How Long Is “Rio Grande”?

(1950) The third instalment of John Ford's commanding triptych of Seventh Cavalry films, following Fort Apache and She Wore a Yellow Ribbon . Once again John Wayne stars as Lt Col Kirby Yorke, now in command of a remote army outpost on the Mexican border, trying to suppress Apache raids. A new influx of recruits brings a surprise: Kirby's long-lost son Jefferson Yorke (Claude Jarman Jnr), closely followed by his mother, Kirby's ex-wife, Kathleen (Maureen O'Hara), who's determined to buy her son out of the army. While both resist her efforts, they also face danger from the Apaches, who kidnap children from a wagon train of settlers, leaving Yorke with no choice but to lead an under-strength troop in pursuit, in the hope that he will return triumphant and win back the love of his ex-wife.