Rio Lobo (1970)

Rio Lobo: Directed by Howard Hawks. With John Wayne, Jorge Rivero, Jennifer O’Neill, Jack Elam. After the Civil War, Cord McNally searches for the traitor whose treachery caused the defeat of McNally’s unit and the loss of a close friend.

“Being the John Wayne/Howard Hawks fan that I am, I expected great things from u0026quot;Rio Lobo.u0026quot; Unfortunately, itu0026#39;s one of the Dukeu0026#39;s weakest efforts. Howard Hawks has a style all of his own, but none of it is in evidence here. As a matter of fact, the one thing this picture reminds me of is those cheesy A.C. Lyles westerns from the u0026#39;60s, which were made cheap and loaded with familiar faces like Rory Calhoun, Howard Keel, Rod Cameron, etc.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe biggest problem in this film is the performances of the younger cast members. Jennifer Ou0026#39;Neill is ravishingly beautiful but canu0026#39;t act her way out of a paper bag. Her scenes with Rivero are among the most embarrassing on record. Rivero has trouble with English and seems to be reciting his lines phonetically; Ou0026#39;Neill doesnu0026#39;t seem to have the slightest idea of what she is doing. She steps on other actorsu0026#39; lines, forgets hers, misses cues, and is a pretty good argument for models not being paid for opening their mouths. Future studio head Sherry Lansing has a small part as a Mexican girl who ges beaten up by bad sheriff Mike Henry; she was a much better studio head than an actress. Itu0026#39;s up to the old pros like Wayne, Bill Williams, Jim Davis, Victor French and especially David Huddlestson as a frontier dentist to give this picture some semblance of professionalism, performance-wise. Jack Elam as an ornery old codger gives an over-the-top performance that is nevertheless fun to watch. Mike Henry is quite good as a sadistic, crooked sheriff. Yakima Canutt staged the rousing action scenes with his usual flair, and thereu0026#39;s a good Jerry Goldsmith score. Unfortunately, however, the trite script and the incompetent performances are obstacles that neither Hawks nor Wayne can overcome. Ou0026#39;Neill has a line early in the film that pretty much sums up her performance: u0026quot;Iu0026#39;m acting like an idiot, arenu0026#39;t I?u0026quot;u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eYup.”