Rio Lobo | |
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Theatrical release poster
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Directed by | Howard Hawks |
Produced by | Howard Hawks |
Screenplay by |
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Story by | Burton Wohl |
Starring | |
Music by | Jerry Goldsmith |
Cinematography | William H. Clothier |
Edited by | John Woodcock |
Production
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Distributed by |
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Release date
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Running time
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114 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $6 million |
Box office | $4.25 million (North America rentals) |
Rio Lobo | |
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Soundtrack album by Jerry Goldsmith | |
Released | 2001 |
Genre | Film music |
Label | Prometheus Records |
Producer | Jerry Goldsmith |
Rio Lobo is a 1970 American Western film starring John Wayne. The film was the last film directed by Howard Hawks, from a script by Leigh Brackett. The film was shot in Technicolor with a running time of 114 minutes. The musical score was composed by Jerry Goldsmith and the movie was filmed at Cuernavaca in the Mexican state of Morelos and at Tucson, Arizona.
It was the third Howard Hawks film varying the idea of a sheriff defending his office against belligerent outlaw elements in the town, after Rio Bravo (1959) and El Dorado (1966), both also starring John Wayne.
During the American Civil War, Col. Cord McNally (John Wayne) has instructions telegraphed to his close friend, Lt. Ned Forsythe (Peter Jason), in charge of the Union troops on a Union army payroll train. However, Confederates led by Capt. Pierre Cordona (Jorge Rivero) and Sgt. Tuscarora Phillips (Christopher Mitchum) hijack the train. Their plan is to listen in on the telegraph wires, grease the tracks to stop the train, disconnect the payroll wagon from the engine so it rolls back down the hill, using a hornet's nest to force the Union guards to jump off the train, then catch the train with many ropes tied to trees. In the process, Lt. Forsythe is fatally injured.
In the subsequent fighting, they trick McNally and capture him but McNally leads them into a Union camp, pushes a branch forward, and lets it swing back to knock Tuscarora off his horse, then yells out to the camp. As the Confederates flee, McNally jumps Cordona. McNally realizes that a traitor must be selling information to the Confederate States of America, in order for the hijackings to be successful. McNally questions the pair, but they give him no information and are imprisoned.