In the small Texas town of Rio Bravo, law and order is maintained by three unlikely enforcers: hard-boiled sheriff Chance; former quick draw artist Dude, now gone drunk and disheveled; and the crippled, wisecracking Stumpy, who patrols the jail with a shotgun. The arrest and incarceration of Joe Burdette for murder has set these three at odds with his brother, corrupt and wealthy landowner Nathan Burdette. Nathan assembles a force of hired guns to spring Joe, while Chance enlists hotshot gunslinger Colorado. Complications arise in the form of Feathers -- not the usual saloon floozy but a competent professional gambler accustomed to sparring with men -- who has an eye for Chance.

Originally produced as an American motion picture in 1958 ; released in 1959. From a short story by B.H. McCampbell.

Disc 1: Feature ; Special features: Optional audio feature commentary by John Carpenter and Richard Schickel ; John Wayne trailer gallery -- Disc 2 : The Men who made the movies: Howard Hawks [episode of series from Turner Classic Movies cable network] (A Lorac Production ; narrator, Sidney Pollack ; producer, writer and director, Richard Schickel ; 2001; 55 min. ; col. w/ b&w seq.) ; Commemoration: Howard Hawks' Rio Bravo (Sparkhill [Productions] ; Warner Bros. Entertainment ; 2007 ; 33 min. ; col. w/ b&w seq.) ; Old Tucson: Where the legends walked [Profile of Old Tucson Studios, where Rio Bravo and many other Western movies were filmed] (Sparkhill [Productions] ; Warner Bros. Entertainment ; 2007 ; 9 min. ; col. w/ b&w seq.).