Rio Bravo

Rio Bravo (1959) is Howard Hawks' landmark Western you can watch online on iFILM — 141 minutes of John Wayne, Dean Martin, Ricky Nelson, Angie Dickinson, and Walter Brennan working against the clock in a single Texas town.

Sheriff John Chance locks up a killer. The man's wealthy brother responds by flooding the town with hired guns and waiting. Chance's options are limited: a deputy fighting the shakes after months of drinking, a limping old-timer called Stumpy who guards the cell block with a shotgun and very little patience, and a fast-shooting kid named Colorado who hasn't decided yet if this is his fight. Feathers, the card-playing stranger at the saloon, complicates things in a different way entirely.

Hawks made Rio Bravo as a direct answer to High Noon, which he considered defeatist — his sheriff doesn't beg the townspeople for help, he works with whoever shows up. What results is a film that runs nearly two and a half hours on character alone, barely raising its voice. Stream Rio Bravo (1959) online on iFILM.