Red River (1948)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Directors:

Howard Hawks
Arthur Rosson (co-director)

Writers:

Borden Chase (screenplay) and
Charles Schnee (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

26 August 1948 (USA)

Genre:

Western | Action | Adventure

Tagline:

Greatest Spectacle Ever!

Plot:

Dunson is driving his cattle to Red River when his adopted son, Matthew, turns against him.

Plot Keywords:

Cattle | Kansas | Cattle Drive | Texas | Deserter

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

John Wayne	...	Thomas Dunson
Montgomery Clift	...	Matt Garth
Joanne Dru	...	Tess Millay
Walter Brennan	...	'Groot' Nadine
Coleen Gray	...	Fen (also as Colleen Gray)
Harry Carey	...	Mr. Melville (as Harry Carey Sr.)
John Ireland	...	Cherry Valance
Noah Beery Jr.	...	Buster McGee
Harry Carey Jr.	...	Dan Latimer
Chief Yowlachie	...	Quo
Paul Fix	...	Teeler Yacey
Hank Worden	...	Simms Reeves
Mickey Kuhn	...	Matt, as a boy
Ray Hyke	...	Walt Jergens
Hal Taliaferro	...	Old Leather (as Hal Talliaferro)

Also Known As:

The River Is Red (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

133 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Australia:G (original rating) | Australia:PG (TV rating) | West Germany:12 (nf) | Sweden:15 (cut) | Finland:K-12 | Germany:12 | Norway:16 | USA:Unrated | UK:U

Filming Locations:

Elgin, Arizona, USA

Company:

Charles K. Feldman Group

Trivia:

The only film that father, Harry Carey, and son, Harry Carey Jr. appeared together in.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: When they are driving the cattle and go to the aid of the wagon train, a communications mast can be seen on the hill in the background of one shot of the five horsemen. The next shot is a closer view of one rider and the mast can be seen even more clearly.

Quotes:

Matt, as a boy: How did you know when he was gonna draw?
Thomas Dunson: By watching his eyes. Remember that.
Matt, as a boy: I will.
Thomas Dunson: Get a shovel and my Bible. I'll read over him.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Last Picture Show (1971)

Soundtrack:

Settle Down

An enjoyable western

Fourteen years ago Thomas Dunson entered Texas across Red River with two head of cattle, his trail hand, and a young boy, Matt Garth, who survived an Indian attack on a wagon train that killed Dunson's sweetheart. After years of development he is now head of a ranch and is preparing to drive his head of thousands of cattle up to Missouri for sale, despite the perils. However Dunson's brutal leadership style bucks up against the more peaceful Matt, leading to a rebellion and a splitting of the ways between Dunson and his adopted son.

With an early scene establishing both Dunson's methods (taking land by force) and the source of much of his future bitterness and rage, this film sets itself out to be a real good character piece and pretty much manages to do it. The plot sweeps across 14 years but doesn't suffer for it. The main plot device is the cattle drive, which is depicted with affection here, however the main story is the conflict between Dunson and Matt's methods and views on man management. This aspect is not given quite as much time as I had hoped and tends to be over shadowed by the scale of the cattle drive itself – however this is still good.

The weakest point here is the romance which feels tacked on at the end. Not only does it feel unnecessary but it doesn't really work very well either. To make matters worse – when the conflict between Dunson and Matt manifests itself physically, it is devalued by the involvement of Tess somewhat. Wayne's leading man is strong and is a good performance considering how unpopular he is as a character. Clift gives a balanced performance and stands up well alongside the Duke. The support cast is full of western favourites and does well to fill the story out with colour, comic relief from Brennan's chuck wagon driver is great fun.

Overall this is a good western that I felt didn't quite reach it's full potential as a film. It could have gone further with the battle of wills between the characters but instead the cattle drive takes the lion's share of screen time. Having said that, there is still plenty to enjoy with both the character clashes and the perils of the cattle drive itself.