Rio Bravo is a classic western text for many reasons. Firstly it is a standard star orientated western with a cast including John Wayne, Dean Martin, Ricky Nelson and Angie Dickinson. This is a typical Hollywood cast for what at the time was a very popular genre.
For a Few Dollars more is the second film in Sergio Leone's "Dollar Trilogy" which also consisted of A Fistful of Dollars and probably the most well known The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. The film was released in 1965 and in this aspect is a latecomer in the traditional western genre.
In the mid sixties there was an in fluctuation of Italian made western films now known as the "Spaghetti Western" because of this fact. Sergio Leone is probably the most famous director of this movement and arguably the most important director in shaping and popularising the sub genre as a whole. The sub genre was created with a breaking of the rules and precedents set, at the time, by the traditional western film. These contrasts can be seen clearly in the comparison between Rio Bravo and For a Few Dollars More.
The themes for example are a lot different, Rio Bravo centres around a small town sheriff, Chance, who runs into trouble when the brother of a powerful and wealthy, yet unjust, citizen. The characters consist of an alcoholic deputy Dude, the hardy and stubborn sheriff Chance, a young gunslinger and a plucky lady. Dollars concerns itself with two bounty hunters, Monco and Col Mortimer, after the same prize. The prize being a vicious, murdering, rapist gang leader named El Indio and his crew of bandits.
There are two characters however that almost crossover from film to film. In Rio Bravo Chance's old timer friend Stumpy and in Dollars the character of "Old Prophet" draw parallels. Both are very old, know everything about the history if the town they live in and are constantly moaning about something. Both these characters are treated in a similar way in the two films as they are mainly there to lighten the mood and add a little comedy. This is more so in Rio Bravo as Stumpy has quite a lot of screen time, making jokes and meandering around in a daze whereas Old Prophet appears for only enough time to give Monco the information he needs.
The difference in the mood of the film and the difference between Bravos' optimism and Dollars' pessimism is easy to see throughout the whole of each of the films. In Rio Bravo we see a romance blossom between Wayne's leading man and Angie Dickinson's, tough faced, down on her luck lady which is a typical and transparent sub storyline. There is also the pain of Dude's drinking but the elated triumph as he overcomes his problems at the end of the film just as we knew he would.
This is the exact opposite within Dollars as at every turn there is aggression or anger. The only optimistic act throughout the whole film is the teaming up of Monco and Col. Mortimer and even then before this the two spy on each other and have an epic shootout, testing each others abilities. The filthy flashbacks of El Indio's murder and rape of a husband and wife constantly drag the film into oppression and even at the end of the film with El Indio's death we discover Mortimer has only been out for pure revenge.
Another light hearted edition to Rio Bravo is the use of diegetic music in the piece. Both Ricky Nelson, who plays Colorado, and Dean Martin, Dude, sing a few songs. At the end of the film Colorado and Dude sing along to the guitar whilst Chance and Stumpy sit around having a laugh and a joke. This is a very uplifting, feel good Hollywood scene that now would seem extremely clichéd.
Music also plays and extremely important role in Dollars however it is Morricone's epic and ingenious score that helps to drive the film along and highlights the mood and feel of the story with quite the opposite effect of Bravo's feel good sing song.
One of the biggest and most notable differences between the two films has to be both the style and techniques employed in each. Rio Bravo has a very steady pace to it with very standard shots and editing style. The film moves along at a relatively slow pace and gives a lot of time to each of the characters to develop. Even at the big shootout there is no particular fast paced cuts of movements. The film was shot on 35mm Technicolor which really brings out the colours of the piece and adds to the more cheery feel throughout.
In Dollars, Leone uses a myriad of camera movements, blocking and framing that is very heavily stylised and has become quite synonymous with him throughout cinematic history. The most noticeable are his contrasting extreme close ups and extreme wide shots.
Perspective plays a huge part in Dollars and Leone knows when to use the camera to maximum effect. The menace of El Indio's face on a wanted poster flicking between extreme close ups of Van Cleef with piercing gunshot sound effects on every cut. This is startlingly different from Rio Bravo which has only one real close up throughout the whole film and that is of Dude trying to role a cigarette. This aggressive stance taken by Leone is what creates the hostile landscape which the film is set.
Interestingly this film is also shot on 35mm Technicolor however its use seems very different. There isn't much in the way of vibrant colours as there is in Rio Bravo so the Technicolor brings out all of the browns and reds from the landscape and the blood.
Overall though part of the same genre the two films here are vastly different, Rio Bravo a classic Western text and Dollars a sub genre masterpiece which has become a classic Western text through its breaking of the rules and pushing of boundaries. Both films are excellent examples of a now diverse genre at the heart of American Cinema.
