A lifelong army man in the southwest is a week away from his retirement when General Custer is killed in battle and the nation is in fear of an Indian uprising. Determined to retire peacefully, he is forced to escort a mother and daughter to a nearby settlement to catch a stagecoach back east on his last patrol, all the while warding off Indian attacks. She Wore a Yellow Ribbon is the second film in John Ford and John Wayne's Cavalry Trilogy, following
Fort Apache which starred Henry Fonda playing a Custer like military man and ended with him leading his troops into a precarious battle. Although the bulk of this second film takes place during the unit's patrol where not much is going on, it contains one of the finest performances The Duke ever committed to film, commanding the screen as he always did while showing his jovial side as well playing a character years beyond his age. John Ford and his Oscar winning cinematographer Winton C. Hoch wonderfully capture Ford's beloved Monument Valley in all its beauty and color. There are also two wonderful scenes toward the end, one involving Victor McLaglen's drunken Irish behemoth giving his farewell and Wayne's response to receiving a retirement gift from his men. Although there are some lulls in She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, there are many great elements that subside the negative ones and help make this a fine picture.
