No Quarter. No Mercy For The Loser: Rio Bravo (1959)

When it comes to the classic westerns, ones that almost all clock in at well over two hours in run time it is not just idea, but a necessity that they prove to be watchable, because there is absolutely nothing worse than a movie that drags on in the context of already being incredibly lengthy.  When it works it is something wonderful, like is the case with The Great Escape or with Seven Samurai.  Fortunately, as a filmmaker Howard Hawks lives in a world where dialogue is always engaging and the plot perplexing and this is certainly the case with his classic star-driven western Rio Bravo, which is both incredibly well-made and highly entertaining.  Within the matter of just under two and a half hours, viewers are teated to a variety of human identity issues being fleshed out and dealt with in great turn, while also avoiding the worrisome threat of being too preachy or misdirected.  Of course, Rio Bravo is more than just a traditional western that happens to just be really cool to watch, it manages to comfortably move about the genre specifics, without really leaving the space of its narrative, in fact, this movie has arguably been the most closed in within terms of character movement, only depicting the individuals within the relation to the town, and more so, within concern to the town jail and hotel.  Such a setup would be restrictive to most directors and performers, but within the world of a Howard Hawks film the more congested and restrictive the space the more he seems willing to absolutely blow the lid off of possibilities, whether it be a great turn at the comedic for John Wayne, or the wonderfully sentimental song number midway through the film.  Far before I ever envisioned this blog as a regular endeavor, let alone planned to devote an entire month to the genre of westerns, many of the individuals whose taste in film I highly admired, referred to the western as being their favorite genre, and while I am not quite committed to that kind of admiration, watching Rio Bravo has certainly led to me heavily reconsidering how much I have thought my top ten films to be solidified.  I would have to revisit my list of favorite all-time films, but considering how absolutely excellent Rio Bravo proved to be i would stand to call it my favorite western at the moment, although it is early in the month, with a ton of other classics on the docket so that is liable to change.

Rio Bravo begins with the stumbling and defeated The Dude (Dean Martin) walking into a bar sheepishly attempting to get a drink from anyone who will offer.  When the wily and troublesome Joe Burdette (Claude Akins) thinks it hilarious to throw a coin into the spitoon and watch The Dude fish it out, in steps John T. Chance (John Wayne) the local sheriff to reprimand Joe for his childish and degrading behavior, which invariably leads to a fight, in which The Dude in a moment of clarity helps Chance take back control, eventually leading to the arrest of Joe.  However, the run in with Joe is only one of Chance's problems and he, in fact, is having little success keeping a lid on the ruffians and wild folks who exist in and around his town.  Hoping to get The Dude back on the right track he hires him back on as an assistant sheriff, along with Stumpy (Walter Brennan) in a hopes that their unlikely combination will help to avoid trouble in the town.  Yet, when an old friend Pat Wheeler (Ward Bond) comes into town, along with a new hired hand Colorado Ryan (Ricky Nelson) only to see the dire state of Chance's town, he offers his services.  Chance refuses, however, noting that it is almost certain death and his workers will be too preoccupied with thoughts of their families to serve in any fruitful capacity. Instead, after some prodding and jousting on both ends Chance ends up attaining the aid of Colorado to standup against Joe's brother Nathan (John Russell) and his crew of lackeys.  Furthermore, Chance begins a relationship with Feathers (Angie Dickinson), as well as using Carlos (Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez) and his hotel as a point of operations.  While the singular focus is on moving trouble from the town, Chance is also quite aware of the necessity involved in making sure that The Dude stays sober, a decidedly hard task when The Dude admits that any stint without hard liquor results in his sadness about his past, however, with some stern words from Chance and a moment of success on The Dude's part he comes around and realizes his possibilities as a crime fighter.  In the end Chance, The Dude, Colorado and eventually Stumpy use their small team to take on Nathan's entire posse, an endeavor made ever slightly easier with the aid of high powered explosives.  In the end Chance and Feathers openly admit their feelings, while Stumpy and The Dude patrol the streets of the much calmer and more civilized town.

