Red River

Plot synopsis:
In 1851, Tom Dunson (John Wayne) and friend Nadine Groot (Walter Brennan), join a wagon train in St. Louis (or near St. Louis), headed for California. After three weeks, they approach north Texas, where the land looks good to Tom. He decides he wants to break away from the wagon train and go find a place to start a ranch of his own. The wagon master tries to order him to stay, then tries talking him out of it, all to no avail. Tom is also pretty handy with his fists and a gun, so there wouldnt be any forcing him.Along with Tom and Nadine on the trip to California is Fen (Colleen Gray), Toms love interest. He and Fen are basically engaged (in love, anyway) and she wants to come with Tom and Nadine to find a ranch. Tom wont hear of it, promising to send for her once hes settled in. She doesn't like the idea of having to wait, but promises to come. Before leaving, Tom gives Fen a bracelet that belonged to his mother.Tom and Nadine take off with their wagon, horse, one bull and two cows, and get maybe 10-15 miles from the wagon train, near the Red River, when they look back and see black smoke. Realizing that the wagon train has most likely been attacked by Indians, they know they cant get back in time to help, and that some of the Indians are likely to come looking for them soon enough anyway, so they set up in a defensive posture and wait.Sure enough, maybe 6-7 Indian braves show up and begin an attack with a fire arrow that hits Tom's and Nadine's wagon (but doesnt do much damage). Both Tom and Nadine are good shots and they kill most of the attackers right away. However, one of their cows was killed by the Indians and then Tom has to fight hand-to-hand. He kills one Indian as they fight and fall into the river. Tom notices the Indian he killed was wearing the bracelet hed given to Fey. Tom then sneaks out to kill the last one or two Indians of the group, who were still out there hiding.The next day, theres a young boy named Matt Garth (Mickey Kuhn) who comes strolling along leading a cow and talking to himself, like hes lost his mind. Tom slaps the kid to snap him out of his trance. The kid then pulls a hand gun and points it at Tom. Tom grabs the gun and takes it away, knocking the kid down. The kid is not crazy, but just play-acting. Tom tells him never to pull a gun on him again. The kid has spunk and tells Tom never to take his gun from him again. Tom turns to Nadine and says, hell do. Tom hands Matt's gun back to him and allows him to come with them. Apparently, the family or group Matt had been with was attacked by Indians too, so he had no one left.The three of them travel deep into Texas, stopping at the Rio Grande, where Tom pronounces himself the new owner of all the land visible north of the river. He also says that 10 years hence, hell have the biggest and best ranch in all of Texas, with plenty of beef to feed and nourish all the people around the area. He tells Garth and Groot that he will brand all the cattle in his future herd with a D double bar (the bars representing the banks of the Red River). Matt wants an M added to the brand, but Dunson says he'll have to earn it.Two Mexican men come riding up and introduce themselves as employees of Don Diego, the man who owns the land they are standing on. At that moment, Don Diego was at his ranch headquarters 400 miles south, in Mexico. Tom tells the two men to ride back and tell Don Diego that all the land north of the Rio Grande now belongs to him and hes taking it. One of the men says that just cant be and he goes for his gun. Tom outdraws him and shoots him dead. He tells the other man to take his friends horse and go back and tell Don Diego what happened. Tom told the guy that he would take care of burying the other man's body.Flash forward nearly 15 years later to find Tom, Nadine and a grown Matt (Montgomery Clift) having a discussion about Matts recent return to the ranch, and the major problem of there being no market in Texas for all of Toms thousands of cattle (thanks to the Civil War basically bankrupting everyone). The decision is that they will need to drive the cattle north instead, to Missouri, to sell them. Tom was going to make Nadine stay behind, as Nadine was getting too old to ride, but the trail cook had just quit, so Nadine got to go, as the cowboys would need a cook.Tom and Nadine had a funny exchange, right after Tom had told Nadine he had to stay behind. Nadine was talking to himself, complaining about the decision, while Tom was trying to talk to Matt. Tom finally turned to Nadine and asked him what he was saying and why didnt he have his new teeth in his mouth, because he couldnt understand his mumbling. Nadine responded that everyone else could understand him