RIO GRANDE
“Rio Grande” means Big River in Spanish, but two foreign posters for the John Ford/John Wayne 1950 film had the title RIO BRAVO.
Yep, the same title of the Howard Hawks/ John Wayne film of 1959.
How’s that for a coincidence.
What I didn’t know is that the Rio Grande river is over 1000 miles long and flows from Colorado to the Gulf of Mexico. It is barely navigable by small boats in a few places. Rio Bravo is the Mexican name for the river – ‘bravo’ meaning wild or fierce.
So the Ford film,RIO GRANDE was released as RIO BRAVO in Mexico.(‘Rio’ is Spanish for river.)
Another thing I didn’t know is that there is a small town in Texas called Rio Bravo. How about that!
And tributaries to the Rio Grande include the Rio Conchos and the Red River. Ford and Hawks obviously liked those names.
End of geography lesson!
As for the following poster, well , I don’t know who the lady is, but it isnt Miss O’Hara!
When John Wayne’s Col. Yorke requests the Mexican officer’s assistance in tracking the renegades, he responds “Above all I must protect the Rio Bravo side.” I must have seen the movie a couple of times before the significance of that line penetrated my noggin.
One river, two names. Thanks for that dialogue quote.