Pocket Cinephile Western Essentials - #8. The Calvary Trilogy (Fort Apache, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, Rio Grande), John Ford, 1948/1949/1950

Over the course of these three films, Ford, John Wayne, and a protean stable of stars (Henry Fonda, Maureen O'Hara) and character actors (Ward Bond, Ben Johnson) established the blueprint for the War-Western, with Wayne's protagonists confronting themes of pride, duty, family, and aging against the striking tableau of Monument Valley.