just fine and he was keeping his teeth in his pocket until he needed them for eating.Matt was overseeing the branding of the cattle, preparatory to the drive, and having the men turn loose any cows belonging to a rancher named Meeker (Davison Clark), or to Don Diego. Tom rides up and orders that no cattle be turned loose and that they all be branded with the D-Double Bar brand (his). Matt doesnt agree, but tells the men to go ahead and do as Tom says.About that time, Mr. Meeker rides up with some of his men, including a hired gun, and asks Tom for permission to look through the herd to cull out any of his cows. Tom denies permission, telling Meeker that hes branding all of the cows he has, regardless of any other brands they may already have on them.Things get pretty testy and Matt and Mr. Meekers gunfighter, Cherry Valance (John Ireland) exchange words. Matt has become very handy with a gun himself. Tom relents somewhat, in that he decides to offer Meeker $2/head for any of his cows that make it to Missouri and get sold. Meeker agrees. Cherry then decides hed like to work for Tom instead of Meeker and asks to be hired on. Tom hires him at $10/month, the going rate for a trail hand.Matt and Cherry are just itching to have a fight (preferably a gunfight), and Tom realizes its probably inevitable, but he forces them to get along for the time being. They do have an initial challenge contest, where they borrow each others guns and alternately shoot at a tin can, impressing each other with their respective skills.In the bunkhouse, theres a poker game the night before the drive starts. Quo (Chief Yowlachie) is sitting opposite Groot. Groot has a good hand, but when Quo bets one silver dollar, Groot is aghast. Thats equivalent to 3 days pay. He asks Matt to loan him a dollar, but Matt refuses. The rule of the game is that only whats on the table at the time can be used to bet with. So, Quo asks Groot whats in the small bag he has there on the table and Groot tells him it contains his false teeth. Quo says hell accept half interest in the teeth to cover the one dollar bet. Groot isn't happy about it, but he agrees. They show their cards. Quo has the better hand and demands the teeth. Groot wants to know how hes supposed to eat without his teeth and Quo tells him that come grub time, you get em.Dunson comes into the bunkhouse and tells everyone that its now or never as far as their decisions to go on the drive. He tells them that there will be no hard feelings for anyone who wants to stay behind, and promised them that theyd still have jobs on the ranch after the drive is over. He tells them that theyll be doing good to make 10 miles a day on the 1,000 mile drive, 15 miles if they are lucky. Theyll face bad weather, dust, Indians and border gangs (once they get close to Missouri). But, once a cowboy says hell go, hes expected to finish the drive, whatever happens. Dunson makes everyone going sign a piece of paper representing their word to stick it out.The next morning, breakfast was served at 4:30 and, with nearly 10,000 head of cattle grouped together, at 5 a.m., Dunson quietly told Matt to take 'em to Missouri. All the cowboys whooped and hollered as they started out.Quo holds Groot to the results of their bet, only loaning the false teeth back to Groot at mealtimes. Groot is not happy about that. He tells Quo that the teeth help him keep the dust out of his mouth. Quo tells him to keep his mouth shut then, and dust not get in. Groot complains that before the drive is over, hell probably eat enough land to get himself incorporated in the Union as the State of Groot. Quo still says no. Dunson isnt happy about the situation either, complaining that Groot mumbles and needs to have his teeth in to be understood.The men start talking about taking the cattle to Kansas instead of Missouri, as its closer and there are less hazards along the way. However, because no one has personal knowledge of a railway actually being in Abilene, KS (where rumor has it there was one), Dunson says to forget it.Dunson goes through 3-4 horses a day, so hes obviously very involved in the drive.The group is 30 days into the drive with no major issues. One cowboy remarks that he doesnt like that. It makes him nervous. He prefers a balance of things going well and having trouble, not just one or the other. The trouble part does come, and it starts as a result of Bunk Kenneally (Ivan Parry) continuing to get into the supply of sugar (he dips his fingers into the sack whenever he can, which gets him in trouble with Groot). Everyone has been on their best behavior as far as being quiet, because the cattle are on edge. They are tired and there are coyotes milling about. Everyone is worried that the cows will stampede