John Wayne embodies the honour and duty of the American man in She Wore a Yellow Ribbon |
Nuzzling in the middle of Ford’s unofficial Cavalry trilogy
(either side of Fort Apache and Rio Grande), John Wayne plays
Captain Brittles (who might as well be Kirby York again, since he shares the
same personality and most of the same backstory), is counting down the last few
days until retirement. After Custer and his men are slaughtered at the Battle
of Little Big Horn, he’s ordered to lead a cavalry patrol to fly the flag and
help prevent a new war with the Indians. At the same time, he’s to escort his
commander’s (George O’Brien) wife (Mildred Natwick) and niece Olivia (Joanna
Dru) to an eastbound stagecoach (and safety). Olivia herself is in the middle
of a love triangle with the two lieutenants eying taking on Brittle’s command,
Cohill (John Agar) and Pennell (Harry Carey Jnr).
The film tells the story of that patrol and the subsequent
follow-up mission to save those caught protecting the rear guard (needless to
say Brittles continues the mission after his supposed retirement, bending the
rules). There isn’t actually much in the way of plot in She Wore a Yellow
Ribbon. Instead, Ford’s intention is to front-and-centre those particular
American qualities of loyalty, honour, dedication to the cause and
self-sacrifice. The men of the cavalry always put their country and fellow
soldiers first, willing to sacrifice themselves to the greater good and show
not one jot of hesitation in doing so. Ford shoots all this with real beauty
and more than a touch of whimsical wit, coming particularly (where else?) from
the Irish American contingent among the soldiers.
At the film’s heart is Wayne himself, now cemented in Ford’s
films not as the traditional romantic action hero, but an elder statesman,
wiser and less trigger-happy than his fellows, an unflappably experienced man who
guides and inspires, shrugging off praise with an aw-shucks-just-doing-my-duty
nobility. If Fort Apache and Red River were first steps towards
Wayne – at this time only just past 40 – starting to act as if he was ten years
older than he actually was (and in Red River’s case a little bit older
than that!) – She Wore a Yellow Ribbon cemented him as the grizzled,
inspiring man of action, a role he would play in variation for most of the rest
of his career.
And he’s very good in She Wore a Yellow Ribbon. Ford
had of course been impressed by the depth and shade of his performance in Red
River. This is a simpler role – it would be a few more years before Ford used the darkness in Wayne as well as that film – but it shows Wayne slotting into
place as part of What Made America Great. Wayne plays Brittles with a sadness –
he’s a touching grieving husband, who takes a familiar chair out every night to
talk to his wives tombstone – and a fatherly concern for his men, but tolerating
no selfishness or greed. He mentors and pushes Cohill and Pennell like a second
father, and has a brotherly banter with his loyal sergeant (inevitably Victor
McLaglen as a hard-drinking, extremely Irish drill sergeant). He will do his
duty, but he also respects Indian culture, will fight but prefers a peaceful
option, will follow orders but never blindly. He’s all that’s good about the
American fighting man, and this is one of his finest performances (and a
personal favourite of his).
The yellow ribbon wearer is Joanna Dru as Olivia, the sort
of spunky young woman Ford’s films frequently feature in key roles. Dru is just
about the archetype: brave, determined, smart – much smarter than both of the
rather dull men playing court to her. She’s also sensitive and understanding of
Brittle’s grief and can hold her own with the men out in the field. Dru’s very
good in the role, bringing it a great deal of depth and more than a touch of
heart.
She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, plot wise, is more of a
day-in-the-life movie. At heart not a lot actually really happens in it other
than following the cavalry on two missions (one of which fails) and far from
averting the war, it’s explicitly suggested they are just delaying it. The
status quo is almost completely restored by the film’s end. The real focus of
the film is the detail of what the men set out to do, the determination and
humanity with which they go about it – not least the self-sacrificing bravery –
and then the return to rest and prepare to go out again. All shot in some of
the most striking and beautiful images of the West ever committed to the
screen. As a visual tribute, the film is a rich feast.
It’s Ford’s celebration of America and the West and his case
for the beauty and majesty of a generation and the values that they placed
above all others. For this, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon may be one of the
finest of its kind. It lacks the narrative thrust of Fort Apache – and
like that film is, in the end, as unquestioning and uncritical of the actions
and legacy of those pioneers out West, or the dangers of imperial expansionism
or blind veneration of deeply flawed heroes like Custer – but it’s beautiful,
very well acted (particularly by Wayne) and a fine film from a director at the
top of his game.
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