Bill Williams as Blackthorne Sheriff Pat Cronin Jim Davis as Rio Lobo Deputy Dean Smith as Bide Robert Donner as Deputy Whitey Carter Hank Worden as Hank – Hotel Manager Peter Jason as Lt. Ned Forsythe Edward Faulkner as Lt. Harris Chuck Courtney as Chuck George Plimpton as 4th Gunman Don "Red" Barry as Bartender Production The film was meant to be shot in Durango, Mexico on a budget of $5 million. However, shooting on the movie Lawman took up facilities there, so Hawks and Cinema Center had to spend an extra $1 million to allow shooting at Old Tucson Studios, and near Los Angeles. The film was shot in Technicolor. Hawks was injured while filming the railway scene, requiring four stitches. Hawks said he had to fight Cinema Center to cast Chris Mitchum (whose father was actor Robert Mitchum) in the movie. The script was rewritten throughout production. Reception The film made US$4.25 million in rentals, twentieth among the highest money-making pictures of the year, but it grossed $2 million less than its $6 million budget, making it a box-office bomb. Upon release, the film received mostly negative reviews. Variety wrote that "Hawks' direction is as listless as the plot". Roger Ebert, who gave the film 3 out of 4 stars, wrote, "Rio Lobo is just a shade tired, especially after the finely honed humor and action of El Dorado." Roger Greenspun of The New York Times said that the film was "close enough to greatness to stand above everything else so far in the current season." His comments surprised other critics and resulted in numerous angry letters sent to the newspaper. In retrospective, the film does have better reviews from contemporary critics. In Rotten Tomatoes the film has a 70% rating, based in 23 reviews, with an average rating of 6.10/10. The consensus is that "Howard Hawks and John Wayne reunite to riff on their own Rio Bravo, and while the results are less memorable the movie does offer a curiously cynical perspective." In a retrospective review, Jonathan Rosenbaum wrote, "The fact that its best action sequence, the first, was directed by the second unit is emblematic of Hawks's relative lack of engagement with the material." TV Guide wrote, "for such a refined director as Hawks to end his career on a note like this, having made some of the finest films in the history of American cinema,