if something spooks them. So, when Bunk clumsily knocks over some of the cook pots as hes getting into the sugar, thats enough noise to start a stampede.One of the cowboys prefers to wear a bowler hat. He gets trapped behind a shrub in the middle of the stampede, so Matt and another fellow ride up and each grab an arm of this fellow and they carry him off to the side of the stampeding cows and let him down.After the cows are stopped and calmed down, it's noticed that one of the wranglers, Dan Latimer (Harry Carey Jr.) is missing. Latimer wore checkered pants and would talk about using the $100 he would be earning on the drive to buy a place to farm/ranch, and a pair of red shoes for his wife.A search begins and they find what's left of Latimer's distinctive checkered pants among a bunch of dead cattle. Dunson tells Matt to make sure the widow gets Dans money and whatever else. Matt replies, like a pair of red shoes?Dunson reads over Latimer's remains the next morning and as he puts the Bible back on the wagon, he goes over and picks up Groots' whip, at the same time calling out to Bunk: Bunk Kennally, you started all this! 400 cows dead and Latimer too. Stealing sugar like a little kid. Well, we whip kids to punish them for things like that.Dunson tells Teeler to strap Bunk to a wagon wheel. Before Teeler can do that, Bunk speaks up and acknowledges that he is remorseful about Latimer and the dead cows, but he tells Dunson he wont stand to be whipped. As he goes for his gun, hed likely have been shot dead by Dunson, but Matt draws first and shoots Bunk in the shoulder, saving his life. Dunson turns to Matt and says, you shot him, you take care of him!Matt provides Bunk with two horses and sends him back home. Cherry observes all this and tells Matt that while hes real fast with a gun, hes got a soft heart, and that will get him hurt some day. Matt says that could be, but not to count on it.40 days out, with reduced rations (after one wagon was destroyed in the stampede), the men become increasingly restless. Tom reminds them that they all signed on to see it through, like it or not.A cowboy named Sutter (William Self) rides up, his head bandaged and barely able to talk (there was a rope burn around his neck), saying he had been riding with the Garwood herd (2,000 cows) when they were ambushed by about 100 bandits. Hearing that, Naylor, Fernandez and another hand tell Dunson theyve had enough (but not until right after theyd watched Dunson set his gun belt down as he was preparing to go get some water). Dunson tells them they cant go. They reach for their guns as Groot tosses a loaded and cocked rifle to Dunson. Dunson's shots, in combination with those fired by Matt and Cherry, kill the three wranglers.Dunson orders the three buried, announcing that hell read over them in the morning. That prompts one of the cowboys to say: Plantin and readin, plantin and readin. Why, when youve killed a man, why try to read the Lord in as a partner in the job?Matt argues with Dunson over the need to confront and kill the three men. He and Groot both tell Dunson hes wrong to do such things. Groot then patches up a bullet wound on Dunsons lower left leg.That night, Teeler, Kelsey and Laredo are on watch, when they decide to take some ammunition and flour and ride out, headed back home. The next morning, Dunson sends Cherry and Buster to go get the three and bring them back, dead or alive.The herd arrives at the Red River. Matt wants to give everyone a rest and cross the river first thing in the morning. Dunson will have none of that, and orders the crossing to begin immediately. He finds a couple areas of quicksand in the river to be avoided then orders the crossing to start. The process continues into the night. Between 30-40 head are lost during the process.Dunson is limping badly and pulls heavily from a bottle of whiskey once he sits down to rest. Hes exhausted, refusing to sleep until Cherry gets back with the three cowboys who left. He wants to make sure no one else tries to leave. Hes sure once the three are returned and punished, no one else will leave.Cherry does come back, on the 4th day after he left, with two of the cowboys: Laredo and Teeler. Cherry said Kelsey chose not to return, so he had to shoot him. Dunson announces that he is going to hang the two. Matt tells him that he wont be doing that, and he will be the one to stop him. Dunson braces his right hand on a piece of wood to stand up and face Matt, but Matt shoots him in the hand. When Dunson tries to draw his gun, he isn't able to hold onto it and it falls to the ground. Dunson reaches down for it with his left hand and Buster shoots the gun away.Matt announces that hes taking over and will be taking the herd to Abilene. He