If anyone were to ask me if Rio Bravo should be considered a western, my answer would be yes. This film is a classic western showing delicate civilization on the edge of a lawless frontier. Rio Bravo has all of those stereotypical western features as well as some unconventional ones.
All the classic elements are there. The revolver, spurs, saloons, goofy minorities, and tobacco. The setting is in the American west. The conflict is between civilized order of the town and between the lawless ranch owner. Chance is the maverick that has his trusty sidekicks like stumpy and the Mexican.
Dude is the nomadic wanderer and the Damsel in distress. This is more unconventional. He is wandering back to his roots after having a bit of bad luck with love. He is a mess. He needs the help of his friends. He needs to be saved. Chance has to do this multiple times in the film. He will save him from alcohol or from the clutches of rancher Nathan.
Rio Bravo is different from conventional westerns because it is not a shootem' up type. Chance is not running out into the west to tame it. He remains defensively in the town to preserve the peace and order. He is just doing his job and arrests a murderer and holds him until the Marshal can get there. Chance will not give into corruption, he will not release Joe to his powerful brother Nathan.
Feather's character is also a bit unconventional for a western. She does not match the typical female archetype in these films. She is not the damsel. She is a strong independent woman who braves death to protect her romantic interest: Chance. This was one of the first times I actually enjoyed a female character in a western. She actually pulls her weight and doesn't just bitch the entire time. The only other character who I admired, even though she was annoying and bitchy, was Little sis' from True Grit.
This film may have some unconventional elements for a western, but that does not mean that it is not a western. It is a real western.
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