Río Rojo

I read quite a few references to the ending and how it should have been an "unhappy " one. The screenwriter, Borden Chase, was also very unhappy with it. The original ending was The Duke's death. Hawks changed the ending and Chase never spoke to him again. Mr. Chase was married in 1920 to my Grandmother, Lillian Doran. But, that is another story!

I was the "first kid on the block" to purchase a VCR, way back in the late 60's...the RCA VBT200...no timer, no remote, no nothing! Paid $1200.00 for it (Canadian funds!)and ALL my friends told me I was nuts. I TRIED to tell them that, eventually, everybody would own a VCR but was shouted down. In any case, Red River was the first movie I taped and, deleting commercial breaks, I was ecstatic to have a Hollywood movie on hand to watch whenever the urge arose. And WHAT A MOVIE!!! I agree with earlier comments re John Wayne...who usually just played John Wayne. In THIS one, and "The Searchers", however, the director got one helluva performance out of the Duke. Also, the second movie performance by the tragical Montgomery Clift...so "pretty" in the Mohammed Ali sense that I virtually fell in love with him myself, even though I was a "straight" teenaged boy. From the opening credits, with that almost Wagnerian music by Dmitri Tiomkin, this movie (shot in 1946 and held 'til 1948 for release...I forget why)should be compulsory viewing for the brain-dead Hollywood moguls of today. Actually, there are no "moguls" left...they're all bottom-line money men who wouldn't know a good movie if they saw one..."Let's check the demographics, guys, and fill those multiple screen outlets with brain-dead teens (not really their fault as products of our so called progressive p.c. education system)and make a TON of money!" My age is showing...back to the movie. If you haven't seen it, be prepared for a LONG sojourn. This isn't brain candy...it's an allegorical treatise on the impetuousness of youth vs. the inflexible values of pioneer stock. In the end, BOTH are told to cut themselves some slack, by the "gun-totin" Joanne Dru. In summary, a Great Western, and to get back to the Duke, an amazing performance by a 39 year old made up to look like a 60 year old...and he pulled it off! The respect/fear combo of his hired trailhands is almost Shakespearian, and a tribute to the screenwriter/s and director Howard Hawks. If you've never seen it...do yourself a big favour and rent this little classic!

I really enjoyed this the first time I saw it but it got a little slow on the second viewing. Nevertheless, it's a pretty solid classic-era western that has a deep cast. By deep I mean John Wayne, Montgomery Clift, Walter Brennan, Harry Carey Sr., Noah Beery Jr., John Ireland, Joanne Dru, Coleen Gray, etc. This is more of a man's movie as those last two ladies listed both have small roles.

In addition to the western action, you get some nice black-and-white cinematography. The cattle driving scenes are magnificently filmed.

Wayne plays a "Captain Bligh" type of tyrant for most of the film, although he shows a few soft touches. Brennan has a great knack of making all his characters interesting, and this movie is no exception. Clift usually was pretty interesting, too.

My only complaint is the length of the film. This could have been much better with a tighter script and about 15-20 minutes chopped off it. It's still a compelling story.

Red River (1948)

A Western with a huge cattle drive at its core. 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). There are rivalries, Indians, opposing ranchers, and a woman or two who each intrude or help out Wayne in various ways.

A Howard Hawks Western is about as close as you can get to a John Ford Western. Ford is the one who re-discovered a languishing John Wayne in 1939, and Hawks was a parallel director, about the same age, specializing in male-dominated adventure dramas. But Hawks also directed some amazing other kinds of films, including a few classic screwball comedies, the terrific "Only Angels Have Wings," and some film noirs including his film before this one, "The Big Sleep."

So I expected something really special here and in fact this is well done all around. But it falls into so many of the already established stereotypes of the genre, I was surprised and had to keep my disappointment in check. Wayne is terrific as the kind of John Wayne you'd expect, and Brennan is the earthy, witty, likable type he always plays. It is probably Montgomery Clift who shines best, here in his first year in Hollywood, just before "The Heiress" and a string of other great films. This is apparently his first major acting role, as the film was shot in 1946, though another movie, "The Search" (which is very good), was released first.

It's interesting to see co-directing status for Arthur Rosson (the photographer's brother), partly because Hawks would not seem to need a second hand. But then that points to some of the really complex scenes here--mostly shot on location and with easily hundreds if not a thousand or more actual cattle. You realize as you watch this long trek through the low dry hills that the actors on horses are having to really move the cattle through this country for the filming. I'm sure they have help, and all those extras must have been good hired hands. It's still pretty neat to watch that aspect, going for example through a wide river.

In a way you can get fully invested in the movie based on the action and the acting and the characters. Directly. They are strong, believable, and their lines are well written. It's the plot that will seem to fall into familiarity too often for many of you.

Wo aspects that make the film tick: the handling of the large number of cattle and Montgomery Clift. Otherwise the film is ordinary putting some history in focus: the Chisholm trail, the railroad, Texas as a beef state, and Abilene.