My third attempt at watching this movie. Ricky Nelson scenes feel like the equivalent to watching Justin Beiber play a badass along side Deniro. So many people love this movie, how can they overlook the casting?
shareRicky was fine. Go watch Transformers.
shareI'll say that Ricky Nelson was the one misstep in this film. Everyone else was great, but he was clearly miscast. It doesn't hurt the film too much for me, it's probably my favorite western. But he stood out with Duke and Dino.
shareI guess young'uns can't appreciate how big Nelson had become on records and pretty much taking over the TV show "The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet." Casting him in this film probably guaranteed that teenyboppers would attend.
May I bone your kipper, Mademoiselle?
From a name recognition standpoint Ricky was quite the casting coup. I don't know how many thousands of teen girls showed up to this movie that would not have gone to see John Wayne. It was a major factor for the studio, it was seriously one of the things that made the movie happen.
That said, Ricky was horribly, horribly miscast. He didn't have the acting chops to hang with Wayne and Martin. And he didn't fit the character. It didn't kill the movie, but it does knock it down a tad (a long with the finale showdown being a bit anticlimactic). He was more of a necessary evil, the movie was worse with him, but likely wouldn't have happened without him.
I didn't like his character at first, then he turned out to be a perfect fit to the story. Ricky really lived upto the character.. I think people are mostly put off by his arrogance and unwanted bravado acts in the beginning; definitely not miscast. Can't imagine anyone else there. And I enjoyed the scene in which Ricky and Dino singing... made Rio Bravo extra special.
shareI think it is interesting that they wanted Elvis for the Ricky Nelson role. It didn't happen because Elvis (or his manager) wanted top billing over John Wayne. The only Elvis movie that I've ever seen was his first one (Love me Tender starring Richard Egan). I think if he had appeared in this movie, his movie career would have been a lot different and I would have ended up seeing a lot more of his movies!
sharePersonally, I think Ricky Nelson is great in Rio Bravo. Fits just right in my books.
Good-looking, narcissistic, cocky, but somehow likeable brats like Colorado are out there, and will keep coming, through the generations.
I don't dig James Caan's counterpart in Hawk's partial remake El Dorado at all, though. Doesn't ring true to me on any level.
If to stand pat means to resist evil then, yes, neighbour, we wish to stand pat.
Maybe you're not taking into account the role of the 'equalizer' (pistol) ? You could be a handicapped like Brennan's character and be a bad ass because quick/accurate on the draw is what made you. Pretty boy or 6'5" range rider - it didn't matter like in say todays boxing. wrestling or mixed martial arts. A young punk, pretty boy or not, could be a gunslinger - coordination and a natural talent is all that was needed (and the willingness to kill a man). Knowing its Nelson is what detracts the character some but his character here wasn't of a deep, thoughtful or 'conflicted' man. In fact, the comparison with a
young pop star is kind of apt when you think about it. It brings to mind Bon Jovi
song "Wanted Dead Or Alive".
The film itself is very good. Nelson was good at singing.
But he was, in my opinion, the worst performance in the movie.
The fact the this is a classic does not mean it cannot be criticized...
I enjoy his role. Perhaps it's nostalgia for his fresh face and The Nelson's which evokes a simpler time but I thought the My Rifle, My Pony and Me and Get Along Little Cindy was 5 great minutes of western film. One of my favorite Wayne films.
shareYes, Nelson helped make that musical interlude as good as it was, so it was worth casting him just for that. He may seem a bit unnatural as an actor, but Get Along Vcindy makes up for it!
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