the affections of flirty Olivia Dandridge, the comely niece of the post's commanding officer. Their transgressions of cavalry protocol and officer decorum over her give Brittles more than ample opportunity to sternly mentor them, anticipating the great vacuum losing his experienced leadership will create.
All tranquility vanishes when news of a breakout by the Cheyenne and Arapaho from their reservation following the Sioux massacre of George Armstrong Custer's force at the Battle of the Little Big Horn reaches the post. Brittles is tasked with forcing them back, potentially setting off a new Indian war there.[5] Which effort is complicated by an order to first deliver his commanding officer's wife, Abby Allshard, and Olivia, to the safety of an eastbound stage. Assisting Brittles are the green West Point graduates Cohill and Pennell; his chief scout, Sgt. Tyree, a one-time Confederate captain of cavalry; and Union veterans Quincannon, his trusted first sergeant, and Maj. Allshard, his long-time friend and commanding officer.
Things don't go as planned, the Indians are not contained and the women do not make their stage, remaining in grave danger.
After the setbacks, Brittles returns with the troop to Fort Starke to retire. His lieutenants continue the mission in the field.
Unwilling to see more lives needlessly lost, Brittles takes it upon himself to try to make peace through his old friend, Chief Pony That Walks. When that too fails, he devises a risky stratagem to avoid a bloody war. With just minutes left on his pocket watch before his retirement takes official effect, he orders the lieutenants to charge through the Indian encampment in the darkness and stampede their horses. The renegades have no recourse but to return to their reservation ... on foot, trailed at a discreet distance by Lt. Cohill's cavalry.
Director Ford initially was uncertain whom to cast in the lead role. However, he knew that he did not want John Wayne for the part—considering, among other factors, that Wayne would be playing a character over twenty years older than he was at the time. Reportedly, Wayne's 1948 performance in Red River changed Ford's mind, causing him to exclaim, "I didn't know the big son of a bitch could act!"[6] Ford realized Wayne had grown considerably as an actor, and was then capable of playing the character he envisioned for this film. When shooting was completed, Ford presented Wayne with a cake with the message, "You're an actor now".[7] The role also became one of Wayne's favorite performances.[7] Wayne himself felt that his Academy Award nomination for Best Actor of 1949 for Sands of Iwo Jima should have been for She Wore a Yellow Ribbon instead.
Director John Ford's older brother Francis appears in a single brief scene as Connolly, the barman; Ford kept him on wages "for eight weeks even through Francis could have completed his scenes in less than a week".[8] Character actor Paul Fix (Harry Carey Jr.'s father-in-law) also appears in a small uncredited role.[9]:126
The cast and crew lived in relatively primitive conditions in Monument Valley. Most slept in dirt-floor cabins that only had communal cold-water drum showers. The film was completed ahead of schedule and under budget.
Although the film's cinematographer, Winton Hoch, won an Academy Award for his work, filming was not a smooth creative process because of conflicts with Ford. Ironically one of the most iconic scenes from the film was created during a dispute. As a line of cavalry rode through the desert,[10] a real thunderstorm grew on the horizon. Hoch began to pack up the cameras as the weather worsened only for Ford to order him to keep shooting. Hoch argued that there was not enough natural light for the scene and, more importantly, the cameras could become potential lightning rods if the storm swept over them. Ford ignored Hoch's complaints; completing the scene as the thunderstorm rolled in, soaking the cast and crew. Hoch later had filed a letter of complaint against Ford with the American Society of Cinematographers over the filming of this scene.[2]
The story of Hoch's refusal to shoot in this thunderstorm has often been repeated, but actor Harry Carey Jr., who was on the set, contests it.[11][12] He says Ford had finished shooting for the day, but when the picturesque storm brewed he asked Hoch if they could shoot in the declining light. Hoch answered, "It's awfully dark, Jack. I'll shoot it. I just can't promise anything". Ford then instructed, "Winnie, open her up [the camera lens] and let's go for it. If it doesn't turn out, I'll take the rap". Winnie complied, saying, "Fair enough, Jack".[11]
1 2 Carey, Harry Jr. (2013). Company of heroes: my life as an actor in the John Ford stock company (First Taylor Tradeed.). Lanham, Maryland: Taylor Trade Publishing. p.67. ISBN978-1589799103. OCLC847602806.
↑ Nollen, Scott Allen (2013). Three Bad Men: John Ford, John Wayne, Ward Bond. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland. pp.190–191. ISBN978-0786458547. OCLC810122531.
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