Rating: 
Summary: Greatest Western Ever Made
Review: Classic cattle drive Western. The stampede ranks as one of the greatest scenes ever shot. Don't miss...
Rating: 
Summary: A Flawed Western
Review: For an hour and 20 minutes or so, Red River is a great western (even with such embarrassing moments such as Wayne killing the Indian and discovering the bracelet he had given his girl, the stuttering cowboy who is killed in the stampede, etc.). It boasts a stunning Dimitri Tiomkin score, terrific B&W photography by Russell Harlan, a wonderful performance from Montgomery Clift, a powerful (if typically one-note) performance from John Wayne ... and then Joanne Dru enters the story and it basically falls apart from this point on. She is so completely incompetent that she manages to almost sink the film! Her dialogue is, admittedly, terrible (Hawks bragged that he wrote most of it!), but her line readings are so terrible that it just makes the awkward dialogue even more awkward. The ending is absurd, a complete build-up to a deadly collision and it ends up a rather weak fist-fight. Perhaps, had Wayne's performance included emotional shadings, the ending might have worked, but since he is so one-note hard and uncompromising throughout, not for one moment do I believe the final sequence. In the original Borden Chase novel, the character dies at the end. It should have happened here, also (same major flaw in Wayne's The Searchers, too). On top of which, the John Ireland character is built up as a major challenge to Montgomery Clift, but this is simply dropped halfway through. Indeed, the Ireland character is allowed to fizzle out. The auteur theory is what keeps critics from analysing this film from a more objective viewpoint. But it is very watchable and its strengths certainly outnumber its weaknesses.
Rating:
Summary: A Movie Almost Matching Lonesome Dove
Review: Great Movie! One of the best of John Wayne's long history. The epic cattle drive, the conflict between young and old, right and wrong and whose side are you on? Exciting action with breath-taking suspense until the very wonderfully humorous, satisfying conclusing! A must see. Don't miss it.
Evelyn Horan - teacher/counselor/author
Jeannie, A Texas Frontier Girl, Books One - Three
Rating:
Summary: THE cattle-drive movie
Review: Having weighed-in on _The Culpepper Cattle Company_, I have to genuflect at the altar of THE cattle-drive movie-- _Red River_.This film pre-dates _The Searchers_ by about eight years. The lead character, Tom Dunson, is a sort of prototype for Ethan Edwards. This is John Wayne without sentiment or schmaltz, until the final scene which differs from the story on which the film is based, and which jars a bit. That being said, _Red River_ still stands as the definitive cattle-drive movie. Wayne/Dunson builds an empire but then must head the herd north on a drive that simply _has_ to get through-- despite conflicts with nature, rustlers, Indians, and between Dunson and his men, including his adopted son, Matthew Garth. Wayne is cast against his own stereotype as Dunson and comes across as a hard and unlikeable character. Walter Brennan as his sidekick, Groot, nearly steals the show just as he did (again) in Hawk's _Rio Bravo_. Montgomery Clift does a passable job as Matthew Garth, but is outclassed by John Ireland as Cherry Valance, the gunfighter turned cowhand. The rest of the cast is outstanding. You need only look at the cast list to appreciate the fine ensemble company that Howard Hawks put together for this movie. This is also on of Dimitri Tiomkin's finest musical scores. Finally, I agree with Maltin on this point: beware edited and abridged copies of this film. Anything less than a 133 minute running time should not be bothered with. "Take `em to Missouri, Matt!"
Rating: 
Summary: Mutiny on the plains
Review: Howard Hawks' 1948 RED RIVER is an ambitious, sprawling, epic western. It's on a number of top-100 lists, and it belongs there.
The movie tells the story of cattle rancher Tom Dunson and the first drive along the fabled Chisholm Trail. It's based on Borden Chase's "The Chisholm Trail"
The movie hits the ground running. Within the first five minutes there's a romantic leave taking, an indian attack and a burning wagon train. The romantic parting of Dunson (John Wayne) and his intended is a key incident in the development of this bitter and hard-driven character. Dunson and Groot Nadine (Walter Brennan), who left the wagon train with Dunson, are joined by a survivor of the massacre, Matt Garth - who, fourteen years later, will become the quick-drawing Montgomery Clift. The shocked boy is leading a cow, Dunson and Groot have a surviving bull, and with this bovine first couple they make for the open land south of the Red River.
Fast forward 14 years and Dunson has 10,000 head of cattle and a depressed, post-Civil War southern economy that can't afford to buy them. They must drive them to Missouri and sell them to the more prosperous northerners or face ruin. During that drive Dunson descends to near insanity and Matt ascends as a moderating influence and, apparently, becomes the only one who can successfully lead the men and cattle to market. Without giving too much away, something happens on the drive that will drastically change Dunson's and Matt's relationship and jeopardize both of their lives.
It's pretty heavy stuff, and John Wayne is rock solid great as the troubled Dunson. This is one of the greatest roles in the career of a sometimes under-rated actor. Montgomery Clift is fine in his screen debut.
