In TECHNICOLOR???


This being a Republic picture, one would have thought that Yates would have insisted that Ford use Republic's own "Trucolor" system.

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John Ford insisted on Technicolor.

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It does look beautiful though, doesn't it? Mary Kate's blue blouse with her red skirt against those greens is incredible to see!

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I saw an interview one time that talked about this issue. Wayne, Ford and O'Hara had talked about making the movie (based on a short story I believe) for about 10 years at this point in time. They were getting down to the wire with it too, since they felt that both Wayne and O'Hara would be to old for the characters. Wayne was under contract with RKO had a good relationship with Republic president Herbert Yates so he took Ford to meet with him and pitch the movie. Yates thought it was a "nice little Irish story" but not movie material. Wayne and Ford argued their point and Yates finally relented, then Ford told him he wanted to actually film on location in Ireland and insisted on Technicolor. Yates relented but only after Ford and Wayne agreed to make three B&W oaters (Fort Apache, She Wore A Yellow Ribbon and Rio Grande) for him first in order to make sure he got his money out of the project.

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...agreed to make three B&W oaters ...


The correct term is "horse operas", but yeah....

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The terms are synonymous and while I think Horse Opera is cooler and more descriptive term I heard 'oater' in the interview about the subject and it just kind of stuck in my mind that way. LOL

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LOL.. I've heard them described as both Oaters and Horse Operas. I have two older brothers; one was a sci-fi fan in the 50s and one was a Western fan along with my dad. Because my dad ruled the TV, it was the Westerns that won out. My older brother of course derisively called them Horse Operas. He hates them to this day. Next time I talk to him I'll see if he used another descriptive term that I can't recall right now. If he did, I'll post that as well.

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We look forward to finding out what other descriptive term your brother used for these movies.

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"She Wore a Yellow Ribbon" was not black-and-white. It was Technicolor.

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