Rio Bravo: John Wayne & Dean Martin

This is a really good 1959 western movie produced and directed by Howard Hawks.

The film begins with a disheveled man named Dude, played by Dean Martin, entering into a saloon through the backdoor. He desperately wants a drink, and one man teasingly shows Dude his drink. The man is Joe Burdette, played by Claude Akins, who we later learn is the brother of a wealthy businessman, Nathan Burdette, played by John Russell. Joe tosses some money into a spittoon and Dude goes for the money, but suddenly the spittoon is kicked away by rifle toting Sheriff John T. Chance, played by John Wayne. The sheriff turns to Joe Burdette, but Dude grabs a piece of wood and clubs the sheriff with it, knocking him out. A couple of guys hold Dude while Joe punches him, and when a bystander tries to stop Joe, Joe pulls his gun and shoots the man, who it turns out, is unarmed. Joe then walks out and goes to a saloon owned by his brother, where the sheriff, still looking a bit dazed, enters and points his rifle at Joe. When the sheriff tells Joe he's under arrest, a man at the bar pulls his gun and intervenes to stop the sheriff. A couple of other men also step forward to protect Joe, but Dude has entered and grabs the gun of one of the men and he shoots the gun out of the hand of the man holding his gun on the sheriff. The sheriff knocks out Joe with his rifle and together with Dude, they drag Joe out of the saloon and take him to the jail.

The scene shifts forward to the funeral procession for the man killed by Joe, while a wagon train, primarily carrying fuel oil and dynamite, is also entering the town. It's led by Pat Wheeler, played by Ward Bond,* and he's hired a young gunslinger named Colorado, played by Ricky Nelson,** as a guard for the wagon train. In a conversation between the sheriff and Wheeler, we learn that Nathan Burdette has blocked off the town with his men to prevent the sheriff from taking his brother elsewhere. Other Burdette men are in town to watch everything the sheriff does. The sheriff has only two men, Dude, his former excellent deputy, but a drunk for the last two years, after a broken relationship, and Stumpy, played by Walter Brennan,*** an older man hobbled by a bad leg and with a distinctive voice and laugh, who carries a double barrel shotgun. The sheriff uses Stumpy to guard Joe and the jailhouse. Throughout the film there are little comedic tidbits, as Stumpy is a cantankerous and outspoken older guy and Sheriff Chance is a pretty hard-boiled lawman who knows that mistakes and miscalculations can cost lives, including his own, because he and his men are facing a lot of hired gunmen; that is, killers. Chance loves to give orders and to appear strong, so no matter what anyone does, he tends to find fault with it, bringing Stumpy to repeatedly declare during the film, "There you go again... NEVER can please you!" Stumpy feels unappreciated, which leads to a scene where Chance finally gives Stumpy his due... a kiss on his balding head. 

The sheriff and Colorado have a bit of a shaky start when they first meet, with the young gunman standing his ground (verbally) against Chance's natural inclination to give orders. When Chance gives Colorado instructions about where to take the wagons, the young man turns to the man who pays his salary, Pat Wheeler, and asks him, "Is that how you want it, Mr. Wheeler?" Wheeler breaks into a big smile and gives his approval, but the sheriff isn't exactly thrilled by Colorado circumventing his authority. Later, Wheeler tells Chance he will ask Colorado if he will help the sheriff fend off Nathan Burdette's men and keep Joe in custody. Wheeler brings Colorado to Chance, then explains to Colorado how the sheriff needs help, but the young gunslinger tells Chance, "I'll tell you what I'm better at... minding my own business." Colorado walks away, which upsets Wheeler, but Chance says the young guy shows good sense.

