Possibly the most definitively American movie ever made

I've always loved this movie. Howard Hawk and John Wayne made it in response to "High Noon," which, however good a film it was, they regarded as un-American. Wayne's and Hawks's chief objection was that this portrayed a sheriff going around an American frontier town and begging for help, and not getting it. They felt that this was un-American and ahistorical. Actual historial evidence suggests they were right. Rather than cowing before outlaws, American history provides examples of ordinary townsfolk standing up to the depredations of outlaws -- e.g. the fate of the James gang in Northfield, Minnesota, or the Dalton gang in Coffeyville, Kansas.

In contrast to "High Noon's" Will Kane, "Rio Bravo's" John. T. Chance doesn't have to go around begging ineffectually for help. In fact he rejects some of the direct help that's offered, that of Ward Bond's Pat Wheeler, and Pedro Gonzalez's Carlos Robante, because he doesn't think they can help effectively; they'll just make themselves targets or get in the way. Likewise he's both amused and approving when the skilled young gunfighter Colorado, played by Ricky Nelson, initially declines to get involved -- that tendency to mind one's own business signifies both wisdom and good intentions. This reinforces the American spirit of individualism and self-reliance. Yet ultimately, Wayne's sheriff John T. Chance does need -- and get -- help, from people who, while individualistic and self-reliant, can ultimately be counted upon to do the right thing.

This is the American ideal of personal behavior. It may not always be something we've lived up to, but it is what is popularly regarded in the United States as what is right.