She Wore a Yellow Ribbon

She Wore a Yellow Ribbon
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJohn Ford
Screenplay by
Based onThe Big Hunt
1947 story in The Saturday Evening Post
War Party
1948 story in The Saturday Evening Post
by James Warner Bellah
Produced byArgosy Pictures
Starring
Narrated byIrving Pichel
CinematographyWinton C. Hoch
Edited byJack Murray
Music byRichard Hageman
Color processTechnicolor
Production
company
Argosy Pictures
Distributed byRKO Radio Pictures
Release dates
  • July 26, 1949 (1949-07-26) (Premiere-Kansas City, KS)
  • October 22, 1949 (1949-10-22) (US)
Running time
103 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$1.6 million
Box office$2.7 million (rentals)

She Wore a Yellow Ribbon is a 1949 American Western film directed by John Ford and starring John Wayne, with Joanne Dru, John Agar, Ben Johnson, and Harry Carey Jr, in support. It is the second film in Ford's "Cavalry Trilogy", along with Fort Apache (1948) and Rio Grande (1950). With a budget of $1.6 million, the film was one of the most expensive Westerns made up to that time. A major hit for RKO, it received its name from "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon", a song popular with the U.S. military.

Written by Frank Nugent and Laurence Stallings, the film was shot in Technicolor on location in Monument Valley utilizing large areas of the Navajo reservation along the Arizona-Utah state border. Ford and cinematographer Winton C. Hoch based much of the film's imagery on the paintings and sculptures of Frederic Remington. Hoch won the Best Cinematography Award (Color) at the 22nd Academy Awards.