says that Dunson will be left behind. Groot offers to stay with Dunson, but he tells Groot to go with the others. He then tells Matt that hell come after him and will kill him.Groot is later calculating how long before Dunson gets to another town, rounds up some new men, and catches up to them. For the next 2-3 weeks, everyone on the drive is nervous and jumpy, anticipating his return.One of the steers is found dead, filled with Apache arrows. Matt sends Buster and Cherry ahead 10 miles with rifles to scout and keep watch. Buster comes riding back all excited, with news that theres a wagon train about 18 miles ahead, the Donegal party, headed from New Orleans to Nevada, to set up a saloon for gambling, drinking and partying. He says there are dancing girls with the wagon train. Matt decides that the men need and deserve some distraction and decides to head the herd to the wagon train before continuing on to Abilene.As the herd approaches the wagon train, they hear shooting. The train is under attack by Apaches. Matt gives orders for the men to split into two groups and come at the Indians from the sides, while he and a few others ride down the middle. It takes some time to get all the men rounded up and ready, so Matt and the few others go ahead and ride straight to the wagons, jumping right into the middle of the circled wagons and helping fight the Indians who were circling around, yelping and shooting their arrows.Matt finds himself side by side with a very attractive woman who is firing a rifle (but not very well). Shes Tess Millay (Joanne Dru). He tells her to load and hell shoot. She perceives that hes angry about something and wants to know what. About that time, she takes an arrow to the right shoulder, pinning her to a wagon. Matt cuts the shaft so she is free from the wagon, but he has to finish the Indian fight before helping more. The rest of the men finally come charging down the hill and the men within the circle of wagons come charging out and the Apaches decide to hightail it.Matt returns to pull the arrow from Tesss shoulder, then he decides he needs to suck some poison out of the wound. She slaps him across the face for doing that, then passes out.Theres a big party that night, making use of the food, drinks, cards, and girls that are all available in the camp. Tess asks Groot to tell her all about Matt, because she "needs to know." She also wants to talk to Matt before they get back on the trail the next day. Groot goes and finds Matt (hes out in the evening fog, on watch) and tells Tess where he is. She goes out there and gets up close and starts talking to him. She tells him that he needs to talk to her, that talking about his concerns and fears is the way to deal with them.Matt doesnt need all that much convincing to talk, as she's a very soft and pretty girl that is very close to him. He opens up and they quickly get very comfortable with each other. Shed fallen in love with him immediately. He probably did too, but needed a bit of convincing that it would be ok to fall in love with a saloon girl.As its raining hard and there are worries about the level of the next river to be crossed. Matt decides they need to do it right away, even though its nighttime.Meanwhile, Dunson has gathered 8 new men and is on the chase. Nine days after the herd had left the wagon train, Dunson and his men come across the wagons. Tess immediately announces that shell "take care of Mr. Dunson." She considers shooting Dunson, as he sits in her tent talking to her, but he knows she has a pistol and is prepared to shoot her first if need be. It doesnt come to that. He notices shes wearing his mothers bracelet and asks her how she got it away from Matt. She sarcastically says she stole it, then admits she loves Matt and that he gave it to her.As they talk, Tess tells Dunson that she wanted to go with Matt on the drive, but he said no, it was too dangerous and tough. That reminded Dunson of the day when he turned down his womans request to go along with him. He was nevertheless bound and determined to go find and kill Matt, and tells Tess she cant say or do anything to change his mind. She keeps after him, though, and he acknowledges his disappointment in Matt, saying he was the son he never had and would stand to inherit his ranch if he hadnt betrayed him.Dunson takes a fresh look at Tess and offers her half of everything he owns in exchange for her bearing him a son. She says shell do it, if hell stop pursuing Matt. He says no, so she begs instead to be allowed to go with him. He says ok.Matts understandably stressed about whether they will find a railroad in Abilene, and the fact that Dunson is hot on his trail. Fortunately, they hear a train whistle in the distance and come