Rio Bravo

Released in 1959, the movie tells the story of a small-town sheriff in the American West who enlists the help of friends in order to keep the brother of a local rancher/bad-guy in jail. Dean Martin joins Wayne in this classic Howard Hawks film, alongside Ricky Nelson and Angie Dickinson. By many, this film is considered to be one of the greatest westerns of all time. Upon release, it was believed that the film was produced as a rebuttal to the movie, High Noon, which is a film that was thought to be an allegory for blacklisting in Hollywood and also included anti-McCarthyism tones. Wayne and Hawks wanted to make a movie that portrayed a sheriff who was the opposite of the one in High Noon. They wanted a sheriff who represented a strong and true American hero.