Whiskey and heavy drinking are of course one of the major tropes, or at the very least themes within most westerns, and while the consumption of alcohol in heavy amounts is often depicted within the genre, very little is done in the way of drawing attention to the issues of alcoholism or the heavy and continue abuse of liquor.  Of course, the drunkard does emerge in films of this nature, but never in such a way as to be a main character, or one whose actions are explained and grounded.  As such, Rio Bravo, while very much about Chance's own attempts at reigning in an out of control town, perhaps an extension of his psyche, or about Colorado's drive to assert his own young masculinity, ultimately, exists as a film about recovery.  This recovery can of course be taken at a very literal level as The Dude Learns to manage his days without even the slightest of drinking which leads to him having varied mood swings and an absurd diet.  He is written of throughout as an alcoholic, so much so, that only Chance seems to support his push towards being sober, suggesting that much as is the case with Alcoholics Anonymous style systems, that each individual needs a person to work them through the toughest of times and be a voice to engage with or a shoulder to lean on.  Chance, as his name suggests, is a final vestige through which The Dude finds his salvation.  Of course, he is not, by any means, the only character attempting to reinvent himself, but Hawks' directorial style seems to emphasize The Dude and his particular concern for turning over a new leaf.  In many scenes the camera often lingers on The Dude as he fidgets and moves about the space, an unusual technique for the time, let alone the genre, however, perhaps the most obvious moment in which the narrative suggests that The Dude is attempting to redefine or reestablish himself comes when he looks at his reflection in the mirror, seeing himself shaved and clean is followed by his being attacked.  In the past his confrontations with a former self would have led him to the bottle, yet when tied up he must learn to suffice without the crutch, eventually finding solace and comfort in music instead.  The Dude and his movement from an addiction are central to the film, which is particularly intriguing since the film moves and feels like a western, while also being a very focused human drama.

Key Scene: The singing scene of course, so much musical excellence is occurring in that space, it is only a slight let down, however, that John Wayne does not join in the fun.

Listen To Me, I'm Should-ing All Over Myself: Stuart Saves His Family (1995)

I often feel as though I am one of the lone defenders of the brilliance offered by Al Franken during his lengthy stint on Saturday Night Live.  Many of his skits and jokes were absolutely brilliant, but do to some sort of terrible politics going around the office in the early nineties for one reason or another he was rarely allowed to shine.  Now with that being said, Franken did offer viewers with one of the greatest and most under-appreciated characters in the shows long history, Stuart Smalley, the hapless self-help spouting dandy of a man whose own bizarrely troubled past often emerged when he would deal with his guests, many of which were famous, think back to his scenes with both Michael Jordan and Macaulay Culkin for specific examples.  Now I am quite aware that a character from Saturday Night Live rarely makes an appropriate transition to the film space, take Pat, The Night At The Roxbury Guys or even MacGruder as blatant examples of this, however, on a rare occasion something happens and a surprisingly decent film emerges from the result, whether it be The Coneheads, Blues Brothers or even the surprisingly watchable Superstar.  The beauty of Stuart Saves His Family, however, is that although it does draw its inspiration directly from a character Franken made for the show, it could beautifully work as a standalone film, one in which Stuart exists entirely in his own world and does not rely too heavily on the acts and quotes that made his character popular on the show, or to be more succinct, Stuart Smalley could have been a great character were this the first time we were to be introduced to him on screen.  Now I am also quite aware that much of this films magic and enjoyment probably resides in the fact that Harold Ramis directed the film, and my adoration for his films An American Werewolf In London and Groundhog Day, not to mention my love for Caddy Shack for before I began writing this blog.  Stuart Saves His Family tanked at the box offices and led to one of Franken's funnier Smalley performances, in which he spirals into shame eating, however, its failure to maintain numbers and return profit do not properly reflect how exceptional of a comedy this has become over the years.  It deserves to be mentioned among some of the comedy classics and certainly needs to be lifted out of its ever expanding obscurity.