across a train, about 12 miles from Abilene. The engineer is very thrilled to see the herd, as are the townspeople who come riding out to meet and greet them. They tell Matt to drive the herd right down Main Street so all the people can see (thats nearly impossible not to do anyway, as its a tiny town).Its August 14, 1865 and marks the time the first cattle drive on the Chisholm Trail is completed.In Abilene, Mr. Melville (Harry Carey Sr.) represents the Greenwood Trading Company of Illinois and offers immediately to buy the entire herd. Matt has no experience at selling cows, so hes hesitant to accept the $20/head offer. Mr. Melville then tells him to go out and find the best price he can for a lot of 500 cows and then hed match the price and still buy the whole herd. It ends up being $21/head. Matt signs the contract and receives a check for $50,000, with the balance to be paid once a final tally is arrived at. He makes sure all the cowboys get paid right away.Matt returns to his room at the Hotel Royale and is shocked to find Tess in there, all dressed in black. She apologizes for appearing as if shes in mourning. She tells him Dunson is camped outside town and will be coming to get him in the morning. It's likely that they get to know each other intimately that night.The next morning, everyone has gathered at the front of the hotel, waiting. Buster rushes in through the cows on his horse to announce that Dunson and his 10-12 men were riding in. Dunson, meanwhile, is telling his men to remember where they each stand in all this, which apparently is to hang well back and not interfere. Dunson dismounts on the far side of the railroad tracks and sets out with a very purposeful walk, through the cows and across the tracks.Cherry, realizing that Matt is not likely to draw and shoot it out with Dunson, confronts Dunson before he gets to Matt. They both draw and shoot, wounding each other. Cherry falls, but Dunson continues on. He gets close and tells Matt to draw, but Matt refuses. Dunson draws and empties his gun, shooting all around Matt, knocking his hat off and grazing his right cheek, drawing blood. He then walks up to Matt and wants to know what he has to do to make a man out of him.Dunson grabs and tosses away Matts gun. He reminds Matt that as a boy, he once told him never to try that again, but Matt doesn't react. Dunson then punches Matt in the face 2-3 times, knocking him down. He drags him back up, ready to hit some more, but Matt shocks him by punching him and knocking him down. They brawl until Tess fires a pistol into the air, stopping the action. She chews them out loudly for awhile, then decides maybe they should go ahead and pummel each other, and she turns away so they can continue.They don't start fighting again, however. Instead, they stand looking after Tess. Dunson tells Matt to marry that gal. Matt says, When are you going to stop telling people what to do? Dunson says, After one more thing. After we get back to Texas, Im going to make the brand the double bar D, with an additional name (he scrawls out an M in the dirt). You earned it!

Tags: revenge, murder

Review:
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...
"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(1948) contains a trademark flirtious man-woman relationship between Matt Garth and Tess that also evident in some of the director's other works...I.E., His Girl Friday(Walter & Hildy), Ball of Fire(Potts & O'Shea), To Have & Have Not(Harry & Slim), The Big Sleep(Phillip Marlowe & Vivian Sternwood), and Rio Bravo(John T.
And it was his debut, Red River was filmed first, but held up in release and Clift's The Search was released first to the public.John Wayne had one of the best faces for movie closeups ever.
I've often wondered whether DeMille copied Hawks, or Hawks was influenced by DeMille's silent Ten Commandments.Red River is a must, for John Wayne fans, for Monty Clift fans, for fans of both and of great movie music like I am..
There are some who see the relationship between Tom Dunson, (John Wayne), and his surrogate son Matthew Garth, (Montgomery Clift), as mirroring that of Captain Bligh and Fletcher Christian and again that isn't too far off the mark either.
Howard Hawks' western venture starring Wayne and Clift (his career debut indeed) as two plumb opposite types of men from almost every aspect, lead a mighty cattle migration in the vast prairie and notably to stride across the red river, but en route, the bigoted Thomas (Wayne) slowly loses his trust among his crew, and dissent emerges, eventually his adopted son Matthew (Clift) has to oust Thomas in order to finish their drive to the right destination, an ultimate chase from Thomas will heighten the drama to its peak.
