She Wore a Yellow Ribbon

"John Ford's new and finest picture of the fighting cavalry!"

1949 1h 44m EN

👍

6.9

SOLID

★6.9TMDB · 421

DramaWestern

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

On the eve of retirement, Captain Nathan Brittles takes out a last patrol to stop an impending massive Indian attack. Encumbered by women who must be evacuated, Brittles finds his mission imperiled.

“John Ford's new and finest picture of the fighting cavalry!”

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Cast

John Wayne
Capt. Nathan Cutting Brittles
Joanne Dru
Olivia Dandridge
John Agar
Lt. Flint Cohill
Ben Johnson
Sgt. Tyree
Harry Carey Jr.
2nd Lt. Ross Pennell
Victor McLaglen
First Sergeant Quincannon
Mildred Natwick
Abby Allshard
George O'Brien
Maj. Mac Allshard

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: John Ford
Writers: Frank S. Nugent, Laurence Stallings, James Warner Bellah
Languages: English, Spanish
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $1.6M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 3.4× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

77 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Spanish.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by John Ford, shot by Winton C. Hoch. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Richard Hageman. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Jack Murray shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

John Wayne and Joanne Dru and John Agar carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

John Ford directs. Winton C. Hoch behind the camera. Richard Hageman scores. Jack Murray cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English, Spanish.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $1.6M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
2Made its money back 3.4× over at the box office.
377 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
4Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Spanish.
5Directed by John Ford, shot by Winton C. Hoch. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Richard Hageman. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Jack Murray shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8John Wayne and Joanne Dru and John Agar carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "John Ford's new and finest picture of the fighting cavalry!".
10IMDB entry: tt0041866 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
11Classified under 17 themes, including "fort", "utah", "retirement", "woman between two men".
12Released under 12 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Winton C. Hoch
Original score: Richard Hageman
Editing: Jack Murray
Makeup / hair: Don L. Cash
Runtime: 104 min · 1h 44m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $1,600,000
Box office: $5,400,000
Return: 338% of budget
Original language: EN
IMDB: She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949)

Awards

Academy Award for Best Cinematography, Color

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

John Ford

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Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2015-06-03
★ 8/10
The army is always the same. The sun and the moon change, but the army knows no seasons. The second instalment of the acclaimed John Ford cavalry trilogy had a lot to live up to after Fort Apache (1948). So it may not be too controversial to state that "Yellow Ribbon" doesn't quite achieve the potential promise that Fort Apache's foundation building had provided. However, here is still a mighty Western of many joys. The lead theme here is the passing of time, of time and love lost, lest we forget indeed. These themes give the film a strong emotional heartbeat from which to work from - even if on proviso it's noted that elsewhere there is not much in the way of an adrenalin pumping action extravaganza. Accepting it as an affecting character piece is something of a requisite if you want to get the most out of the viewing experience, and of course simultaneously getting wrapped up in the gifted art of film making in the process. John Wayne gives a top notch performance in what is obviously one of the first out and out serious roles that Ford gave him. His ageing Captain Nathan Brittles requires him to put in a very fallible human type of performance, something that he achieves in spades. He's a believable leader who is ruing the calling of time on his career in the service. Yet even Wayne's affecting turn is trumped by some of the most gorgeous cinematography you could wish to see from the 1940s. Winton Hoch clashed with Ford on the shoot about various perfections (both parties equally to blame of course), but the final result is incredible. Witness a scene as Brittles visits his dead wife's grave, the backdrop is all purple and red, a storm is imminent, metaphorically and in reality. Has shooting in the desert ever been so colourfully lush? The locations are breath takingly brought to vivid life, Monument Valley in all its glory. Picture leaves an indelible mark on the conscious for the art and performances (Joanne Dru, Ben Johnson, Victor McLaglen & Harry Carey Jr bring their "A" game), but temper that slightly for as a story it just about gets by for dramatic purpose. Yet of course John Ford knows his onions and structures it accordingly, bringing precision and a genuine love of the genre and the material to hand. 8/10
CinemaSerf2024-06-09
★ 7/10
Approaching the end of his military career, "Capt. Brittles" (John Wayne) is charged with one final patrol whilst trying to reconcile two hormonal lieutenants who have the hots for the prim "Miss Dandridge" (Joanne Dru). One is from military gentry "Pennell" (Harry Carey Jr.) the other a more working man "Cohill" (John Agar) and she is having quite good fun playing the cat with two balls of wool. Just to compound his misfortunes, "Brittles" has to take this woman, and the major's feisty wife "Abby" (Mildred Natwick) on his tour too. Yikes, maybe the Apache would be a welcome relief from all these shenanigans. Perhaps not though, as it transpires that the Indians are very much on the warpath and it might not matter for very long for whom "Dandridge" wears her yellow ribbon. There's a solid cast here, as you'd expect from a John Ford who has pretty much assembled a team to follow his adventures through the genre with the Duke. Ben Johnson's confederate veteran "Tyree" as well as Victor McLaglen's mischievous top sergeant "Quincannon" and his cohort of fellow whiskey lovers all keep the film moving along entertainingly with plenty of action and just a little slapstick humour to raise a smile as Wayne continues to engagingly rule the roost.