Review of Red River (2011) by Van R — 15 May 2010

Producer & director Howard Hawks set the bar so high that not even he could surpass himself when he helmed his first and greatest western, "Red River," with John Wayne and Montgomery Clift. Hawks bought Borden Chase's serialized "Saturday Evening Post" story "The Chisholm Trail" about the first big historic cattle drive between Texas and Kansas and turned it into this sprawling, spellbinding horse opera. The closest any of Hawks' contemporaries ever came to matching his masterpiece was Raoul Walsh's "The Tall Men" (1955) with Clark Gable, Jane Russell, and Robert Ryan. More than any other Hawks' movie, "Red River" qualifies as the director's purest expression of physical action on a grand scale with more than 9000 steers filling the frame. This epic western dealt not only with Manifest Destiny as one of its multiple themes but also the creation of the great western cattle empires that would mass produce beef for national consumption. At the same time, Hawks' film depicts the trials and tribulations that occurred after the Civil War in Texas. An autocratic cattle baron struggles to maintain his authority against well-nigh impossible odds. Treacherous white desperadoes plundered herds and cattlemen confronted these brigands as well as bloodthirsty Native Americans. Nothing like "Red River" had been attempted, even by legendary western director, John Ford, who had chronicled the development of the railroad in his silent classic "The Iron Horse." Indeed, James Cruze's "The Covered Wagon" (1923) and later Walsh's "The Big Trail" (1930) showed the physical hardships that the pioneers encountered on wagon trains crossing the vast untamed west. On the other hand, nobody had made a movie about herding cattle. This monumental cattle drive served as the larger-than-life background story to the foreground story about a penniless ranch baron, Tom Dunson, (John Wayne) and his adopted son, Matthew Garth (Montgomery Cliff), who built one of the biggest cattle ranches in Texas. Eventually, Raoul Walsh made "The Tall Men" (1955), with Clark Gable, Jane Russell, and Robert Ryan, the second greatest western about cattle driving.

"Red River" opens in 1851 with a wagon train crossing the plains when ex-soldier Tom Dunson (John Wayne) and his friend Nadine Groot (Walter Brennan) leave the safety of the procession and venture off south. The wagon train boss warns Dunson about hostile Indians in the vicinity. Ironically, the Indians massacre the train and Dunson's amour (Coleen Gray) who he refused to take with him because he couldn't ensure her safety. Dunson and Groot survive an Indian attack. As they are about to resume their journey, a teenager leading a cow, who survived the Indian attack, wanders into their camp. The orphaned Matthew Garth (Montgomery Cliff) grows up to become Dunson's adopted son. Fifteen years later, Dunson presides over 9-thousand cattle, but he is as broke as Texas. Dunson decides to drive the herd to market in Missouri. Dunson quarrels with Matt over the best route, and Matt rebels against Dunson's overbearing rules. At gunpoint, Garth relieves Dunson of the herd and drives it to Kansas instead of Missouri. Along the way, our heroes help out a wagon train besieged by Indians. Matt meets Tess Millay (Joanne Dru) who falls in love with him. A vengeful Dunson, who has vowed to kill him, trails Matt until they confront each other in Abilene and challenges him to duel. During this showdown, Matt refuses to shoot Dunson. Dunson and Garth beat each other to a pulp until Tess intervenes and forces them to shake hands.

"Red River" proved something of a departure for John Wayne. Wayne had confined himself to roles roughly corresponding to his actual age. In "Red River," however, Tom Dunson ages some 14 years, a feat that the actor had never been called on to portray. Wayne goes from being a fit, fast-drawing, dark-haired hero to a tyrannical, gray-haired individual who cannot draw his six-gun as swiftly and suffers from the infirmity of his increased longevity. John Ford, who gave Wayne his first important role in "Stagecoach," saw "Red River" and told Hawks that Wayne's portrayal of an older man captivated him. Subsequently, Ford cast Wayne as a retiring cavalry commander in his own classic western "She Wore A Yellow Ribbon." Actually, "Red River" is a seminal Wayne feature because in many of his later oaters, particularly "The Train Robbers," his colleagues always refer to him as stubborn, bull-headed, and Tom Dunson established that character for Wayne. Hawks said that he considered making "Red River" in color but elected to use black & white to give the film a period look. Montgomery Cliff surprised Howard Hawks when he managed to hold his own against his renowned co-star. Next to "From Here to Eternity," "Red River" is one of Clift's best performances and he looks comfortable in his cowboy outfit. The scene between Clift and Ireland where they swap six-guns and keep a tin can flying through the air is outstanding. Of course, Walter Brennan steals the movie with the running gag about his teeth. Early in the action, he loses his teeth to a Cherokee Indian when he is playing for table stakes in a poker game and cannot borrow money. Consequently, he stakes his teeth, but loses the game. The Cherokee lets the Brennan character eat with them, but he demands that he return them between meals. The Brennan character complains because his teeth helped keep the dust out of his mouth. Noah Beery, Jr., is very good as Buster and the man who taught John Wayne his distinctive walkâ??Paul Fix of "The Rifleman" TV showâ??is perfect as one of the drovers who rebels against Dunson.

A lawsuit between Howard Hughes and Hawks arose over a simple line of dialogue from an earlier movie, "The Outlaw," that Hawks had worked on with Hawks postponed the release of "Red River" from 1946 to 1948.