Evengyny Thanks for the memories!

Ezmae Chang This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Taha Avalos The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

Payno I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

stevepb John Ford's "She Wore A Yellow Ribbon" is probably my favourite movie of all time and the recent release of a fully-restored Blu-ray version prompted me to write this review.I first saw it in the 1950s as a small boy, while on school holidays in a seaside town with my grandmother. The title didn't sound at all promising, so I was very pleasantly surprised and enjoyed nearly every minute of it.John Wayne puts in one of his best performances and the cast is filled out with enough Ford regulars – Ben Johnson, Harry Carey, Jr, Victor McLaglen – to guarantee the movie doesn't disappoint.I really don't know if it's a masterpiece or just a piece of cynical Cold War propaganda . . . that ain't my department, but I loved it 60 years ago and I love it now.Yes, it's sometimes corny and overly sentimental, but it holds true to the principles that decent men and women strive to live by.I also have a snippet of trivia related to the film. There's a scene at about the 24-minute mark when the cavalry column passes through the gate of Fort Starke and some of that very same sequence was used towards the end of MGM's "Ride, Vaquero" (at about the 77-minute mark). A wide shot of Fort Starke and clip of the cavalry crossing the river also turns up in the 1953 MGM film.

weezeralfalfa John Ford finally relented in his preference for B&W film making to give us a long overdue look at the predominantly rusty-colored spectacular Monument Valley backdrops featured in major portions that took place outside of the fort. The sequences when the cavalry is walking their horses, with a thunderstorm or mist in the background, are particularly memorable as a mood setter.Duke Wayne is back from the previous year's "Fort Apache", again as second in command, technically. But this time, he pretty much runs the show, with minimal interference from easy-going fort-bound Major MacAllshard, who is very different from Fonda's up-tight dictatorial Colonel Thursday in "Fort Apache". Here, Wayne plays a much older man, around 60, who is due to retire in a few days. Very much the father figure for the younger set. John Agar also returns from "Fort Apache" to play a similar role as the young lieutenant romantic lead. But instead of actual wife Shirley Temple, he has equally luscious-looking Joanne Dru to woo. And, he has stiff competition this time from Harry Carey Jr.. The volatile relationship between these 3 very much brings back memories of a similar sparring between cavalrymen Errol Flynn and Ronny Reagan over Olivia de Havilland, in "Santa Fe Trail". Dru's character is even named Olivia. Actually, Olivia seems much more in love with Wayne's mature character than with the sparring young duo. Obviously, Ford was impressed with the acting of Duke and feisty Dru in the previous year's outstanding western "Red River". Wayne is back with his older, more authoritarian, persona exhibited in that film, plus a moustache. But, again, the mood of the film is quite different: much more relaxed.Ben Johnson, another relatively young buck, is given his most visible film role to that point, as Wayne's chief scout. Likable Ben was a real Oklahoma cowboy and champion horse rider, and would team with Harry Carey Jr. as the laconic male stars in Ford's "The Wagon Masters", the following year. Dru would also return as the female star in that film. Ben rode two famous horses in this and the latter films: Steel and Bingo. Steel was valued as making riders look especially good, while Bingo was a champion galloper.The abundant music, while repetitive, consists mostly of well-known spirited traditional songs, mostly about sweethearts, often sung by troops through the years, including my Vietnam-era training troop. It certainly adds to the generally relaxed, jovial, tone of the film.Charismatic Victor McLaglen is back from "Ft. Apache", serving as the thoroughly Irish, whiskey-fired, top sergeant cut up. He is the star of an extended slapstick brawl. Ford often had at least one fisted brawl in his westerns, which might be serious, slapstick, or a mix of the two. He always included some humor in his films, however subtle, and there is plenty in this one. One type of humor is running gags or lines. Duke's repetitive "Never apologize, it's a sign of weakness" is an example. The film opens with an attack by Cheyenne Dog Soldiers(a military-oriented brotherhood) on the fort paymaster stage, to obtain money to buy more rifles. 20 years later, the much Vietnam War-influenced cavalry western "Soldier Blue" would open with a similar Cheyenne attack, again to obtain money to buy rifles. Unlike "Ft. Apache" and the subsequent "Rio Grande", a battle with Apaches is not included in this film. Besides Cheyenne, Arapahoes, Kiowas, and Comanches are mentioned as putting aside their traditional animosities, forming a common military alliance against rapidly encroaching Europeans. As in "Ft. Apache", Wayne makes a daring parley visit to the hostile 'Indian' encampment. There are no battles between mounted 'Indians' and cavalry. In several instances, the cavalry merely sees the results of an 'Indian' attack, including the satisfying murder of the gun-running fort sutlers. However, there is the late dramatic stampeding of the 'Indian' warrior's horses through their camp in the dead of night, as Wayne's commission as a soldier expires. The point was to limit the ability of the warriors to fight, with minimal bloodshed on either side. This episode encapsulates the result of the historic Red River War, headed by Colonel MacKenzie, which effectively ended the Indian Wars on the southern plains. Another MacKenzie-lead exploit is the basis of the subsequent "Rio Grande".... Wayne thinks his military career is now over, and we see him riding off into the sunset. But, he's in for a surprise!Irishman Ford actually identified with Native Americans as another group, who like the Irish, were commonly persecuted by mainstream Anglo-Saxon society. Thus, he usually tried to portray them in a relatively favorable light, although he knew that most of his audiences expected them to be mostly cast as expendable impediments to western expansion. This favoritism is seen most vividly in his last cavalry western: "Cheyenne Autumn", especially in the bizarre "Dodge City" segment.

