Your IP has been blocked. Please perform the action below to regain access.
75.126.130.58-
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
-
Take 'em to Missouri, Matt!
With RED RIVER, versatile director Howard Hawks, well-known for his screwball comedies (BRINGING UP BABY, HIS GIRL FRIDAY) made one of the greatest westerns ever in just his first attempt at the genre. This story of the epic first cattle drive up the Chisholm Trail in 1865 is noted for its fine acting performances as well as for its tension-filled and exciting storyline. This was also really the first film in which John Wayne notably plays a troubled anti-hero rather than the more conventional matinee-style hero or villain he was known for previously. The greatest roles that lay ahead in his career (particularly Ethan Edwards of THE SEARCHERS) would follow in this mold.
Wayne plays Tom Dunson, a self-made but ruthless man who has built the largest ranch in Texas with 10,000 cattle that need to go to market. Montgomery Clift, in his first major film role, plays his adopted son Matt Garth, who has just returned from service in the Civil War. Tom and Matt and their cowhands set out on the 1000 mile drive intending to take their herd to Missouri. Although Dunson gives his men the option to opt out before the drive begins, he will permit no man who begins the journey to quit along the way. As the hardships mount up on the trail to Missouri and the men begin to hear of the new, safer Chisholm trail to Abilene, Kansas, morale drops. When Dunson refuses to go to Kansas due to uncertainty about its having access to a railroad, the men begin to leave. Several attempting to leave are shot dead by Dunson.
Eventually, after Dunson attempts to hang some more deserters, Garth wrests control of the herd and steers them toward Kansas with Dunson vowing that he will kill him when he catches up to him. Despite the rather vile acts that Dunson commits, he is not an altogether unsympathetic character and Wayne plays the character in a well-nuanced performance. Garth clearly loves his adopted father but, at the risk of being perceived as "soft," he is more empathetic and intelligent in his approaches to problem solving than is Dunson. The tension mounts as Garth tries to reach Kansas before the vengeful Dunson, even as he knows that he will eventually have to face him anyway.
Leading the strong supporting cast is Walter Brennan, who is as great as he always is as chuckwagon driver "Groot." Also supporting this film are such Western stalwarts as Hank Worden (who was also a particular favorite of John Ford), John Ireland, Paul Fix, and Noah Beery Jr. (known to a later generation as "Rocky" on THE ROCKFORD FILES). On an interesting note, this was Harry Carey Jr's first film as well as the last film of Harry Carey Sr, and so is the only film in which the father and son appeared together (albeit in different scenes). Joanne Dru is appealing and attractive as the love interest. More trivially (for the trivia-minded), Richard Farnsworth and Shelly Winters have tiny, uncredited roles that fans of Where's Waldo? might want to watch for.
RED RIVER, along with The Searchers (John Wayne Collection) has always been on the top of my list of my favorite westerns. Anyon who doubts John Wayne's abilities as an actor need to check out these two films. While it is true when people say that the only character that John Wayne ever played was "John Wayne," he was sometimes quite remarkable in playing that character.
Jeremy W. Forstadt
Rating: -
Red River
Director Howard Hawks gave western icon John Wayne another indelible, ruggedly stubborn character to play in his masterful "Red River," a high point of their many collaborations. Populated by colorful supporting characters, including the salty Walter Brennan as camp cook Groot Nadine, "River" combines psychological drama, action, and suspense in a stirring, expansive western landscape. The final settling of scores between Wayne and Clift is unforgettable.
Rating: 
-
Great Western, slightly disappointing ending.
I thoroughly enjoyed this film. It's rare to see John Wayne playing a bad guy but he carried it well. The photography was great but the film suffers from contrast particularly during some of the frequent night time scenes. Images are almost lost in the dark of the night due to the limitations of old black and white film. If the light dark contrast could be adjusted, the film would benefit greatly. Beyond that, the acting was great, particularly Montgomery Clift. My lone complaint was the ending. It has a sudden character twist where Wayne shifts gears 180 degrees and everyone just seems to pass it off and forgive his characters actions through out the movie simply because he suddenly turns over a new leaf in the final two minutes. This was just a little too much for me. I would have preferred an actual showdown/shoot out.
Rating: -
A Massive Cattle Drive on the Chisholm Trail
The movie begins in 1851 in south Texas near the Rio Grande. Cattle baron Tom Dunson (John Wayne) begins with a small group of cows. After 14 years of hard work, he owns a herd consisting of 10,000 head of cattle. The cows are branded with the Red River mark (parallel curves which represent the banks of the Red River).
At the end of the American Civil War, the area is destitute, and Dunson's cattle have little value locally. For this reason, Dunson wants to drive them along the Chisholm Trail to Missouri. But all kinds of problems develop during the long, tedious drive. Quitters abandon Dunson. He finds and shoots them. Noises cause massive cattle stampedes. Finally, a mutineer takes over and leads the herd to Abilene, Kansas, to be sold for a hefty price and then loaded on a railroad. Will Dunson still get his rightful share of his life's work?
This movie comes in black and white. Made in 1948, it shows a young John Wayne. It also clearly predates political correctness, in that Indians are portrayed only as savages and despoilers of Euro-Americans.
Rating: 
-
Red River
Acting/directing not as good as expected, but still a must see for any serious western fan.
