Fans of the dignified Hollywood western got their money’s worth on Friday evening, as Bavarian Radio broadcast “Rio Lobo,” probably the last classic representative of its genre. The film is also available to stream.
In 1964, Italian director Sergio Leone dealt the classic western a death blow with his adaptation of the samurai film “Yojimbo: The Bodyguard”, landing one of the biggest surprise successes in film history. “For a Fistful of Dollars” not only sparked the short-lived Spaghetti Western, but also changed Hollywood’s contributions to the genre. The great epics of John Ford or Howard Hawks were no longer in demand, and the late westerns, which were much more brutal but also more realistic, took over, and did not even stop at the greatest legend, John Wayne. The actor was able to adapt to the new zeitgeist, however, and delivered the best performances of his career as an aged and, for the first time, truly vulnerable swashbuckler.
In 1970, he teamed up again with director Howard Hawks and revived the classic western of the 1950s. In “Rio Lobo” John Wayne once again plays the good lawman who makes short work of all the bad guys and then rides proudly into the sunset. If you don’t know the film yet, or want to indulge in nostalgia, tune in to BR on Friday, September 6, 2024 at 10:50 p.m., where “Rio Lobo” was broadcast without commercial breaks. Alternatively, you can watch the western any time stream on Amazon for a fee of 3.99 euros.
Currently, Kevin Costner is trying “Horizon”to breathe new life into the genre. Find out what he has to say about Westerns in general in the video.
End of a great career: Howard Hawks’ last film
With “Rio Lobo” John Wayne made his last traditional western, and for Howard Hawks the film was his final work behind the camera. The director is considered one of the greatest figures in classic Hollywood cinema and worked with John Wayne five times, including on the 1959 western “Rio Lobo”. But he also influenced other genres, such as the gangster film (“Scarface”) and the comedy (“You Don’t Kiss a Leopard”).
Although he embodied classical cinema like no other, his work experienced a renaissance during the Nouvelle Vague and New Hollywood eras. Directors Peter Bogdanovich and Martin Scorsese called Hawks a role model, and Jean-Luc Godard even called him the “greatest American artist” (via The New Yorker).
Find out how well you know Westerns in the quiz.
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