Howard Hawks' rangy Western has a perfect role for John Wayne and a nice introductory one for Montgomery Clift within the tale of a cattle trail by the Red River D herd through Indian and gang-led territory.
With their assembled group of hands they head off North, but many problems will come their way, not least, a fallout due to Dunson's tyrannical ways, meaning there could well be mutiny on the range.Without a shadow of doubt, Red River is one of the greatest Westerns ever made, boasting incredible performances from the cast, directed with sumptuous skill by Howard Hawks and photographed as good as any film in the genre.
Tho Chase would be annoyed at the changes Hawks made to the story, he surely would have marvelled at the finished product, with Harlan's photography in and around Arizona's locales capturing a cowboys terrain expertly and Dimitri Tiomkin's score stirring the blood and pumping the viewer with Cowboy adrenaline.If anyone doubts John Wayne as an actor of note then they need look no further than his performance here as Dunson.
Walter Brennan and John Ireland also shine bright in support, while a special mention has to go to a wonderful turn from Joanne Dru as Tess Millay; Howard Hawks' CV shows a ream of strong female characters, and here Dru firmly puts herself in amongst the best of them; check out her first appearance alongside Clift, it's precious.Red River made a fortune upon its release, it was revered by the critics back then, and it's still being revered today.
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.
Tom Dunson (John Wayne , Hawks originally offered the role of Thomas Dunson to Gary Cooper) builds a cattle empire with his adopted son Matthew Garth (Montgomery Clift first movie , but because it was shelved for 2 years, the first film the public saw of Clift was ¨The search¨, which he was Oscar-nominated for).
With the numerous presence of homesteaders the town prospered , stabilized and grew , its lawabiding citizens decided to discourage the troublesome cattle trade with his transient cowboys and early requested the Texas cattlemen to drive their herds elsewhere , which they soon did and Abilene's role as a wild cow town came to an abrupt ending.The picture gets thrills , action Western , shootouts , a love story , a violent battle of wits between father and adopted son ; being quite entertaining .
Towering acting from main cast playing larger-than-life characters as John Wayne as obsessed Tom who owns a sprawling cattle empire , and Montgomery Clift giving one of his most enjoyable and least complicated acting .
Great supporting cast headed by three-time Academy Award winner Walter Brennan , John Ireland , Hank Worden , Paul Fix , Noah Beery , Coleen Gray and the only film that father, Harry Carey, and son, Harry Carey Jr. appeared together in .
More importantly, they recognised, for the first time since the early 30s, that the old west could be a setting for stirring and powerful stories.Red River proves this point, using the plains and cattle drives as a backdrop for a tale of loyalty, love and the trials of life, with a scope as vast as the West itself.
Perhaps Ford was the better of the two directors in relaying the Western themes to the screen, but Hawks was the better storyteller and he shows his steady hand all throughout Red River, more than just about a cattle drive from Texas to Missouri, but also about the relationship between a man and his adopted son and what it would mean to each of them to see this accomplished.Who would have thought that the young, handsome actor supporting and perhaps upending the great Western actor John Wayne would become that which he did?
Howard Hawks and Arthur Rosson's adaptation of Borden Chase's tale of cattle driving across America at first glance (in other words the first twenty minutes or so) seems almost like it won't have much to it, except to glorify the old Cowboys and Indians approach to a western, and to have the lead as a one sided viewpoint over the story.
But what soon becomes clear about Red River is that the supporting characters (such as Montgomery Clift as Wayne's son, Walter Brennan as one of the fellow Cattle drivers, Joanne Dru as the lady of the bunch, and Harry Carey as a cattle buyer) bring out a greater sense of humanity to the film, and there are scenes captured by Hawks and his cameraman Russell Harlan that are, for lack of a better word, glorious.
Very few people will cheer the character that John Wayne portrays in this film but nearly all of us who appreciate a performance of a lifetime will applaud the acting job that the 'Duke' did in Red River.