Walter Brennan's Groot is a marvel. That guy was such a good actor. Like all good sidekicks, and Brennan was the best, Groot is part court jester and part moral barometer. It helps that he plays most of the movie without his upper teeth in, too. Brennan was always better when his mouth was half empty.
There are some images that will stick with you for a while. Thousands of cattle crossing the Red River, a midnight stampede with a couple of hair-raising rescues. And there's a neat little bit with an angry John Wayne striding down a long street crowded with cattle - Wayne doesn't break stride, of course, and the cattle move out of his way like a longhorn Red Sea parting for an angry Moses.
For the most part the script is well written, and there's enough amusing scenes (usually including Brennan) to keep the whole thing from collapsing under it's own weight.
For instance, when Dunson and Matt are deciding who's to go along on the drive, Dunson excludes Groot (bum leg.) Groot mutters to himself like a live-action Popeye while Dunson and Matt continue their conversation. A distracted and exasperated Dunson finally says:
Dunson: What are you saying? I can't understand you. Where's your store teeth Matt bought you?
Groot: They're in my pocket.
Dunson: Well, why don't you use them?
Groot: `Cause they whistle. I use them for eating. Then there's the Joanne Dru character, Tess Millay. It doesn't help that her first appearance occurs in the third scene. One hour and forty-one minutes into the 2:20 movie, by my clock. My guess is the scriptwriters didn't want to clutter up the action with a romantic subplot until absolutely necessary. Fair enough, but it means that Millay's and Matt's romance has to be telescoped severely. Basically they meet, fall in love, and part in a day. It stretches an audience some. Worse, Dru as an actress simply wasn't right for the part.
One of her character traits, as written, is to talk and keep on talking when something worries or frightens her. She does this to negligible effect. It's a role that seemed to have been custom written for Jean Arthur, who always could blabber on to good effect, who could always drop her voice down to a husky purr or have it emit an abrupt squeak for maximum dramatic effect. Unfortunately Arthur was nearly fifty when this movie was made, so I guess casting her as a romantic lead opposite the young Clift would have, uh, added an strange and unwelcome dimension to the movie. Dru, in one of her earliest roles, just doesn't have the chops to carry off the role convincingly. All things considered, I think this piece of miscasting is more Hawks' fault that anyone elses. Anyway, I shaved a point off because of it.
I don't normally notice bad transfers, but there are a few dark night scenes in RED RIVER that look like someone lit a Fourth of July sparkler. And, less forgivable, my new factory-sealed-from-a-reputable-national-outlet retailer did NOT contain the advertised four page booklet. Finally, I've played the movie twice so far, and each time the start up menu screen doesn't appear until AFTER the movie is over.
Rating:
Summary: Mutiny on the plains
Review: Howard Hawks' 1948 RED RIVER is an ambitious, sprawling, epic western. It's on a number of top-100 lists, and it belongs there.
The movie tells the story of cattle rancher Tom Dunson and the first drive along the fabled Chisholm Trail. It's based on Borden Chase's "The Chisholm Trail"
The movie hits the ground running. Within the first five minutes there's a romantic leave taking, an indian attack and a burning wagon train. The romantic parting of Dunson (John Wayne) and his intended is a key incident in the development of this bitter and hard-driven character. Dunson and Groot Nadine (Walter Brennan), who left the wagon train with Dunson, are joined by a survivor of the massacre, Matt Garth - who, fourteen years later, will become the quick-drawing Montgomery Clift. The shocked boy is leading a cow, Dunson and Groot have a surviving bull, and with this bovine first couple they make for the open land south of the Red River.
Fast forward 14 years and Dunson has 10,000 head of cattle and a depressed, post-Civil War southern economy that can't afford to buy them. They must drive them to Missouri and sell them to the more prosperous northerners or face ruin. During that drive Dunson descends to near insanity and Matt ascends as a moderating influence and, apparently, becomes the only one who can successfully lead the men and cattle to market. Without giving too much away, something happens on the drive that will drastically change Dunson's and Matt's relationship and jeopardize both of their lives.
It's pretty heavy stuff, and John Wayne is rock solid great as the troubled Dunson. This is one of the greatest roles in the career of a sometimes under-rated actor. Montgomery Clift is fine in his screen debut.
Walter Brennan's Groot is a marvel. That guy was such a good actor. Like all good sidekicks, and Brennan was the best, Groot is part court jester and part moral barometer. It helps that he plays most of the movie without his upper teeth in, too. Brennan was always better when his mouth was half empty.
There are some images that will stick with you for a while. Thousands of cattle crossing the Red River, a midnight stampede with a couple of hair-raising rescues. And there's a neat little bit with an angry John Wayne striding down a long street crowded with cattle - Wayne doesn't break stride, of course, and the cattle move out of his way like a longhorn Red Sea parting for an angry Moses.
For the most part the script is well written, and there's enough amusing scenes (usually including Brennan) to keep the whole thing from collapsing under it's own weight.
For instance, when Dunson and Matt are deciding who's to go along on the drive, Dunson excludes Groot (bum leg.) Groot mutters to himself like a live-action Popeye while Dunson and Matt continue their conversation. A distracted and exasperated Dunson finally says:
Dunson: What are you saying? I can't understand you. Where's your store teeth Matt bought you?