We now meet a woman who came into town on the stagecoach, played by Angie Dickinson. We learn from Carlos (played by Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez****), the hotel proprietor, that the stage has a bad wheel and can't leave until it's repaired. It turns out the sheriff has a handbill describing a woman, fitting this woman's description, who is wanted for card cheating, along with a man. We see an unidentified man and this woman playing cards with some other customers in the hotel barroom. She leaves the table a winner, and the man then starts winning. Colorado busts the guy as a cheater, as he finds three cards missing from the deck up the man's sleeve. Chance won't apologize to the woman for suspecting her, but we later learn that she was not working with this man, but that she is the woman in the handbill, and the actual wanted man was her husband, who was killed a few months before. As the film progresses, in a turnabout from more "typical" stories where the guy pursues the girl, she pursues the sheriff, who at first is a bit befuddled as to how to handle the situation.

As Pat Wheeler walks toward the hotel that night, two shots ring out from a stable window along the street. Wheeler collapses dead. Colorado wants to help find his boss's killer, but he's rebuffed pretty sharply by the sheriff, "You had a chance to get in this and you didn't wanna. Stay out, we don't need ya!" Dude and Chance go off to find Wheeler's killer. Chance goes into the stable, while Dude waits outside. After gunfire erupts inside the stable, a man dashes out the side door and past Dude, who fires at the man, but does not bring him down. He sees the man run into Burdette's saloon, and Dude and Chance go into the saloon to seek out a man with muddy boots, as the man who came out of the stable stepped in a puddle. Dude thinks he may have wounded the man.

At first, the Burdette men in the saloon laugh at Dude as they have for the last couple of years of his heavy drinking. Then Dude happens to see some blood drip into a glass on the bar from the upper loft of the saloon. He turns and fires and Wheeler's killer falls dead to the main level. Dude is back, well somewhat, but he still struggles to overcome his need for whiskey throughout much of the story, as he goes through withdrawal from alcohol. When Stumpy takes a shot at Dude by mistake as he enters the jailhouse without identifying himself, Dude verbally ties into Stumpy as Chance stands and observes. When Dude walks away, Chance follows and tells him they won't be pampering him anymore. Finally some of Burdette's men strike by capturing Dude, then they approach Chance on horseback and pull their guns on him. The sheriff is helped out of his predicament by Colorado and by the card playing woman. He then goes and releases Dude. Colorado, having helped the sheriff, now becomes a deputy and the merry little band plan to await the U.S. marshal in the jailhouse.

Before retreating to the jailhouse, Dude goes to the hotel to take a bath and Chance goes to see "Feathers," as the card playing woman from the stagecoach is called. Several Burdette men take Chance and Dude prisoner, but promise to release them if the sheriff will release Joe. Dude tells Chance to go to the jailhouse with Burdette's men and tell Stumpy to release Joe, knowing that Stumpy will open fire. That's exactly what happens, as three Burdette men enter the jailhouse with Chance, who tells Stumpy the men have posted bail for Joe. Stumpy unloads both barrels of his shotgun on the men, killing two and Colorado, also in the jailhouse, gets the other. When Chance and Colorado go to the hotel to help Dude, the Burdette men have already left with Dude. Chance sends Carlos to set up a meeting with Nathan Burdette, who sends Carlos back with a message for the sheriff to bring Joe to the Burdette warehouse the next day, where they will exchange Dude for Joe.

Chance tells Stumpy he can't go along, as he fears for Stumpy's safety since he can't move well with his bad leg. So off go Chance and Colorado with Joe to the warehouse. The townspeople are gathered around to see what will happen. Chance calls for Nathan who comes out of his warehouse, where every window and door is manned by Burdette's hired gunmen. Burdette releases Dude, who starts walking slowly toward Chance, who is with Colorado in a barn across from the warehouse. Chance starts Joe walking toward his brother's warehouse. When Dude and Joe meet, Dude tackles Joe and moves him out of the sight of Burdette and his men behind the ruins of an old building. Gunfire starts between the two sides as Dude and Joe fight it out to the side. Dude knocks out Joe. Colorado tosses Dude a pistol, so the sheriff now has another armed man. The shooting continues and 5 Burdette men try to outflank Chance and company, who kill or wound 3 of the men, but the 2 men who succeed to make it through the gunfire begin to try to get behind Chance and Colorado, only to be met by the blasts from the two barrels of a shotgun and the high pitched laugh of Stumpy, who disobeyed Chance and came to the warehouse area, but remained out of sight. It turns out, Stumpy is right by one of the wagons loaded with dynamite that had been brought into town by Pat Wheeler. Chance makes his way to Stumpy to warn him to get away from the wagon and Stumpy takes a crate of dynamite along, as he and Chance move away from the wagon. Chance has Stumpy throw a stick of dynamite that lands in front of the warehouse and Chance shoots it, causing it to explode. Stumpy throws another that lands right in front of the building and Chance shoots it. Stumpy throws another at the front of the warehouse and Dude shoots it. In typical Chance fashion, he's unsatisfied with how Stumpy's been throwing the dynamite, so he now has Stumpy throw the dynamite directly at the building, and when Chance shoots it, a whole front section of the building is blown apart. Burdette and his men surrender.