This 1948 Howard Hawks classic is one of the greatest westerns of all time.John Wayne has rarely been as good as he is in this film.The story is clearly a western Mutiny on the Bounty with Wayne's Tom Dunson serving as Captain Bligh and Montgomery Clift(BRILLIANT IN HIS FIRST FILM)as Matt Garth is Fletcher Christian.
However good Wayne and Clift are they are supported by a superb cast including Walter Brennan who's always great in these kind of films.
The cinematography is truly breathtaking and Dimitri Tiomkin's beautiful score is among his best works.I at first watched this movie cause Monty Clift was in it but i was astonished to find out that John Wayne could really ACT.All in all this is my personal western favourit and a must for all John Wayne fans..
More than a Western, Howard Hawks' classic is the ultimate theater's movie, that you can't watch without wondering how the sight of the epic cattle; cows and bull crossing the river, the heart-pounding stampede or the simple "Yee-ha" scene would have felt on a big screen.Given that, what's left from the experience when you watch it on TV?
There is a reason why people remember "Red River" better than the pompous all-star casted "How the West Was Won" for the film is more complex and even more brilliant, and the thrills come less from the scenes involving the cattle than the central relationship between Mr. Dunson and Matthew Garth, John Wayne as the tough self-made ranch owner, and Montgomery Clift as the soft-hearted fast-gun adopted son.The movie opens when Dunson leaves a trail wagon in 1851, the leader asks him to stay, but Dunson says it better, if he signed, he'd stay.
John Wayne plays the head rancher, and among his workers and upstarts are a son-like youngster (Montgomery Clift) and a old-timer best friend (Walter Brennan).
It's a shame the Duke didn't get an Oscar for "Red River" -- his Tom Dunson is one of the most three-dimensional characters I've seen in a long time, and this from a 51-year-old movie.
And those are just the actors I recognized -- by the end of the movie, you feel like you know all these cowboys, and you feel a little sad that the journey is at an end.What it boils down to is, if you ever needed proof that John Wayne could be an actor when the situation was right, ride down to the nearest video store and get yourself a copy of "Red River."  You won't regret it!.
Red River is an epic but flawed western which loses focus when it introduces a love interest in the last third of the film which leaves it with an odd and almost absurd ending.John Wayne (Dunson) plays a driven man who has built up a cattle empire in Texas and not through entirely legal means.
The villain must despise everything that moves, and be the fastest gun around.Red River has all of these attributes and more.The story revolves around cowpuncher Dunstan(John Wayne)who is looking for a cattle ranch to run.With the help of Nadine(Walter Brennan)and a lad he virtually adopts, this dream is realised.
(Good old black and white cinematography!)  The supporting cast contains a number of the old familiar faces, and they look as if they were born to the saddle.The role of Cherry (played by John Ireland) is as large as Wayne's and Clift's in the book, but it is cut to ribbons in the movie, apparently the result of some spat Ireland had with Hawks.
In Texas 1851, Thomas Dunson (John Wayne) is bringing his cattle to Red River, when his adopted son Matthew Garth (Montgomery Clift) turns against him.Director John Ford was the undisputed master of the western, and the man who launched John Wayne to stardom in "Stagecoach" (1939).
While Ford was the first to admit that Hawks got the best performance of Wayne's career (up to this point) out of "Red River", Ford still has the more iconic western films overall.
Clift was apparently directed by Hawks to play down his acting around Wayne, even to hide behind a coffee cup so as not to steal a scene, so we have to give him a little credit, even if this is not his best work.Interesting, when John Wayne was asked about what film he considered his best, this did not immediately come to mind.
This was probably if not the best film that was released during 1948.Montgomery Clift portrays Matt Girth extremely well and Walter Brennan also performs a good part as Tom Dunson's side kick.In summary a story about the cattle drives of the 40's what problems a they faced.
I wasn't expecting TOO much, though the involvement of Montgomery Clift gave me cause to think this was perhaps not just another standard John Wayne cowboy film and I knew it was directed by some heavyweight like John Ford or that Hawks fellow.
