Rio Grande Blu-ray

'Rio Grande' Director: John Ford (1950) Eureka Masters of Cinema Blu-ray

Perhaps one of the most underrated of the collaborations between director John Ford and star John Wayne, Rio Grande manages to be both a conclusion and a new beginning for this most iconic of actor-filmmaker collaborators. The film is the final entry in Ford and Wayne’s “Cavalry Trilogy,” following their hits Fort Apache (1948) and She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949). Yet it also marks the first of five appearances Wayne made with actress Maureen O’Hara, three of which were directed by Ford.

Wayne is Lt. Col. Kirby Yorke, attached to the Texas frontier in 1879 to protect settlers from attacks by Apaches. When Yorke’s son – a West Point flunkee turned Army private – is assigned to his father’s regiment, tensions flare upon the arrival of Yorke’s estranged wife Kathleen, who wants their teenaged son out of Yorke’s unit. After Apaches attack, the stakes of Yorke’s mission escalate, and he must journey to Mexico where the Apaches are hiding out. With his son and two old recruits as accompaniment, Yorke faces his toughest battle.

Special features include:
- Audio commentary by western authority Stephen Prince
- Scene specific audio commentary with Maureen O'Hara
- Video essay on the film by John Ford expert and scholar Tag Gallagher
- Along the Rio Grande with Maureen O’Hara – archival documentary
- The Making of Rio Grande – archival featurette
- A collector’s booklet featuring a new essay by western expert Howard Hughes; a new essay by film writer Phil Hoad; transcript of an interview with John Ford; excerpts from a conversation with Harry Carey, Jr.