The town is quiet and Chance goes to the hotel to see Feathers. At first he's still defensive with her, but that all changes.    

* In real life, Ward Bond was a close personal friend of John Wayne. I have to believe Bond's role as the leader of a wagon train in this film was specifically written for him to further promote the same role he played on a popular television show in those times called, believe it or not, "Wagon Train," where he played wagon master Seth Adams. It was a favorite of mine back then, and Bond's call of "Ho," to start the wagons became a well known image of him on the television series, and it was carried over to this movie. Unfortunately, Ward Bond died of a heart attack a year after the release of this film.

** Ricky Nelson was the son of Ozzie and Harriet Nelson. The Nelsons, along with sons Dave and Ricky, had a popular television series during the 1950s and part of the 1960s. The show became something of a symbol in those days of the ideal American family (not that everyone agreed with that). Having been on the family television series for several years, Ricky was already well known to Americans when he was cast for this film in 1958 (the movie was released to theaters in the spring of 1959). Ricky was also a musician and singer who released a number of hit songs and albums over the years and he and Dean Martin do some singing in Rio Bravo. Nelson was killed when his private plane crashed in the mid 1980s.

*** Long time actor Walter Brennan was then starring in a television series too, playing Amos McCoy on the show, "The Real McCoys." Brennan won three Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actor during his career.

**** That's not a typo. The family name of both parents was "Gonzalez," and a common naming custom in Spain and its former colonies is to use both the father's family name AND the mother's family name.

Photo is of the 2010 Warner Brothers DVD

WORD HISTORY:
Slug-English has more than one word of this spelling, but this is the noun/verb for, "punch, hit." This word seems to be derived from "slay," a word from the Germanic roots of English, and that would also make it related to "slaughter," another word from the Germanic roots of English. "Slog" seems to be a variant of "slug," although it may also be mixed with the form of "slug" meaning "a snail-like creature." ^ "Slug" goes back to Indo European "slak," with the idea of "hit, strike, beat." This gave the Old Germanic spinoff "slakhanan," also with the meaning "to hit, to strike, to beat," but also with the extended meaning "to kill," from the notion of "hitting/beating someone until dead." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "slean," ^^ with the same meanings. The 1st and 3rd person past tense form was "slog" (2nd person=sloge, plural form=slogon, participle=slegen^^^) These forms were pronounced with a long "o" which eventually morphed into a short "u" sound.   

^ The meaning of "slog," "to walk heavily, ponderously;" also thus, "slowly," could be from the slow pace of a "slug" (snail-like creature), but it could also be from the idea of "heavy hitting, pounding of the feet when walking." This walking meaning "seems" to have developed in the second half of the 1800s.

^^ "Slean" is the old form of modern "slay."

^^^ I also have seen references to a participle form "geslegen/geslagen," but "perhaps" these were older forms??? As a point of reference, German still has "geschlagen" as the participle form of "schlagen," the close relative of "slay." 

