UPDATED: One of Ford’s best – “She Wore a Yellow Ribbon” – Warner Archive

BLU-RAY REVIEW / NEW SDR SCREENSHOTS

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John Wayne stars as Nathan Brittles, a silver-haired captain and father figure for the Company C troops. The desolate landscape of Monument Valley near the Utah and Arizona border highlights the Oscar-winning color cinematography.

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SDR screenshots courtesy of Warner Archive Collection. Purchase via Amazon: click the jacket or via Movie Zyng https://moviezyng.com/djnnxm

“SHE WORE A YELLOW RIBBON: WARNER ARCHIVE COLLECTION”

Blu-ray, 1949, Unrated

Best extra: Vacation home movies from John Ford that should’ve stayed in the family closet

A DECADE AGO, Warner Archive Collection released this Western gem on Blu-ray, after its 2015 4K restoration of its three-strip Technicolor camera negatives. Well, Warner Bros. and its new owners (Skydance), it’s time we finally get its high-resolution 4K Ultra HD release, and it’s added refined cinematic natural film grain. No doubt, it would be spectacular!

Legendary director John ‘Pappy’ Ford was captivated by the desolate landscape of Monument Valley. With its spectacular red buttes and ocean of sand and stone, it became his trademark soundstage. His favorite Western star, John ‘Duke’ Wayne, rides across the Arizona/Utah mesa.

Ford’s love for the area was never more apparent than in “She Wore a Yellow Ribbon,” with Winton Hoch’s (“The Searchers,” “The Quiet Man”) expansive Oscar-winning color cinematography.

Loosely based on two Saturday Evening Post short stories, “War Party” and “The Big Hunt” by James Warner Bellah, this western yarn follows Nathan Brittles (Wayne), a silver haired captain and father figure for the Company C troops of the Seventh Cavalry at Fort Strake. He’s been counting the days before his retirement – only six left. This Army assignment in the rugged frontier hasn't been easy for Brittles; he’s lost his wife, his daughter and son. They’re buried just outside the fort walls, where he visits regularly recounting the daily affairs to them. The scene is bathed in the warmest Technicolor tones of the setting sun. Steven Spielberg borrowed the technique for his beautifully filmed “War Horse.”

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(1) “She Wore a Yellow Ribbon” premiered in Kansas City on July 26, 1949. (2&3) 43-year-old Cavalry veteran Captain Nathan Brittles (Wayne) smells the breath of Sgt. Quinncannon (Victor McLaglen) for any alcohol. Brittles marks the days on his 1876 calendar to his retirement day, Friday the 10th. (4) Cpt. Brittles checks the weather conditions at the fictional Fort Starke. The production was filmed during October 1948. (5) Niece Olivia Dandridge (Joanne Dru) of Major Mac Allshard, and her escort, Second Lt. Ross Pennell. (6) Brittles writes a letter.

Rumor of an Indian uprising looms. The battle at Little Bighorn and General Custer’s death is fresh on everyone minds and the payroll stagecoach has just been ambushed. Major Allshard (George O’Brien) orders Brittles and his men to escort the major’s wife (Mildred Natwick) and their lovely niece Olivia Dandridge (Joanne Dru) away from the vulnerable fort to safer ground. Lt. Cohill (John Agar) and Lt. Pennell (Carey Jr.) compete for Olivia’s affection. She's braided her hair with yellow ribbons for the cross country trip, a sign she’s got a sweetheart, says Brittles.

Joining the Duke are most of Ford’s stock company of actors, Ben Johnson, Harry Carey Jr. and Victor McLaglen. “Yellow Ribbon” is the second in Ford’s cavalry trilogy flanked by “Fort Apache” (1947) and “Rio Grande” (1950).

EXTRAS

• John Ford Home Movies (4 mins.) – the raw color film was captured on a 16mm camera, as the director and Wayne scout production locations near Mazatlan, Mexico. During the last 30 seconds, the duo enjoys some Mexican beer.

  
  

• Theatrical Trailer (2 mins. 30 seconds) – with a variety of color clips and bold headlines: “A lusty romance and adventure of the untamed West!” “Brought excitingly and colorfully to the screen… In the John Ford tradition of Greatness!”

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VIDEO/AUDIO

The true stars behind this remarkable 4K restoration are the technicians and computer wizards who preserved, restored and clean the three-strip Technicolor process used by Hoch. Monument Valley has never looked more striking. Captured on the oversized Technicolor camera nearly the size of a Volkswagen Beetle, there’s not a single color out of alignment. The resolution is so detailed you can separate each soldier on horseback, framed in scale like toy soldiers against the expansive landscape and sky. Ford and Hoch show the varying moods of the valley, keeping cameras rolling during a violent thunderstorm. Thunderbolts leap across the heavens and it's not CGI.

The original mono soundtrack has been restored, removing pops and hiss, and the new 24-bit DTS-HD track is upfront and centered with the dialogue and score from Oscar-winning composer Richard Hageman (“Stagecoach”).

Audiences loved “She Wore a Yellow Ribbon” in the late 1940s. If you’re a Wayne fan, this one has to be on the buy list.

― Bill Kelley III, High-def Watch producer

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SPECS

• 50 GB disc

• TRUE 4K mastering, and downconverted to 1080p for this presentation.

• Captured on the three-strip Technicolor process (1.37:1 aspect ratio) using spherical lens.

• Video bitrate: Averages around 31 Megabits per second, with a running time of 104 minutes.

• Awards: Academy Award for Best Color Cinematography

• Box office: Budgeted at $1.8 million, and after 31 days of filming, it was $500K under budget. Premiered on July 26, 1949, in Kansas City.  

• Rotten Tomatoes: Critics 91 percent, Audiences 79 percent.

• Collider.com: 25 Best John Wayne Movies – “She Wore a Yellow Ribbon” was No. 24. “The Searchers” (1956) was No. 1.

• Collider.com: 10 Best Westerns of the 1940s - “She Wore a Yellow Ribbon” was No. 6. “The Ox-Bow Incident” (1943) was No. 1.

• Screenrant.com: Top 10 Westerns of the 1940s - “She Wore a Yellow Ribbon” was No. 5. “Red River” (1948), starring John Wayne and Robert Montgomery, was No. 1.

• Entertainment Weekly: The 15 Best John Wayne Movies -  “She Wore a Yellow Ribbon” was No. 7. “The Searchers” was No. 1.