framethrowerSign up for free

Rio Grande (1950)

Directed by John Ford · Cinematography by Bert Glennon

Approved105 min55 frames

Western

John Ford's Most Powerful Drama. The Breathtaking Saga of the United States Cavalry! The third installment of John Ford's trilogy...

IMDbWatch on Amazon

Stills, screencaps & shots from Rio Grande

16 of 55 frames — the full set is searchable by lighting, lens, shot size, color and mood with a free account.

Rio Grande (1950) movie still: medium — A group of men stand together outdoors under the cover of night. The men gather closely with serious…Rio Grande (1950) movie still: medium — A woman in a bonnet and jacket stands outdoors near a wooden wagon. The setting appears to be a rural or…Rio Grande (1950) movie still: wide — A field in front of a rocky canyon wall features a group of soldiers. One officer holds a parchment while…Rio Grande (1950) movie still: medium — Inside a canvas tent, four men are gathered around a small, glowing oil lamp. They are sitting in a circle…Rio Grande (1950) movie still: fullbody — A group of men in 19th-century western clothing stands in a thick dust cloud. Mountainous desert terrain…Rio Grande (1950) movie still: medium — A dark, cramped interior of a military tent with fabric walls in the background. A man in a dark uniform…Rio Grande (1950) movie still: wide — A vast, dry desert landscape with a steep rocky hill and sparse vegetation. A single rider on a horse stands…Rio Grande (1950) movie still: closeup — A woman stares forward with a fixed expression in a dimly lit interior. Her face is illuminated against the…Rio Grande (1950) movie still: fullbody — A canvas military tent interior contains a wooden table and a metal stove. Two soldiers stand by the table…Rio Grande (1950) movie still: medium — An open field with sparse trees and distant mesas provides the setting. A military officer and a woman stand…Rio Grande (1950) movie still: medium — A dry desert landscape with low scrub brush and distant mesas under a clouded sky. A man in a brimmed hat…Rio Grande (1950) movie still: closeup — The interior of a wooden barn shows vertical planks of aged timber in darkness. A man wearing a…Rio Grande (1950) movie still: medium — A dusty outdoor cavalry post features wooden fortifications and horses held by mounted soldiers. A woman in…Rio Grande (1950) movie still: medium — A rustic military office features log walls and a large desk piled with documents. Three soldiers in dark…Rio Grande (1950) movie still: medium — Four men sit on the ground at night surrounding a small, glowing campfire. One man plays an acoustic guitar…Rio Grande (1950) movie still: wide — A group of soldiers on horses gathers at the base of a large canyon. The men are wearing 19th-century military…
Rio Grande (1950) — © Argosy Pictures

Rio Grande — official trailer

What is Rio Grande about?

Lt. Col. Kirby Yorke is posted on the Texas frontier to defend settlers against depredations of marauding Apaches. Col. Yorke is under considerable stress by a serious shortage of troops of his command. Tension is added when Yorke's son (whom he hasn't seen in fifteen years), Trooper Jeff Yorke, is one of 18 recruits sent to the regiment.

Rio Grande is a 1950 American romantic Western film directed by John Ford and starring John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara. It is the third installment of Ford's "Cavalry Trilogy", following two RKO Pictures releases: Fort Apache (1948) and She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949). Wayne plays the lead in all three films, as Captain Kirby York in Fort Apache, then as Captain Nathan Brittles in She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, and finally as a promoted Lieutenant Colonel Kirby Yorke in Rio Grande. Rio Grande's supporting cast features Ben Johnson, Claude Jarman Jr., Harry Carey Jr., Chill Wills, J. Carrol Naish, Victor McLaglen, Grant Withers, the Western singing group the Sons of the Pioneers and Stan Jones.

Second paragraph from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Where can you watch Rio Grande?

US availability for Rio Grande (1950). Data by JustWatch, listings on TMDB. Availability changes — check the provider for current listings.

Who stars in Rio Grande?

Who made Rio Grande?

What does the cinematography of Rio Grande look like?

Across 55 sampled frames, Rio Grande builds its coverage from medium shots (47% of the sample), with wide compositions (36%) carrying much of the rest. Cinematographer Bert Glennon keeps 56% of it in hard-edged, naturalistic light. Daylight carries most of the picture. Vintage glass shapes the frame. Deep focus keeps foreground and background readable at once in 65% of the frames.

What is the color palette of Rio Grande?

The dominant colors across the sampled frames of Rio Grande (1950) are #050505, #2d2d2d, #484848, #707070, #adadad, #8b8b8b — measured from the per-frame color data FrameThrower extracts for every film.

  • #050505
  • #2d2d2d
  • #484848
  • #707070
  • #adadad
  • #8b8b8b

See the full Rio Grande colour palette — every hex with its share, plus warmth, saturation and luminance.

A reference database for filmmakers

FrameThrower is a fully machine-searchable film database and visual reference library — all 55 frames of Rio Grande (1950), and 5,000+ films besides, indexed frame by frame and readable by AI. Search it in plain language, from a reference image, or by colour; call it from an API, an MCP server or an SDK. It's the reference layer for making the next movie.

Techniques in this film

More films by John Ford

More Western films

Cast, trailer and streaming data from TMDB. This product uses the TMDB API but is not endorsed or certified by TMDB.