Western

Red River

Monterey Productions

Charles K. Feldman Group

United States of America

English

John Wayne

Montgomery Clift

Joanne Dru

Walter Brennan

Coleen Gray

Harry Carey

John Ireland

Noah Beery Jr.

Harry Carey, Jr.

Chief Yowlachie

Paul Fix

Hank Worden

Mickey Kuhn

Ray Hyke

Hal Taliaferro

John Bose

Buck Bucko

Roy Bucko

Lane Chandler

Davison Clark

Tex Cooper

Harry Cording

Victor Cox

Richard Farnsworth

Paul Fierro

Carol Henry

George Lloyd

Pierce Lyden

Frank Meredith

John Merton

Jack Montgomery

Ivan Parry

Lee Phelps

Harry 'Snub' Pollard

John Rice

Danny Sands

William Self

Carl Sepulveda

Ray Spiker

Glenn Strange

Tom Tyler

Dan White

Guy Wilkerson

Shelley Winters

Borden Chase

Howard Hawks

Charles K. Feldman

Christian Nyby

Russell Harlan

Charles Schnee

Howard Hughes

Arthur Rosson

John Datu

Cliff Lyons

Sid Davis

Chuck Roberson

Jack Williams

Margaret Martin

Al Hersh

Dotha Hippe

Walter Mayo

Joseph C. Cavalier

Roy Black

Howard Child

Jack Murray

Robert Rhea

Francis D. Lyon

Frank La Rue

John F. Austin

Slim Houghton

Wesley Jeffries

Fred Starns

Arthur Siteman

Frank Webster

Allen Q. Thompson

Dimitri Tiomkin

Lester Hallett

Larry Gannon

Ray Binger

Bert Eason

Maudlee McDougall

Nevada Penn

Web Overlander

Don L. Cash

Anna Malin

Joe Wonder

Cecil Shephard

Kenneth C. Wesson

Pete Bernard

Thol Simonson

Norman A. Cook

William McGarry

Dave Gunreth

M.W. Kennedy

Mary Freeman

Lee Greenway

George Bau

Howard Harbough

Palmer 'Pete' Swenson

John D. Weiler

Chuck Arrice

Richard DeWeese

Jack Gard

Saul Jick

Riley R. Waters

Adele Parmenter

Jack Colconda

Earl Crain Jr.

Cleo Crabtree

Earl Stafford

Donald Steward

George T. Clemens

Gus Schroeder

Lucien Cailliet

Paul Marquardt

Stewart S. Frye

Howard Alston

Olive Hofmann

John Zacha

Barbara Ford

Betty Evans

Josephine Woods

Bury those quitters!

Tom Dunson is a self made cattle baron, he will do what ever it takes to protect the life he has made for himself. The constant fall in the value of livestock means that Tom, and his adopted son Matthew, must drive the gathered herd through the perilous Chisholm Trail, and then hope to get good value for the beef. 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. Based on the novel The Chisholm Trail written by Borden Chase (also co writing duties for the film), Red River is a sweeping spectacle that doesn't have a frame that's wasted. Hawks (this his first Western) frames his wonderfully vivid characters in lush expansive landscapes, fleshing them out amongst the constant stream of drama and action. Though 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 the Arizona's locales capturing a cowboys terrain expertly, while Dimitri Tiomkin's score stirs the blood and pumps 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. Tough and durable in essence the character is for sure, but Wayne manages to fuse those traits with a believable earthy determination that layers the character perfectly. With Wayne all the way, matching him stride for stride is Montgomery Clift as Matthew Garth, sensitive without being overly so, it's the perfect foil to Wayne's machismo barnstorming. 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, for 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. Rightly so, because it is quite simply magic cinema, a case where everything comes together perfectly, it's in short, a film that even none Western fans should be able to marvel at as entertainment. Or? at the very least give credit to the Tech accomplishments on offer. 10/10

CinemaSerf

Perhaps not a film you'd expect to work given the stars, but John Wayne and Monty Clift do manage to convey a sense of a repectful, but loving relationship - something I don't recall ever seeing before (or since) in a Wayne film towards another man. Hawks takes us on a dirty, unrelenting cattle drive and we can almost feel the strains and tension build as the younger man rails against the almost brutal control of his father-figure. Walter Brennan, as ever, is superb but in this has a little more nuanced a role treading a fine line between his old friend and their younger protégé. The photography really does demonstrate just how tough the whole enterprise would have been for the real cattle drivers and the denouement is superbly staged. A truly epic example of the Western genre that is as good as it gets.

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Red River

Cast & Crew

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Cast

John Wayne

Montgomery Clift

Joanne Dru

Walter Brennan

Coleen Gray

Harry Carey

John Ireland

Noah Beery Jr.

Harry Carey, Jr.

Chief Yowlachie

Box office

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