She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949)
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She Wore a Yellow Ribbon Movie Review
She Wore a Yellow Ribbon is a 1949 western film directed by John Ford and starring John Wayne. It’s a typically problematic, but technically stupendous picture.
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“Never apologize. It’s a sign of weakness“
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An aging Cavalry officer tries to prevent an Indian war in the last days before his retirement. Obviously for a movie made and starring these two famous Johns, it’s a very troublesome story politically speaking. It treats Native Americans in a typically villainous manner while the overall sentiment is one that is exceedingly nationalistic. It’s a very annoying viewing experience when it comes to its themes and messaging.
With that being said, I would be remiss not to praise its technicalities as this is one epic piece of western filmmaking that still looks as gorgeous as it looked back when it was released. The cinematography here is done in Technicolor and the cinematographer Winton C. Hoch was rightfully bestowed with an Academy Award for his terrific work here.
The score is also grandiose and very sweeping while the entire feel of the picture is one that evokes full-on cinematic spectacle. The editing is also strong and the performances are excellent across the board. John Wayne killed it it one of his more serious roles that somehow failed to garner him an Oscar nomination. Others also impress, but in much smaller roles. The standouts are John Agar and Ben Johnson.
The actors did the best that they could with such slim roles. The characterization is slight and only the protagonist got a meaty role here. We obviously never get to hear from the other side as no Native American character is properly explored in She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, which was typical for this era. The war scenes are beautifully executed and they are epic in scope, but I wasn’t emotionally engaged with any of it. The very weak dialogue did not help matters either.
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