Stuart Saves His Family, as I have noted, focuses on the life of Stuart Smalley (Al Franken) a self-help coach whose show on a public access channel has recently been cancelled due to a dispute he had between himself and the stations manager the rotund and virulent Roz Weinstock (Camille Saviola).  Already dealing with the shame of this occurrence, Stuart locks himself in his apartment much to the dismay of his friends, most notably his Al-Anon coach Julia (Laura San Giacomo).  To make matters worse, Stuart receives a call from his sister Jodie (Leslie Boone) explaining that their aunt has died, which has caused an uproar within the family.  Forced to return home in hopes of fixing the divide, viewers are introduced to the addiction fueled Smalley family, whether it be Stuart's pot smoking zombie-like brother Donnie, played with a surprising deal of commitment by Vincent D'Onofrio, or his overeating Mom (Shirley Knight).  Yet it is quite clear that much of the family trouble emerges from his Dad (Harris Yulin) who suffers from a serious case of alcoholism.  When it is revealed that their beloved Aunt cannot be buried in her desired plot, Donnie and Dad take it to cops ending up in their arrest and the desire of Stuart to wash his hands of the entire mess.  Heading back to his hometown it is revealed that Stuart has been offered a job at Health Cable Network because they find his show powerful and necessary viewing.  It is during his recording of this show that he is informed that the family is now finding trouble selling their Aunt's house due to it being built on another individuals property.  Attempting to make amends with the neighbor, Stuart only makes matters worse causing the neighbor to demand more money an act that is not cleared up in court, but only saved due to Stuart's insistence on honesty.  In the process the family comes to accept that their father is indeed a serious alcoholic when he drunkenly shoots Donnie during a hunting accident.  The family then has an intervention forcing themselves to acknowledge their various addictions and leading to Stuart indirectly saving his family, especially Donnie who goes so far as to follow Stuart back to his city in an attempt to  get his life on track, the loving Stuart takes him in with no question whatsoever.

Stuart Saves His Family is a masterful comedy, although the funny elements of this film are clearly masking a larger commentary on the problems of escapism plaguing an America that Franken saw emerging during the late eighties and early nineties.  Stuart's parents are clearly quite conservative and fail to deal with a changing landscape, one that is most obviously evidenced by their inability to comprehend Stuart's lifestyle, one that is not traditionally masculine, and as such leads them to assume he is a gay and therefore a shame on the family.  To some degree their lack of understanding to Stuart's unique identity causes them to seek solace in substance abuse.  Similarly, Jodie attempts to maintain a heteronormative lifestyle, yet since she only seems to find abusive and disrespectful husbands she cannot maintain any degree of an ideal lifestyle, leading to a hypochondriac lifestyle which results in her latching on to others.  Donnie has also clearly failed to escape his own failed dreams and has all but given up, in fact, if it were not for Stuart viewers could assume that he would have returned on another dangerous hunting trip without even thinking about the consequences.  Stuart serves as a character whose addiction is not necessarily obvious, while he certainly does not abuse substances he seeks understanding and safety through sacrificing himself to others, which indirectly allows him to ignore his own problems.  It is not until Stuart begins concerning himself with himself that he is able to make positive changes in his life, two of which come in the form of his new show and a burgeoning relationship with Julia.  However, Franken is clear in his script to suggest that while individual acceptance is nice it often takes a group to help conquer larger problems and the two elements must work interchangeably and if that means leaving your family in order to find friends that help you achieve those goals then so be it, often times an individual can only help so much before it is the other persons responsibility to make changes.  The ending of the film reminds viewers that if you at least try to show people this it will often be enough for them to take the next step.

Key Scene:  Some of the flashbacks that are intercut with Stuart's travels are quite enjoyable and help to advance portions of the plot along without spending too much time on detracting from narrative, perhaps the best example of this occurs with the naming of the Ajax Knight scene from Stuart's childhood.

So the DVD for this film is OOP and quite expensive, I intend to get one by hook or crook at some point, however, within the past few days Netflix added this to their Watch Instantly queue and very much made my day.  Please watch this masterpiece and criminally underrated film as a hopes to bring it somewhat out of obscurity.