Rio Grande

John Wayne had one of his best roles as Lt. Col. Kirby Yorke, a crochety, by-the-book career army officer. One of the new men he is training for possible action against hostile Apaches is his son (Claude Jarman, Jr.), whom he hasn't seen in 15 years. Yorke's precarious position with the Indians is further complicated by the arrival of his estranged wife, Kathleen (Maureen O'Hara), who is determined to take her son away from the dusty hell-hole. The young trooper has other ideas, although his father's approval doesn't seem to be an abiding consideration. The third of director John Ford's magnificent "cavalry trilogy" (after Fort Apache and She Wore a Yellow Ribbon). Also starring many members of Ford's famed stock company of actors, including Ben Johnson, Victor McLaglen, Chill Wills, Harry Carey, Jr., and Ken Curtis.