The 1959 film Rio Bravo, directed by Howard Hawks, was released at a time of heightened tension in the United States, with fear of communism still looming, even after L era of the Red Scare. The film, starring John Wayne, Dean Martin and Ricky Nelson, reflects the growing popularity of American westerns at the time the film was produced. Say no to plagiarism. Get a custom essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay The plot of the film centers on the arrest of Claude Atkins' character, Joe Burdette, whose own men attempt to arrest him broken out of prison throughout the film, ultimately prevented from permanent abandonment by the film's leads. As someone who had virtually no experience with American westerns before this film, this film made me appreciate them much more than before and allowed me to see John Wayne's roles in a different light, as his character appeared more dynamic, not as one-dimensional as me. I would have believed it without seeing this film. The use of camera angles in the film was superb and although some shots were limited, they were used in a very impactful and effective way to understand the storyline of the film. John Wayne's character, John T. Chance, is introduced through the use of the film's first close-up, as he comes to the aid of Dean Martin's character, Dude, in the film's first scene. Dude is present in the majority of close-ups that occur throughout the film, including a close-up in which Dude is upset, hitting his leg in anger, and another in which Dude's face is shaved by Feathers, that of Angie Dickinson. I believe the most effective use of these close-ups occurred before Dude was attacked by Joe's men, showing a close-up of Dude's reflection in the water, almost anticipating the attack, all surprising the viewer. I was also particularly impressed by the film's use of fade-in transitions between multiple scenes, as a way to not only change settings, but also accelerate physical time within the film's storyline. There are some technical aspects of Rio Bravo that interest me, as not all of the methods can be easily explained by looking from the perspective of a different era. In particular, there is a scene in the film where Joe Burdette jokes and mocks Dude from his prison cell, in which Dude responds by throwing a full beer bottle at the cell, which shatters on impact. Obviously in today's films, computer generated imagery could easily make this possible, but since that didn't exist during the time of this film's productions, I'm really curious how this was achieved ? I'm inclined to believe the bottle was a prop, but the effect was very realistic for a movie released in 1959. In a later scene, Dude and Ricky Nelson's character, Colorado, sings "My Rifle, My Pony, and Me”. which I assume was pre-recorded in the studio and not played live during the film's production, but I'm still curious if my belief is actually the case in this film. Compared to the present, I was impressed that this film was seemingly able to pull off a successful performance with a cast that I would perceive as "star-studded" for the time, an accomplishment that various modern films attempt to achieve, by packing a film with a cast of actors who are generally accomplished individually, but are seemingly incompatible together, resulting in an unsuccessful film at the box office. For example, if there had been another director instead of Howard Hawks, or another actor instead_1.