lrod It doesn't seem possible that a good portion of the understanding of the Old West in general and the Indian Wars in particular for my generation was developed by watching Hollywood westerns of the '30s, '40s, and '50s (as well as TV in the '50s and '60s), but sadly, it was.I just re-watched SWaYR for the first time in a LOOOOONG time, and it reminds me of just how much of that old time "religion" I'd washed out of my consciousness in the last few decades.Having said that, though, I was entertained.Who can't get goose bumps watching (and listening to) Ben Johnson? To me, he has just about the most recognizable voice in movies. And that horsemanship! Only Yakima Canutt could approach him, in my view.Who can't get weepy as John Wayne surreptitiously reaches for his glasses? Who can have too much of Victor McLaglen in any tavern and/or brawl? (see "The Quiet Man" for another fine example) But, as has been pointed out, there were lots of errors or inconsistencies.How, for example, does one put in 40 years (not 30 as several have reported--do the math), serve in the Mexican War, the Civil War, and the Indian Wars and not get past Captain, even in those slow promotion, downsizing from wartime years? Brittles had to have had a fairly high brevet rank in the CW, but it's never mentioned.How does Allshard make Major under the same conditions and not have 40 years in? How does Brittles get promoted over him to Lt. Colonel at the end? Is Chief of Scouts not subject to mandatory retirement? And to some other posters, the Medal of Honor was indeed originally intended for enlisted men and non-commissioned officers in its original incarnation. However, only a year or two later (1862), it was expanded to include officers, as well. Still, many didn't get their CW MoHs until decades after the War.Oh, well, I've been told many times to relax, sit back, enjoy the entertainment and not sweat the details. But, damn! A fort under a bluff? The image of hostiles lobbing fireballs onto the parade ground (or wooden roofs) from above just grates on me.

TheLittleSongbird She Wore a Yellow Ribbon is a wonderful, first-class film overall. Because there are so many good things about it, I never felt bored. In regards to the pace, I had no problem with it, same with the length. Also, I actually think in general the scenes with the Indians and the romantic subplot worked, there have been westerns when they haven't, or one of them anyhow, but while they weren't the best parts of the story they didn't distract too much either. In fact my only real problem was Victor McLaglen, the Irish whimsy occasionally got a tad too much.She Wore a Yellow Ribbon has a huge amount to like. There is the beautiful cinematography that perfectly captured the magnificent Monument Valley locations. There is the stirring and quite majestic score, that brings drama, intensity, the like to any scene it appears in. There is John Ford's superb direction, the compelling story and nice dialogue. And there is also John Wayne's marvellous central performance and the fine cast that support him especially Harry Carey Jnr and the lovely Joannna Dru. In conclusion, a great film and a great calvary western. 9/10 Bethany Cox