Groot: They're in my pocket.
Dunson: Well, why don't you use them?
Groot: 'Cause they whistle. I use them for eating. Then there's the Joanne Dru character, Tess Millay. It doesn't help that her first appearance occurs in the third scene. One hour and forty-one minutes into the 2:20 movie, by my clock. My guess is the scriptwriters didn't want to clutter up the action with a romantic subplot until absolutely necessary. Fair enough, but it means that Millay's and Matt's romance has to be telescoped severely. Basically they meet, fall in love, and part in a day. It stretches an audience some. Worse, Dru as an actress simply wasn't right for the part.
One of her character traits, as written, is to talk and keep on talking when something worries or frightens her. She does this to negligible effect. It's a role that seemed to have been custom written for Jean Arthur, who always could blabber on to good effect, who could always drop her voice down to a husky purr or have it emit an abrupt squeak for maximum dramatic effect. Unfortunately Arthur was nearly fifty when this movie was made, so I guess casting her as a romantic lead opposite the young Clift would have, uh, added an strange and unwelcome dimension to the movie. Dru, in one of her earliest roles, just doesn't have the chops to carry off the role convincingly. All things considered, I think this piece of miscasting is more Hawks' fault that anyone elses. Anyway, I shaved a point off because of it.
I don't normally notice bad transfers, but there are a few dark night scenes in RED RIVER that look like someone lit a Fourth of July sparkler. And, less forgivable, my new factory-sealed-from-a-reputable-national-outlet retailer did NOT contain the advertised four page booklet. Finally, I've played the movie twice so far, and each time the start up menu screen doesn't appear until AFTER the movie is over.
Rating:
Summary: 131 minutes of greatness 90 seconds of dumb
Review: I remember watching Fatal attraction. It was one of the most fascinating stories of obsession I had ever seen. At the end Glenn Close was dead. Her eyes glazed over white and a fitting end had come to a near perfect character. Suddenly she popped out the tub screaming and flailing away with a butcher knife in the fashion of a B-movie horror flick! It was fun but it significantly cheapened everything that was set up before it. I am comparing apples to pineapples but Red River is a little like that. John Wayne's character Tom Dunson is one most memorable movie characters of all time. He is focused, driven and hell bent to deliver his cattle to Missouri. In a masterful point in the film Dunson is separated from the drive and off screen for an extended period. Still his prescence is threatening & pervasive. A dozen men from his own drive fear his return. The tension build and builds. Finally the moment arrives and the inevitable fight ensues. Then suddenly something happens so out of left field you will have to witness it for yourself. Several endings were shot but like Fatal Attraction, Red River plugs in an ending that doesn't really fit but hopes to appeal to the masses. Fortunately this happens as the last 90 seconds of what is one of the most intense and exciting westerns ever filmed. I don't mean to focus on this one sour note because Red River should not be missed. This ending is such a blunder it almost spoiled the movie for me and its just a forewarning to cushion the shock to the unaware. Read some of the other reviews here to get a feel for the greatness of this film. You will find very few films that break the four and a half star average rating barrier on Amazon. Stick it in the DVD player and look forward to a great evening.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best Westerns ever
Review: I think this is my favorite early John Wayne film (it's not exactly early, but it was one of his earlier big hits). This epic story of a Texas cattle drive has all the parts of a western masterpiece--a journey made in the face of insurmountable odds, plenty of gunfighting, and a good, old-fashioned Indian attack. This is one of my favorite John Wayne performances, and the rest of the cast, especially Montgomery Clift and Walter Brennan, create a very dynamic chemistry. I love seeing John Wayne in these headstrong and stubborn roles. Watching the development of his relationship with Matt (Clift)--the ups, downs, and in-betweens--makes this movie very enjoyable to watch, and very touching at the same time. If you're a John Wayne fan, or a Western fan at all, and haven't seen this movie, you're missing out on one of the greatest Westerns of all time.
Rating:
Summary: Top Notch Western...Score: 95 (out of 100).
Review: If Sam Peckinpah's THE WILD BUNCH is the best ode to the Ole West, then Howard Hawk's RED RIVER has to be the best depiction of the Ole West - period. John Wayne's BEST film!!! The film is a variation of MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY, where adopted son, Matt Garth (Montgomery Clift), rebels against his tyrannical guardian, Tom Dunson (John Wayne), on a massive cattle drive to Missouri. The film is known for its fabulous cinematography, direction, score, and acting. Joanne Dru is miscast as Clift's love interest. Strengths: acting, score, direction, cinematography
Weakness: Joanne Dru's character (Tess Millay) Score: 95 (out of 100)
Rating:
Summary: BEAUTIFULLY CLEAR DVD
Review: In one of the all-time western greats, Duke is cast as Tom Dunson and Clift plays Matthew Garth in the saga of how the Chisholm Trail was developed as a cattle drive. In a sense, this plays like a western version of MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY, with 41 year-old Duke brilliant in his unsympathetic role, with Clift and Brennan great support. The photography by Russell Harlan is superb and Dmitri Tiomkin score is rousing. Definitely one of the top 10 western films ever produced, this one is a must!
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