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She Wore A Yellow Ribbon (1949)
Released By: Turner Home Entertainment   Rating: Not Rated   In Theaters: N/A
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Studio: Turner Home Entertainment
Genre: Western
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Director: John Ford
Language: English
Official Website: N/A
Theatrical Release: N/A
Home Video Release: N/A
Cast: Ben Johnson, Joanne Dru, John Agar, John Wayne
Published ID: 3874
UPC: 053939642322, 053939759723, 053939791525,
Plot: The second of John Ford's Cavalry Trilogy, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon is the only one of the three to be lensed in Technicolor. In an Oscar-calibre performance, 42-year old John Wayne plays sixtyish Cavalry Captain Nathan Brittles. In his last days before his compulsory retirement, Brittles must face the possibility of a full-scale attack from the Arapahos, fomented by the recent defeat of Custer and by double-dealing Indian agents. After a series of minor victories and major frustrations, Brittles decides to ride into the Arapaho camp, there to smoke a pipe of peace with his old friend, Chief Pony That Walks (Chief John Big Tree). Before he leaves, he is presented with his retirement present by his troops: a pocket watch, with the inscription Lest We Forget(Wayne's playing of this scene, barely holding back tears as he adjusts his spectacles to read the inscription, is one of his finest moments on film). Brittles is able to forestall an Indian attack, just in time for his official retirement. The film really ends here, but there are two more potential climaxes before the words THE END dissolve into view. The patchiness of the Frank Nugent/Lawrence Stallings screenplay (attributal to the fact that it is adapted from two different short stories) prevents She Wore a Yellow Ribbon from reaching the same lofty heights as the Ford/Wayne collaborations Fort Apache (1947) and Rio Grande (1949). The gratuitous offscreen narration of Irving Pichel is also rather distracting. Even so, Wayne's flawless performance, coupled with the supporting contributions of Ford's stock company (John Agar, Harry Carey Jr., Victor McLaglen et al) and the Academy Award-winning photography by Winston C. Hoch, automatically elevates She Wore a Yellow Ribbon to classic status. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
IDDateTimeTitleReviewHelpfulVotesTotalVotes
She Wore A Yellow Ribbon
Added 10/7/2009

I have always enjoyed John Wayne Movies and this one is one of my favorites.
I am glad that Amazon has given me a chance to own this movie.

0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
Boring, Slow. You Call This a Western?
Added 8/12/2009

What is a western movie? You need actions and fast pace. You do not get any from this movie. There is not much plot. The pace is very slow. The old man is near retiring and it is very boring. The girl theme (Olivia Dandridge) is not entertaining. There is not much to say, just not a fan of it at all. Really boring.

It is no comparison to High Noon, Hombre, Man of the West. For Indian Western, Broken Arrow is much better. Even the Searchers is better than this.

John Wayne is really old in this movie.

0 out of 7 people found this helpful.
Best John Wayne Western EVER, hands down.
Added 7/29/2009

In interviews, Patrick Wayne has stated that "The Duke" thought of this as his best Western, if not his best film. His catchphrase in this one has been further immortalized on TV by "Jethro Gibbs" (Mark Harmon) on NCIS. "Don't apologize, it's a sign of weakness." It's a guy flick, but some ladies may like it as there is a bit of romance. My lovely wife would rather do needlepoint than watch Westerns, so we won't share her thoughts here. All in all, the Wide-screen transfer was fantastically done, the panoramas shot in Monument Valley are some of John Ford's best stuff cinematically. Would have really suffered if it had been done in black and white. The color is exceptional. Another early John Wayne & John Ford collaboration in color I HIGHLY recommend is "The Quiet Man" (I'm Irish and watch it each March 17th with some Old Bushmill's on hand.) Buy it and ENJOY!
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
John Wayne & John Ford at their Very Best
Added 6/23/2009


John Ford's Cavalry Trilogy is a series of three movies, "Fort Apache" BW (1948), "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon" Color (1949) and "Rio Grande" BW (1950) in which we get an insight into the life and manners of the United States Cavalry during the Indian Wars. Each is an independent movie and may be viewed in any order.

