John Chance is a sheriff in a small western town who hands his hands full when he arrests Joe Burdette, the brother of wealthy rancher, Nathan Burdette, for murder. With the rancher’s group willing to do anything to free Joe, Sheriff Chance realizes his only allies are Stumpy, Dude, Colorado and Feathers. Here are a few movie mistakes to look for while watching “Rio Bravo”.

· Pat Wheeler brings the wagon train through the town after Joe Burdette is arrested. Wheeler rides up to Sheriff John Chance and stops as they begin to talk. Chance’s arms are by his side, but in the front view of Wheeler (rear view of Chance), when he starts saying, “Don’t tell me what’s going on…”, Chance can be seen folding his arms, putting his rifle under his left arm, while still holding the end of the gun stock with his right hand. It cuts to a close-up of Chance and his right arm is settled on Wheeler’s saddle, with his right hand empty. The scene cuts back to the original view and his right hand is back to grasping the gunstock.

· After his conversation with Wheeler, Chance goes into the sheriff’s office where Stumpy is. Stumpy is standing in front of the jail cell and the door is noticeably shut. After Dude arrives, Stumpy turns and walks into the cell, with the door now open.

· Dude is at the saloon trying to find the injured man with muddy boots. He notices the blood on the beer glass. In the close-up view of the mug, there are two vertical lines of blood that run down the front of the glass. There is also a smaller line of blood that runs only about an inch from the top. It cuts to a view of Dude looking at the glass, where there are now three vertical lines that run down the front.

· Chance is talking to Feathers and walks behind the bar to get a drink. Feathers says she would like a drink and approaches the bar. There is a wooden bowl on the bar top sitting to her right. In the wider view, she is shown picking up the bowl and is holding it in her hands when she says she’s “sorry about Mr. Wheeler”. The scene cuts to a closer view and the bowl is back in its original position on the bar top and she is rubbing her hands together.

· Chance goes to check on Dude who’s tied up in the barn. Chance places his rifle against the wooden post near Dude’s feet. It cuts to a closer view as Chance unties Dude and the rifle is gone. He eventually picks the rifle up from the opposite side as he’s leaving.

· Feathers is behind the dressing screen and puts her black tights over the top. They dangle over the side in a bunch. It cuts to Chance and back to Feathers behind the dressing screen and the tights are spread neatly over the top.

“Rio Bravo” (1959) stars John Wayne, Dean Martin, Ricky Nelson, Angie Dickinson, Walter Brennan, Ward Bond, John Russell and Claude Akins. It runs 141 minutes and is rated as “Passed”.

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