Sergeants 3: The Rat Pack & Gunga Din

This 1962 western is really a remake of 1939's "Gunga Din," made by RKO Pictures, but this movie changes the setting from late 1800's India to the American West of the 1870s. I saw this picture three times at a movie theater when it was released in 1962: with my dad and with my older brother. The third time was with my mother, my grandmother and 2 of my great aunts, all of whom were taken with Frank Sinatra in those times. As in "Gunga Din," "Sergeants 3" is a drama with numerous bits of comedy injected. The main cast of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Peter Lawford, Sammy Davis Jr. and Joey Bishop were part of what had come to be known as, "the Rat Pack." The group often performed on stage together in Las Vegas and elsewhere, as well as being featured in some films together. 

The basic plot involves a group of Indians rallying to a call by a religious leader to unite to defeat U.S. army personnel and settlers in the region. The movie opens with a raid by a group of Indians on a small town. The town's telegraph office is able to send a message to the army stationed in a fort some miles away, prompting the fort's commander to decide to send three sergeants and a small troop of men to the town to investigate what has happened. The three sergeants are close friends and we first meet them at a fight in a saloon (see "Word History," below). Sergeant Mike is played by American actor and entertainer Frank Sinatra, Sergeant Chip is played by American actor and entertainer Dean Martin and Sergeant Larry is played by English born actor Peter Lawford.* Larry is planning to leave the army when his soon to expire enlistment runs out. He'll then marry Amelia, played by Canadian born actress Ruta Lee.** Mike and Chip plan to keep the trio together by finding some way to get Larry to sign a new enlistment form. At the saloon we also meet Jonah, a former slave who is a trumpet playing entertainer at the saloon, who wants to be in the army. Jonah is played by American actor and entertainer Sammy Davis Jr. The sergeants are all rounded up at the saloon by Sergeant Boswell, played by American actor and entertainer Joey Bishop.

The three sergeants lead a troop of men to the town that was attacked, only to come under attack by Indians themselves. The Indians are called to attack by one of their religious leaders, played by American actor Henry Silva. Later, we learn that this Indian leader is the son of the main leader and medicine man, Watanka. The troops hold off the attack and return to the fort, only to be ordered back to the town, but without Larry, whose enlistment is nearly over. The commander orders Sergeant Boswell to replace Larry, a thought Mike and Chip find repulsive, as Boswell is a proper soldier, all spit and polish. So Mike and Chip proceed to get Boswell drunk, and thus, sick. Larry is ordered back with his pals until his enlistment runs out. Later Chip and Jonah slip off to try to discover just where the Indians are located. They find a large cave where the Indians hold religious ceremonies. While there, the Indians show up, led by Watanka, played by Australian actor Michael Pate, and Chip is captured, even though he comically tells the Indians that he is arresting them in the name of the President of the United States Ulysses S. Grant.*** Hahahaha! Meanwhile, a disguise and the diversion of Chip's capture help Jonah to escape and he returns to the town to alert Mike and Larry about Chip's plight. Mike is under strict orders from the unit's commander, Colonel Collingwood, played by American actor Dick Simmons,**** not to get involved in any other mission except to garrison the town. Mike tells Larry he can't go on any rescue mission, because he's now a civilian, but that he can go along to help Chip if he signs another enlistment form, which he does, and Mike puts the signed form into his pocket. Mike, Larry and Jonah set out to free Chip. The three men arrive at the cave and find Chip tied up. Watanka, his son and many other Indians emerge and take the three wannabe rescuers prisoner. Watanka tries to make Mike tell him where the colonel is with the main body of soldiers. Mike grabs the knife of one of his captors and holds it to the throat of Watanka's son, bringing Watanka and his men to go down the mountain, leaving his son as a captive of the soldiers. (Note: One of the Indians in the group is Eddie Little Sky, a true Oglala Lakota, who was born on a reservation in South Dakota. He appeared in many films and television shows over the years.)

