Watching this immediately after Fort Apache I was struck by how pleasant it is to see cavalry uniforms in color. If the title tells us she wears a yellow ribbon, then let's see it in bright technicolor. Here the mood differs from Fort Apache. Instead of the usual heroic action and conflict, it's more autumnal and elegiac with Wayne playing a seasoned cavalry captain nearing retirement. Interesting that this was shot in color despite Wayne's aging makeup. Ford notably filmed Liberty Valance in black & white in the hopes of hiding Jimmy Stewart's old-age makeup. But here an aging Wayne looks convincing in color and plays a good fatherly figure to his men.

The plot of the film centers on a final task before Wayne retires. He's trying to mend relations with the Cheyenne and Arapaho following Custer's last stand. In addition, he has a mission to transport his commanding officer's wife and niece to a safe place. John Agar returns, as well as a young Ben Johnson who has great screen presence. He's written as a knowledgeable sergeant who can identify which Indian tribes attacked a wagon by studying the arrow feathers. A love triangle forms between Harry Carey Jr. and John Agar over the gorgeous Joanne Dru, the actual girl who wears a yellow ribbon in her hair, which was a cavalry tradition to show support and declare love for one of the men (so the film says). Carey Jr. and Agar both play lieutenants who want the girl and seem to get attention from her until she picks Agar.

So in the beginning of the film we have similar vignettes as in Fort Apache, but they're better paced, the dialogue is sharper, and the characters more interesting and well-drawn. There's a good amount of humor which helps too: an Irish Victor McLaglen who hides whisky in a decorative pot in Wayne's quarters and takes a swig when he's not looking. Later on in the film when Wayne undertakes a mission to transport two ladies to a safer area, it gets exciting and adventurous as they all embark across the familiar Monument Valley terrain. The two ladies are also very good characters, perhaps Ford's best females played by great actresses. Shirley Temple was fine in Fort Apache, but Joanne Dru is so affable and intelligent. You can see why the two men want her. Same goes for the surprisingly attractive Mildred Natwick who was remarkably 44 at the time. She has a lot of pep. Both women are confident, wise, and dependable to help out as needed. At the same time, they are treasured as ladies to protect on the frontier, so Wayne is often giving orders to move them to the back of the wagon train if approaching danger. It's an interesting touch to see the ladies ride sidesaddle.

There's an incredible lightning and storm sequence out in Monument Valley that was apparently a happy accident. Ford didn't intend for it but when it happened he kept shooting and it adds so much atmosphere. Both Howard Hawks and Peter Bogdanovich had these lucky exterior shots where the clouds are just right or the weather favors them in Red River and The Last Picture Show, respectively. The dialogue and interactions among the cavalry are effective in showing us how professional they are: we get plenty of little cues as to how orders are relayed and the different kind of bugle horn calls used to signal. It evokes the British navy of the 1780s. As an adventure story, this films works better than Fort Apache, and it has a cast of characters I found more engaging to follow and listen to. Ford seemed to love Irish humor, so there's one barroom scene with the stereotypical Irishman Victor McLagen brawling with other soldiers in slapstick Buster Keaton fashion until Mildred Natwick comes in and scolds him like a school marm. Ford liked this kind of humor and we have to give it a pass, even as it feels out of place to our sensibilities now.

Wayne's retirement looms over the picture and we wonder if he'll make it or what he'll do after. After the mission failed in getting the ladies to safety because the stagecoach to escort them was ambushed by Indians, Wayne takes it upon himself to negotiate peace with an Indian chief. When that fails, he stampedes their horses out of the camp forcing them to return to their reservation. In the end he is recalled to duty as Lt. Colonel, an order endorsed by Sherman and President Grant. It ends poignantly with him accepting fate and speaking to the gravestone of his wife against a dusk matte painting and evocative lighting, like something out of Gone with the Wind.