Red River

Most people are going to enjoy this film. The story builds up well with some wonderful action set-pieces and montages, even though it could certainly benefit from further trimming. Coleen Gray making too much of her one scene would be twice as effective at half the length; and as for Joanne Dru, she doesn't belong in the film at all. True, she makes an extremely late entrance, but the story got along quite effectively without her. All she does is to slow down the pace and dissipate most of the tension. Mind you, the plot has some gaping holes. For instance, Wayne claims that he's too poor to buy some sacks of flour and few pounds of beans, yet he has no trouble engaging a band of badmen and buying them ammunition! And what a neat co-incidence that one of the pursuing Indians was wearing that charm bracelet that belonged - of course - to Wayne's mother! Wayne is his usual ruggedly roughshod self, Clift is less neurotic than usual, Brennan minus more teeth is more talkative than ever and even has an off-camera commentary as well! A fascinating assembly of support players includes the Careys, father and son (though the two never meet), Tom Tyler (briefly glimpsed), Paul Fix as a whinger saved from a hanging and Chief Yowlachie surprisingly amusing as a comic relief assistant cook and bottlewasher!

From 1939 to 1948, two major Westerns done with taste and skill and with an eye to beauty could be mentioned: John Ford's "Stagecoach," and Howard Hawks' "Red River." "Red River" is a great adventure Western considered as the very best among all Westerns... But could we compared it to Ford's splendidly filmed "Wagon Master"? John Ford maintains his shooting eye at a certain distance while Howard Hawks keeps it nearby... But both are skilled directors of a bunch of great movies Ford is closer to Western movies, and Hawks to other genre... Ford treats his Western characters as people behave... Hawks displays it in vivid adventure... In "Red River," "Rio Bravo," and "The Big Sky" Howard Hawks is far from the magnitude of Ford's "The Searchers." Under Ford's instruction, John Wayne is fluent and moderate, refined in conduct and manners as in "The Quiet Man." With Hawks, Wayne's character prevails differential tendency toward passion and fury... It is soon evident that the cattle boss is tough to the point of obsession… It could be argued that only men of this spirit could have handled and survived the first pioneering cattle drives… One of the drovers (John Ireland) wants to make for Abilene but gets no change out of Wayne… When the cattle stampede Wayne goes to 'gun-whip' one of the hands, Clift intervenes… It was then evident that Wayne was going to drive his men just as hard as he intends to drive the cattle "Red River" is a Western just as much concerned with human relationships and their tensions as with spectacle and action—a hallmark of Hawks' films and this element is introduced when the pair meet up with a boy leading a cow… The boy confirms the wagon-train massacre, and the boy and the cow from then on are included in the partnership… This is not only a key-point of the narrative but also a highly symbolic moment For some years Garfield was the only screen rebel... But in Clift's appearance in "Red River," another rebel was born… In "Red River," Clift plays the adopted son who opposes his father's domineering attitudes and behavior towards himself and also towards the cowhands who work for them on the drive to market… The struggle between father and adopted son, compels delighted interest... Dunson's unfeeling hardhearted style remembers us Captain Bligh in "Mutiny on the Bounty." In the beginning of the film we had admiration for Wayne's persona... We concluded finding him unfriendly, unconscious, unacceptable and faulty... Clift wins our sympathy! Clift was the withdrawn, introverted man who quietly maintains his integrity as he resists all pressures… These qualities were summed up in the words of Private Prewitt in "From Here to Eternity" probably Clift's finest rebel role! "Red River" will remain a film with a unique flavor… It has, and will continue to have, its own special niche among honored Westerns With two Academy Award Nomination for Writing, splendid music score by Dmitri Tomkin and excellent acting including the supporting cast, the film had all the concepts of Howard Hawks' quality: vigor in action, reality as opposed to emotions and a faculty of scale...

RED RIVER is a fine, epic-feeling western from Howard Hawks, featuring John Wayne in a role in which he already plays an old-timer even this early on in his career. He's a cattle baron who must engage in a fraught and epic cross-country journey, aided by a bunch of young bucks whose rowdiness causes trouble. Wayne is well supported by a debuting Montgomery Clift alongside the likes of John Ireland as the young men he butts heads with, and what's interesting is that he transforms into a villain for part of the picture. All of the western cliches are present and correct here, from fights and showdowns to love triangles and Indian attacks, but the plot keeps you guessing and there's genuine suspense throughout.

John Wayne stars as Thomas Dunson, a Cattle Baron taking his herd on a big drive from Texas to Missouri. With him is his adopted son Mathew Garth(played by Montgomery Clift) and other veteran western actors like Walter Brennan, Harry Carey Sr. and John Ireland. Joanne Dru and Colleen Gray play love interests. Things go wrong when Matt learns that they could get a better deal in Kansas, and Tom stubbornly refuses to alter his plans. This causes division, resulting in Matt taking the herd away from his adopted father, incurring the wrath from a vengeful Tom Dunson... Reasonably entertaining film doesn't really have anyone in particular to root for, since both men had valid points, and the showdown at the end is anti-climatic. Still, Howard Hawks does a fine job directing, and a the cast is also fine, which help overcome story flaws.

This is one of the dozen best John Wayne films there are. It is part of a viewing marathon that I do not plan to end until I have seen at least 18 movies - my 100th birthday celebration. He plays a Texas cattle Baron who has to drive his herd 1000 miles to Missouri because beef is not selling in Texas after the war because there is no money. They make the first drive up the Chisolm Trail. This film has an outstanding cast to support Wayne. Young Montgomery Clift as his partner, Walter Brennan for comic relief, and Joanne Dru as the woman that settles the feud. One of the funniest parts is the dance between the two young colts, Montgomery Clift and John Ireland as they feel each other out to see who is top dog. It is just a great film that no one should miss.