Watanka has assembled a large force to attack Colonel Collingwood's column of troops. Two of Watanka's scouts gallop up and tell him the Colonel and his men are approaching. Mike gets Watanka's son and tells the medicine man to disburse his men, or he will kill his son. The son tells his father to go ahead with the attack and he jumps off the cliff and plunges to his death. Without the medicine man's son as hostage, the sergeants and Jonah are now in peril. Some Indians ascend the mountain path and take the men prisoner again, but Jonah is severely wounded and left for dead and Chip is knocked unconscious. Watanka has Mike and Larry brought over to watch as the Colonel and his men are attacked. Jonah looks over and sees his trumpet. He takes the trumpet and goes into the cave, where there is a small opening in the upper part of the cave. Jonah struggles and climbs to the opening and then outside. He stands and blows the trumpet, alerting the Colonel and the column. He is then hit with an arrow.

The Indians attack, but the element of surprise is now gone. A large battle takes place, with much hand to hand fighting, but the soldiers are able to deploy artillery they have and the Indians turn in retreat, only to finally surrender. Up on the mountain, Chip has regained consciousness, and he comes at Watanka from behind and knocks him off the cliff, as Larry knocks one of the other captors off of the cliff. Larry now schemes to get his reenlistment paper from Mike's shirt pocket by pretending to be seriously hurt. When Mike kneels down to help him, Larry reaches into Mike's shirt and gets the reenlistment form.

The scene shifts back to the fort where Colonel Collingwood reads a special citation to honor the three sergeants and private citizen Jonah, who has been granted a place in the army with the rank of private. Jonah is shown with bandages on his wounds, but in his new uniform. Larry and Amelia get ready to leave, and Chip takes Larry's reenlistment paper from Larry's possession and tears it up, making Larry think everything is clear for him to leave. BUT... Chip had concealed a blank piece of paper in his hand, and that was what he had destroyed. When Larry and Amelia drive off in a buggy, Chip hands the real form to Mike, who then orders Sergeant Boswell to, "Arrest that man.... he's a deserter."    


* Though Peter Lawford was born in England, he spent much of his adult life in the United States, where he became a citizen. He became well known in the U.S. when he married the sister of then Senator John F. Kennedy, who would later be elected president of the United States.

** Ruta Lee was born in Canada, but her family moved to the United States, where she later became a citizen. Her parents were immigrants to Canada from Lithuania.

*** Grant was president from March of 1869 until March of 1877. Until the Constitution was changed by the 20th Amendment in 1933, presidents and vice presidents assumed office on March 4 following a presidential election of the previous November. The amendment moved the assumption of office to January 20.

**** Those who can remember the 1950s may not remember Simmons' name, but you will likely recall the television show, "Sergeant Preston of the Yukon." Well it was Dick Simmons, also known by his proper name, Richard Simmons, who played Sergeant Preston. The show also "starred" the Sergeant's faithful dog, "Yukon King." Simmons is not to be confused with exercise promoter and entertainer, Richard Simmons, who later became popular on television, more so in the 1980s and thereafter. 


 Photo is of the 2008 MGM DVD ...

WORD HISTORY: 
Salon (Saloon)-"Salon" goes back to Indo European "sel," which had the notion of, "settlement, living area." This gave Old Germanic "salaz," with the meaning, "living area, living quarters." This gave Lombardic (also known as: Langobardic) "sala," meaning, "abode, large room." This was borrowed by Latin (or the developing northern Italian dialects?) as "sala," meaning, "large room/hall." This then became Italian "salone," with the same meaning and this was borrowed by French as "salon," with the meaning, "room for receiving guests." English borrowed the word from French circa 1700 with the meaning, "large room, often in a palace or in the residence of well to do people, used for entertaining guests." The meaning expanded to include dining and entertainment rooms on ships, especially in first class sections. Later still, the term was often used for the dining car on trains. "Saloon" was initially simply a variation in the spelling of "salon," but by the mid 1800s it had come to be used as a term for a public tavern/bar in American English, where its meaning has remained ever since. NOTE: The Old Germanic form was passed to its offspring in various forms, including Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "sele" (house, large hall, often used for dining and entertainment). German still has "Saal" (large hall for dining and entertainment, and also a large room for displays of art or other collections), East Frisian "soal" (large hall), Swedish "sal" (ward). Low German had "sel'/"sal," but seems to have borrowed "Saal" from standard German in more modern times.