"She Wore A Yellow Ribbon" is a nostalgic view of the ending of a career for Capt Nathan Brittles (John Wayne), a career in which he has spent the last 40 years of his life. "I was a lad in blue jeans and barefoot when I left my daddy's farm to join the army", he comments and the pain of leaving the career he has loved all his life is painfully evident. Nathan's whole life has been the cavalry and on that painful night before retirement he comments, "Now tomorrow I'll be glad if the blacksmith asks me to shoe a horse." As evident by the cemetery scene, Nathan Brittles views retirement as the beginning of the end; his life will no longer have meaning or purpose as he awaits to join his wife and family in death.

But there is still one last patrol, one last mission, one last time to ride as Captain of the Troop before surrendering his command to two younger officers, Lt(s). Cohill and Pennell (John Agar and Harry Cary Jr.), who he has trained but who he feels are still not ready to assume command; two officers who spend more time fighting over a young girl, Olivia Dandridge (Joanne Dru), then attending to duties.

For the Indians, they are uprising in the wake of the Custer disaster of 1876, as tribes join together old quarrels forgotten. Along with the return of the buffalo, they see it as a sure sign of the return of Indian dominance to the Great Plains. But for Nathan Brittles this last patrol is his attempt to prevent another Indian war.

This is John Wayne as his very best, a classic movie in every sense of the word featuring the beautiful Monument Valley so typical of John Ford westerns only this time filmed in glorious color. Even Mother Nature lends a hand here, no special CGI effects, for the troops rides on with a pending thunderstorm approaching in the background an event which won this film an Oscar. The movie also has most all of John Ford's stock Irish actors present, John Agar, Ben Johnson, Harry Cary Jr., Victor McLaglen, Mildred Natwick, George O'Brien, and Francis Ford. Many of them also appearing in the other movies of this series as well.

As an extra historical note you will want to watch out for the old Indian leader, Chief Pony that Walks (Chief John Big Tree). You have seen him many times before and not just in the movies. Chief John Big Tree, 100% Seneca, who in 1912, posed as the Indian on the famous Indian-Head/ Buffalo nickel which is still in circulation today.

This Oscar winning film is truly John Wayne and John Ford at their best.


Readers of this review are invited to comment below or by email as listed in my profile.

0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
She Wore A Yellow Ribbon
Added 5/8/2009

We love this movie, we are big John Wayne fans. Thank you.
Martha Van Eaton

1 out of 2 people found this helpful.
She Wore A Yellow Ribbon
Added 10/7/2009

I have always enjoyed John Wayne Movies and this one is one of my favorites.
I am glad that Amazon has given me a chance to own this movie.

0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
Boring, Slow. You Call This a Western?
Added 8/12/2009

What is a western movie? You need actions and fast pace. You do not get any from this movie. There is not much plot. The pace is very slow. The old man is near retiring and it is very boring. The girl theme (Olivia Dandridge) is not entertaining. There is not much to say, just not a fan of it at all. Really boring.

It is no comparison to High Noon, Hombre, Man of the West. For Indian Western, Broken Arrow is much better. Even the Searchers is better than this.

John Wayne is really old in this movie.

0 out of 7 people found this helpful.
Best John Wayne Western EVER, hands down.
Added 7/29/2009

In interviews, Patrick Wayne has stated that "The Duke" thought of this as his best Western, if not his best film. His catchphrase in this one has been further immortalized on TV by "Jethro Gibbs" (Mark Harmon) on NCIS. "Don't apologize, it's a sign of weakness." It's a guy flick, but some ladies may like it as there is a bit of romance. My lovely wife would rather do needlepoint than watch Westerns, so we won't share her thoughts here. All in all, the Wide-screen transfer was fantastically done, the panoramas shot in Monument Valley are some of John Ford's best stuff cinematically. Would have really suffered if it had been done in black and white. The color is exceptional. Another early John Wayne & John Ford collaboration in color I HIGHLY recommend is "The Quiet Man" (I'm Irish and watch it each March 17th with some Old Bushmill's on hand.) Buy it and ENJOY!
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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