John Wayne & Dean Martin Played an Epic Prank on Costar Ricky Nelson on the Set of ‘Rio Bravo’
Rio Bravo was the highest-grossing Western of 1959, raking in over $10.5 million. That might have had to do with the stand-out cast — John Wayne, Dean Martin, Ricky Nelson and Angie Dickinson all appear in this tale of Texas sheriff John T. Chance (Wayne), who arrests the brother of a powerful local rancher. Before help can arrive from a U.S. Marshall, Wayne and a team of unlikely helpers, including the town-drunk Dude (Martin) and young cowboy Colorado Ryan (Nelson), must fight off the rancher’s gang as they attempt to bust the brother out of jail.
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The film came at the peak of Wayne’s career, solidifying him as a Western star hero. Meanwhile, it was director Howard Hawks‘ (The Big Sleep, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes) big comeback after his epic 1955 film Land of the Pharaohs flopped. It was also said that he made Rio Bravo as a way to get back at two popular Westerns of the time that annoyed him: High Noon (1952) and 3:10 to Yuma (1957).
In honor of its release date on April 4, 1959 (66 years ago!), let’s learn some interesting facts about the film and its stars:
1 Ricky Nelson received a very odd and gross birthday gift on set
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When the cast was just one week into shooting, Nelson turned 18 on May 8, 1958. To celebrate his birthday (and apparently tease him), costars Wayne and Martin, who acted as big brothers to the star, gave him a 300-pound sack of steer manure and threw him into it! I think I’d pass on that birthday gift.
2 Ricky Nelson almost wasn’t cast
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The director Howard Hawks initially did not want to cast Nelson for the film because they considered him too young and too thin. Even when he was convinced to cast Nelson, he deliberately gave him the fewest possible lines in the film. In the end, it turned out that Hawks was very wrong about getting Nelson on board — because he later admitted that adding the teen heartthrob’s name to the movie poster added at least $2 million to the box office performance.
3 Elvis Presley could have played Colorado Ryan instead
Photo by GAB Archive/Redferns
Maybe some of Hawks’ resistance to Nelson stemmed from the fact that before he was cast as Colorado Ryan, Hawks wanted another very famous star for the role: Elvis Presley. He wanted someone that would connect with teenagers and draw them to see the film. Presley was reportedly interested in the role but his manager, Colonel Tom Parker wanted too much money and top billing, which irritated Hawks and Wayne. Ultimately, Presley ended up joining the U.S. Army two month before filming began anyway and the rest is history.
4 Love interest age gap
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There was a huge age difference between Wayne and Angie Dickinson at that time of filming — reportedly, Wayne was nervous about their love scenes because he was 51 and Dickinson was just 26. He also felt he was getting too old to play the romantic lead in a film.
Dickinson, however, felt a little differently. “It was heaven,” Dickinson recalled to Entertainment Weekly. “He was so respectful of my freshness. He was an enormous star and this was as big as it gets in production, and it was a great honor to have been chosen. He was very helpful by being patient with me. Once, we sat and talked for about 10 minutes about a scene. That’s unheard of. You don’t waste a second. But he was trying to relax me. I got in a few binds because you can tell when a scene’s not working. He leaned on his rifle and waited, and then, I finally got the scene right.”
5 The unnamed cowboy was someone famous
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Do you remember the cowboy who was killed by Joe Burdette in the very beginning of the movie? The cowboy was none other than Kurt Russell‘s father, Bing Russell, in an uncredited role. Bing was no stranger to Westerns, as he also appeared in Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, Bonanza, The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp and more, before he famously became the owner of the Portland Mavericks Baseball Club.
6 A script was auctioned off for big bucks
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Wayne’s working script was sold for $20,315 in an auction by Heritage Auctions. Most of the pages were folded in half, a habit that he was known for.
7 Dean Martin and Ricky Nelson were singing cowboys
Both Martin and Nelson were huge stars in the music industry at the time, so it would be a shame not to include their singing skills in the movie. Dean sang the track “Rio Bravo,” and together, the two sang “My Rifle, My Pony, and Me” along with “Get Along Home, Cindy.” Nelson released a song in tribute to the movie and his role called “Restless Kid” on his 1959 album Ricky Sings Again.
Bonus: Cast tributes to … Jerry Lewis?
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It’s no secret that Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin had a long career together — and it is also no secret that they had a very public falling out. Rio Bravo was Martin’s first film after the famous duo split … so why is the whole cast holding a photo of the famous comedian? If you know the story behind this, please let us know in the comments!
Now tell us, who is your favorite character in the film?
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Wild West- Heroes & Villains
November 2022
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