Released in 1948 and directed by Howard Hawks (with Arthur Rosson), "Red River" stars John Wayne as a tough ranch mogul who heads a cattle drive from Texas to Missouri, the culmination of over 14 years of work.
Hardened rancher Tom Dunson (John Wayne) and adopted son Matt Garth (Montgomery Clift) set out on 1,000 mile cattle drive.
As with most American made westerns, The scenery is beautiful, weither the film is black and white or colour.John Wayne gives off another excellent performance and probably one of his best.
The theme music is just perfect and a real pleasure to listen to.The film has a brilliant narrative and the storyline is one of the greatest in movie history.The end of the film is happy even though some scenes of red river are quite brutal, One of Howard Hawks best movies.A must see for all cowboy and western fans..
Years after violently declaring Texas land as his own in the 1850s, financially-strapped cattle rancher John Wayne, trail-hand Walter Brennan, and 'adopted' son Montgomery Clift hire a team of cowboys for a treacherous cattle drive north to Missouri, where steer brings in a higher price than Texas.
If you consider cavalry films to also be westerns -- I'm not sure where I stand on that -- then add Ford's "She Wore A Yellow Ribbon" to the list."Red River" deals with a cattle drive from Texas to Missouri, and although the threat of Indian attacks is present, this isn't a cowboys vs.
John Wayne, Montgomery Clift, Walter Brennan, and Joanne Dru all turn in first-rate performances under the direction of Howard Hawks.
Hawks and John Ford were the two best Western directors of their time (hard to say who was better).Tom Dunson, John Wayne's character, stakes out his turf in the West Texas scrubland, far from any town.
Just knowing that this is one of John Wayne's finest performances would make "Red River" worth seeing, but this excellent Western has even more going for it than that.
"Red River" (1948) would have to be near the top of the list.I watched this movie mostly because of Montgomery Clift, who is at the height of his good looks in this film.
John Wayne is at his ornery best in this classic western, filmed in 1946 in glorious black & white with plenty of ambiguous gray in terms of storyline and characterization.Wayne, as rancher Tom Dunston, leads a cattle drive out of Texas bound for Missouri, where his beef can fetch a decent price provided he can get his men across hundreds of miles of Indian territory without a wholesale mutiny.
I might add that it rarely looks as if the herd of cattle numbers much more than a few hundred never mind the alleged 10000 but that said the famous stampede scene is thrillingly rendered even so.These caveats aside this is an all-time great Western, brilliantly directed by Howard Hawks, so good in fact that I actually prefer his style to the slightly corny, over-sentimental films in the same genre by the still-great John Ford.
John Wayne gives one of his very best performances (only THE SEARCHERS is better), as Tom Dunson, a tough, tyrannical cattle rancher determined to move 9000 cows from Texas, where there is no market for them, to Missouri, where he'll get a lot for them.
John Wayne's best acting in a film, spurred on by the intensity of Montgomery Clift, great supporting actors and directed to perfection.
A truly great western about a beleaguered cattle drive from Texas to Missouri in the days immediately following the American Civil War.I only like John Wayne when he's playing dark and disturbed, not something he played very often, but something he does very well in this film.
A young cowboy(Montgomery Clift)rebels against his Texas cattle baron foster father(John Wayne)on a cattle drive across the Red River to Kansas.
For those who've never seen it, I'll only say that this 1948 Howard Hawks epic of John Wayne, with his adopted son Montgomery Clift and sidekick Walter Brennan undertaking the first major cattle drive on the Chisholm Trail is one of those supreme classics, like Hitchcock's Vertigo or Kurosawa's The Seven Samurai, which is as appealing as entertainment for a general audience as it is impressive as a work of art to critics.
Howard Hawks' 1948 western "Red River" is today considered one of the best films in the genre.
John Wayne gives one of his finest performances in one of his more meatier roles as the uncompromising cattle boss, while Montogomery Clift makes an excellent debut and Walter Brennan is wonderful.To conclude, a very good film.
However, the film gos down hill just after Matt (Montgomery Clift) takes control of the cattle drive from the tyrannical Dunson (John Wayne).