Les affameurs

One pure masterpiece western from the magician, the wizard of western: Anthony Mann. I discovered it in the seventies, when I was a kid and fell in love with it at first sight. The settings are absolutely outstanding, jaw dropping, unique. Mind blowing. Those landscapes literally steal the whole film. I forget the story but only those mountains, rivers, forests.... This movie enchanted my young years. Pure Anthony Mann's piece of work where Borden Chase seemed to be involved too. Action packed, it also offers romance and the usual lines of a western. Among my favourites from Anthony Mann. I prefer it to TIN STAR for instance.

The second of five westerns Anthony Mann did with James Stewart, this one involves a trail boss with a shady past named Glyn McLyntock (Stewart) who takes a wagon train of settlers west from the Missouri to Oregon. Along the way, he saves a man named Emerson Cole (Arthur Kennedy) who's about to be hanged by some trappers for stealing a horse. He pulls a rifle on them and tells them to clear out. Cole feels indebted (for now) and hooks up with McLyntock and the wagon train.

Then they run into some Indians and Laura Baile (Julie Adams), the daughter of the trail master (played ably enough by Jay C. Flippen) gets wounded by an arrow. They finally reach Portland and purchase supplies there that will later be sent to them upriver. They also leave Laura in Portland to heal up while Cole stays on to seek his fortune at the gambling tables, running into good-natured Trey Wilson (Rock Hudson) in the process.

When they go upriver and reach the spot they want to settle down in, the settlers start to clear the land before the winter sets. In the meantime the supplies they paid for down in Portland haven't come yet, so they send McLyntock down to see what's happened and to get word from Laura Baile with whom they haven't heard from in months.

It turns out that the seller of the supplies, Tom Hendricks (Howard Petrie) has ripped them off and reneged on the deal. McLyntock, Cole (who goes along for the ride) and Trey Wilson shoot it out with Hendricks' men, and head upriver in the steamboat with the supplies (and Laura Baile) while Hendricks' men are right behind. McLyntock wants the boat to stop downstream in order to throw Hendricks off their trail for a little while, but Hendricks picks up on it and is still doggedly determined to get those supplies back. They ambush Hendricks and his men, killing most of them including Hendricks himself.

There's more double cross and backstabbing going on as we already suspect that Emerson Cole is the low down dirty snake that he really is, and is only concerned about his own greed. Cole knows full well he can get more money for those supplies at the mining camp, so he and his crew overpower McLyntock and take the supplies, leaving McLyntock behind to fend for himself.

But McLyntock trails not far behind on foot and then rides a stray horse that was secretly left behind by Laura so he can catch up. There's the inevitable showdown in the rapids when McLyntock and Cole get into a fistfight and Cole is swept away by the rapids and drowns.

This is an above-average western that has some of the elements we'd later see in THE NAKED SPUR (1953) and THE FAR COUNTRY (1954), both of which I prefer over this one. I guess this is mostly due to the fact that Robert Ryan and John McIntyre make better over-the-top villains than Arthur Kennedy does.

7 out of 10

The plot may be weak even if the action is only decently played out. But what really makes this film, is the landscape. Breathtaking shots of Mount Hood, some taken from near Timberline lodge, others on the White River on the east flank, fed by the White River Glacier. Those of the stern-wheeler trudging up the Columbia River past what is now Rooster Rock State Park, but in those days was just a sandy spot below Crown Point, perched high on the surrounding cliffs. Occasionally where the action takes place at high altitude on Mount Hood, a panorama so vast as to take in most of Oregon in a single frame. Even if you have lived in the area your whole life, the photography will grab you every time you watch Bend in the River.

In case the title doesn't quite make sense, think of life as the places in time and space where you made a turn, just as you would when traveling down a river and once again there is the bend you just passed, or the one you are about to encounter. The old timers saw life in these terms of metaphors, and they had a saying about "going to see the elephant", alluding to seeing something the likes of which no man could even imagine.

Bend of the River is the second Anthony Mann/James Stewart western and the first in technicolor. The technicolor is used to best advantage here with some great footage of the Columbia River and surrounding vicinity. And Mann used in support of Stewart, Jay C. Flippen, Harry Morgan, Arthur Kennedy and Rock Hudson all of whom had appeared in Mann films before and/or would again. Anthony Mann is never given credit for the stock company he had. Like John Ford, Mann liked using the same players in his films.

Jimmy Stewart is guiding a group of settlers west and along the way saves Arthur Kennedy from a lynching. Turns out they're both former border raiders from the Missouri/Kansas area, but Stewart's decided to go honest.

When they arrive in Portland, the settlers are warmly greeted and a deal is made by settler leader Jay C. Flippen for needed supplies for his people during the winter.

When Stewart and Flippen return for the supplies, there's been a gold strike and the town is mad with gold fever. They have to take what was due them and then have to fight to get the supplies back to the settlers. Seems some prospectors want them also.

The point is that there are no options for Stewart and Flippen. These supplies have to get to their colony or they will freeze and starve during the winter. They have to fight prospectors, townspeople and treachery in their own group to get the goods where they are needed.

There's no law here to help them. It's broken down totally along with all kinds of behavioral virtues when gold fever has struck. One of the best performances in the film comes from Howard Petrie town merchant who can't do enough for the settlers on their first arrival. When we see him next when Stewart and Flippen come for their goods, it's like we're seeing a totally different human being. Petrie has practically morphed into Fred C. Dobbs.

I don't think Jimmy Stewart has ever been more ruthless on the screen than he is here. His characters in Anthony Mann films are always purpose driven whether it's revenge like in Winchester 73, an outlaw bounty so he can start a new life in The Naked Spur, or even an idea he has like offshore oil drilling in Thunder Bay.

But in Bend of the River it's a matter of survival and to prove to himself that he can and has changed his character for the better. It's as much an internal struggle for Stewart as it is with the forces allied against him.

It's another ten star winner for the Stewart/Mann team.

Being a huge movie buff, I had thought I had seen every western film ever made with the leading actors of the mid-20th century. We purchased a DVD with 4 old westerns starring James Stewart - "Bend of the River" was the first on the disk. I had never heard of it, but the cast included Rock Hudson and Harry Morgan so I thought it would be interesting at least.

It started out with action right from the start - which really caught me off-guard. I kept thinking to myself that it must get really slow/boring/stupid or something to merit it's lack of public awareness. Not so - this film kept me completely rapt with all its twists and turns.

The writing was incredible - comedy, drama and human angst all combined within a scene and then again, and again throughout the story. You felt you could relate to each character, no matter how minor or repugnant their role.

I am also a history buff with respect to ghost towns and the Gold Rush. What I have read about the real prospectors and the greedy businessmen who preyed on their pursuit of riches only enhances the believe- ability of this story.

Regardless of the goofs, errors or historical/geographical inaccuracies that have been listed within this site - this movie is a real gem.