She Wore a Yellow Ribbon is a 1949 Western film directed by John Ford. The film stars John Wayne and Joanne Dru. She Wore a Yellow Ribbon is the second film in Ford’s unofficial “Cavalry Trilogy”, following Fort Apache (1948).
Director: John Ford
Production Company: Argosy Pictures
Distributor: RKO Radio Pictures
Cast: John Wayne, Joanne Dru, John Agar, Ben Johnson, Harry Carey Jr., Victor McLaglen
US Box Office: $6,750,000 ($140,400,000 adjusted for inflation)
Film Format: Technicolor
Genre: Western
Release Date: July 26, 1949 (premier); October 29, 1949 (general release)
Plot Summary: In 1876 at the Frontier Army outpost Fort Starke, Captain Nathaniel Brittles (John Wayne) is only a few days away from retirement. For his last mission, Brittles and his cavalry need to deal with rampaging Indian tribes to prevent a new frontier war. Brittles also has to escort the Major’s wife Abby Allshard (Mildred Natwick) and niece Olivia Dandridge (Joanne Dru) to a stagecoach east. Olivia is courted by two of Brittles’ young lieutenants: Flint Cohill (John Agar) and Ross Pennell (Harry Carey Jr.).
Production: John Ford began work on She Wore a Yellow Ribbon in mid-1948. The film was produced by Argosy Pictures, the film company ran by Ford and Merian C. Cooper. Ford based the film on two of James Warner Bellah’s short stories for the Saturday Evening Post, “The Big Hunt” (1947) and “War Party” (1948). Bellah wrote the first draft of the film of the film. Laurence Stallings was hired to improve the script’s structure and expand upon the short story, including adding the romantic subplot. Frank Nugent further polished Stallings’ script.
John Ford initially did not want to cast John Wayne in the lead role as Captain Brittles. The character was about twenty years older than Wayne and Ford didn’t think that Wayne had enough gravitas and emotional depth for the part. That all changed when Ford saw Wayne’s performance in Red River (1948). He realized that Wayne had grown as an actor and was capable of playing the character that he envisioned. Makeup artist Don L. Cash and hair stylist Anna Malin helped convincingly make John Wayne (who was forty-one at the time) appear to be in his sixties. After filming was complete Ford gave Wayne with a cake with the message, “You’re an actor now.”
Filming on She Wore a Yellow Ribbon began in October of 1948. The film was mostly shot on location in Monument Valley in Southern Utah and Northeast Arizona. The exterior of the Post’s headquarters building (where Brittles lives) is a real cabin at Goulding’s Trading Post in Utah that still exists today. Ford and cinematographer Winston C. Hoch designed the cinematography and scene framing of She Wore a Yellow Ribbon to resemble the western paintings of Frederic Remington. During the shooting, most of the film’s cast and crew lived in relatively simple conditions in Monument Valley. Ford shot the film in only 31 days and under budget (the studio’s proposed budget for the filming was $1.9 million, and Ford shot it in about $1.4 million), a sign of Ford’s famous efficiency.
There was apparently some tension on set between Ford and Hoch. During one scene, while the cavalry is riding through the desert, a real thunderstorm started. Hoch allegedly wanted to stop shooting because he was worried that it was too dark and that the camera would act as a lightning rod, but Ford ordered him keep shooting the scene. Hoch later filed a complaint about Ford to the American Society of Cinematographers over this incident. Harry Carey Jr. remembered the incident differently. He noted that Ford was more cordial to Hoch once the storm started, and that Hoch agreed to keep shooting after Ford asked him if it would be okay to do so.
Fun Facts and Trivia: Connolly the bartender is played by John Ford’s older brother Francis Ford. She Wore a Yellow Ribbon was John Ford’s second technicolor film, after Drums Along the Mohawk (1939). During the scene where Brittles visits his wife’s grave, a cross gravestone has “DeVoto” written on it. This is a reference to Western historian Bernard DeVoto. The scene where Sgt. Quincannon (Victor McLaglen) gives a speech to the troops and then asks who owns the dog that is laying by them, was improvised by John Ford. The stray dog had fallen asleep in that spot while the scene was being set up, so Ford had McLaglen acknowledge the dog in his speech. However, the scene had to be reshot a few times because McLaglen kept accidently calling the Irish setter a “cocker spaniel.”
Reception: She Wore a Yellow Ribbon received generally good reviews when it was first released. The film’s cinematography and scope were well received. Bosley Crowther of The New York Times liked the film’s music and was impressed by the color cinematography. Variety also gave the film a positive review and thought that it was consistent with the quality that was expected of John Ford. She Wore a Yellow Ribbon was also successful at the box office, though it did not make as much money as Ford’s previous cavalry film, Fort Apache (1948).
She Wore a Yellow Ribbon still receives generally positive reviews today, though it is not as popular as some of John Ford’s other films. Nathanael Hood of The Young Folks gave the film a positive review and praised Ford’s color cinematography. In 2008 She Wore a Yellow Ribbon was one of the fifty films nominated by the American Film Institute for their list of the top ten greatest Westerns of all time. However, it did not make it into the top ten.
Oscars: She Wore a Yellow Ribbon was nominated for only one Academy Award: Best Color Cinematography (Winton C. Hoch), which Hoch deservedly won. That same year, John Wayne was nominated for Best Actor for his role in Sands of Iwo Jima (1949). Wayne personally thought that he should have been nominated for She Wore a Yellow Ribbon instead because he put more effort into his performance as Captain Brittles.
Why You Should See It: She Wore a Yellow Ribbon is a great classic western. The film’s color cinematography is beautiful and breathtaking. The version of the classic military song “She Wore a Yellow Ribbon” sung during the film is fun and memorable. John Wayne is good in his leading role, and does a great job adding depth to the character. As usual, Victor McLaglen is also great, and is very funny in his supporting role. Joanne Dru and Ben Johnson (Tyree) are also good in their roles. The film is an excellent, patriotic celebration of the traditions of the United States Cavalry. I would definitely recommend She Wore a Yellow Ribbon to fans of John Wayne and John Ford.