Rio Bravo (3)
Later, Brackett said, “I was used to writing by myself, alone with my typewriter in a little room. Jules Furthman, on the other hand, hated to put anything down on paper. So, in the story conference with Howard Hawks, Jules carried most of the ball. He and Mr. Hawks would talk the scene out, and I would contribute as much as I could. Basically, though, I would put down the scene that Mr. Hawks and Furthman had talked about, shape them, reshape them if necessary, and put them together. Adding a few things on my own in the process."
Hawks was concerned about the newcomers, Angie Dickinson and Ricky Nelson. He went into some detail about acting with these two, something he seldom does.
The movie was originally named Bull by the Tail. Dimitri Tiomkin wrote a song by the same name, which was supposed to be performed by Angie Dickinson. After several tries, Dickinson, gathering her courage, told Hawks she did not like the song; Hawks agreed, adding that everybody here "yeses" him and that it was good to hear a voice of opposition for a change. Dickinson claims her objection also led to the movie's title changing, although the line with the movie's title was left in the script when Bond tells Wayne that if somebody is holding the bull by its tail, it is you.
Years later, when Dickenson watched To Have and Have Not on television, she was stunned to realize she had repeated one of Lauren Bacall's lines in the film. Bacall's line, "It is better when you helped," had been changed to "It is better when two people are doing it."
Chris Nyby, who had directed Angie Dickinson for television, recommended her to Hawks.
The sheriff's character was essentially written for John Wayne, so there was no question as to who would play the role. Wayne, whose career had also hit a slump, was very anxious about making another western; he had not made any western since The Searchers in 1956. For Dude, Hawks wanted Montgomery Clift, but he wasn't interested in working with a bunch of machos and flatly said no. Dean Martin's agent tried to get an interview for him when Hawks told him to come in at 9:30 the next day. Martin, who had a show in Las Vegas, had to get up early, charter a plane, and meet him at 9:30; later, Hawks said that if he went through such a difficult task to be there on time, he would work hard and hire him on the spot.
Ward Bond, who played Wagonmaster for Ford, played the same role, although only for 20 minutes.
Surprisingly, much of the remaining cast came from television. Ricky Nelson worked with his parents in a series called The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet. He had become a famous rock-and-roll singer, and people hoped he might reach Elvis Presley's stature. Walter Brennan appeared to be ideal for cantankerous old Stumpy. He was the big star of another television series called The Real McCoys. Hawks had a bit of a problem with Brennan, who wanted to repeat his character from the television series, and it took several takes for him to understand what Hawks ultimately wanted. Although Angie Dickenson did not have a television series, Chris Nyby, who had directed her for television, recommended her to Hawks. When Hawks watched an episode of Perry Mason, directed by Chris Nyby, with Angie Dickenson in it, he was sold on her immediately. Ward Bond (Pat Wheeler), John Russell (Nathan Burdette), and Pedro Gonzalez-Gonzalez all had television series at the time. It was interesting that Ward Bond, who played the wagon master in the television series Wagon Train and was the wagon master in John Ford's movie The Wagonmaster (1950), had the same job in Rio Bravo, but only for about 20 minutes.
For Dude, Hawks wanted Montgomery Clift, but he wasn't interested in working with a bunch of machos.
Hawks was concerned about the newcomers, Angie Dickinson and Ricky Nelson. He went into some details of acting with these two, something he seldom does. To keep Ricky Nelson from looking stiff, he asked him when he was thinking and didn't have anything to do with his hands, trying to rub the side of his nose. He remembered that Montgomery Clift did this in Red River, which worked pretty well. To be fair to Clift, he has done a better job than Nelson. With Angie Dickinson, he told her to stick her tongue out while shaving Dean Martin to show her focus and concentration. He liked the way John Wayne walked, so in the scene where Wayne walks in front of the sheriff's office to see Ward Bond, he let the camera linger a bit; he just enjoyed that "catwalk." Hawks also told Dean Martin he "knew a guy with a hangover who'd pound his leg to hurt himself to try and get feeling in it." Martin said he understood what exactly Hawks wanted; he did the scene with no rehearsal and in one take.
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