Red River, a 1948 western, is considered a cowboy classic.
The film was directed by Howard Hawks, an elite motion picture director whose
most valuable professional asset was versatility. A look at Hawks'
filmography shows that he was not afraid to take on any genre, be it
comedy, war stories, gangster films, mysteries, film noir or westerns.
Equally as big a name in 1948 was the Duke, John Wayne. Although he was
only thirty-nine years old when Red River was made -- its release was
delayed two years -- Wayne's screen presence in his preceding films had
already established him as a star. His bigger than life aura suited him
well for the silver screen.
Red River
is the story of a cattle drive covering a thousand miles, a lot of it
over what became known as the Chisholm Trail. Wayne plays Tom Dunson, a
hard nosed cattle rancher who decides to move his huge herd from Texas
to Missouri because the Civil War's aftermath has rendered the southern
beef markets almost non-existent. Duncan's right hand man is his
adopted son, Matt, played by Montgomery Clift. Clift was only
twenty-five years old when the movie was shot. Although he'd appeared
in more than a dozen Broadway plays, he was a film novice.
So, why is Red River considered a classic? There are many reasons, but here are four of them:
a. Wayne always had played the good guy, the everyman hero whose judgment was beyond reproach. In Red River,
his character has a soft side which is overcome by a dark side. This
opportunity to play a darker character is the main reason Wayne signed
on for the project. Until Red River, Wayne was considered by
many producers, including those with whom he'd worked, to be a
successful actor but not necessarily a good actor. With the help of
Hawks, Wayne's performance in Red River changed that.
b. Red River
was Clift's coming out party as a screen actor. Hawks, who not only
directed but also produced the movie, took a gamble by casting the
relatively unknown star. Neither Wayne nor Clift was nominated for an
Academy Award for their work in this film, but Clift was nominated four
times for subsequent performances in relatively quick order thereafter.
His most famous role was in 1953's From Here To Eternity.
c. Unlike most westerns of its day, the scope of the cinematography for Red River,
especially the scenes involving hundreds of head of cattle, is
breathtaking. We actually see the gigantic herd fording a river,
stampeding, and tumbling over a ridge. One has to wonder how capturing
all this on camera was accomplished. Even by today's standards, the filming the
cattle scenes would be an amazing feat.
d. The plot of Red River has sometimes been compared to Mutiny On The Bounty.
Dunson has taken on an unimaginably difficult task with a three-pronged
set of potential problems: keeping the herd alive as they drive over
rough terrain with no end in sight, dealing with Indians and outlaws who
have their eyes on Dunson's precious assets, and keeping the ornery disgruntled cowboys in
line with a strict set of rules that Dunson feels are necessary to
accomplish their goal. Does this sound like Captain Bligh's situation
on board the Bounty? Yes. Is there a Fletcher Christian in Red River? You will have to see it, then decide.
Hawks and Wayne made five films together, spanning four decades. Red River was their first collaboration, and Hawks' first western. I recommend Red River,
especially if you like westerns and don't mind spending almost two and a quarter
hours on it. I'm giving it a B+, dropping it down a
notch from where it was heading. The weakness of the female character
played by Joanne Dru, and the less-than-satisfying ending cause me to do
so. The only other Hawks-Wayne joint effort I've seen is Rio Bravo (included in my Quarterly Cinema Scan on January 2, 2014), which I prefer a little more, as evidenced by my grade of A-.
***
Here are the films I've seen at the Quentin Estates during the fourth quarter of 2016.
2. Brief Encounter (1945 drama; Trevor Howard is a married doctor who meets housewife Celia Johnson in a train station, and every Thursday they rendezvous again.) A
3. Candles On Bay Street (2006 romance; Eion Bailey is a married veterinarian who is surprised to learn that his high school crush, Alicia Silverstone, has returned to town, Balmoral Cove, Maine, after thirteen years.) B-
4. Four Days In November (1964 documentary; footage, including some rarely seen, of President Kennedy's tragic trip to Texas in November 1963.) B+
5. The Long Hot Summer (1958 drama; When drifter Paul Newman arrives in Frenchman's Bend, Mississippi, his questionable reputation precedes him, but Orson Welles, who owns most of the town's businesses, figures he'd make a great husband for his reluctant daughter, Joanne Woodward.) B
6. Murder Ahoy (1964 mystery/comedy; Margaret Rutherford, a trustee of a British ship in the town's harbor, suspects foul play in the murder of her fellow trustee, so she invites herself on board to pursue various clues, much to the displeasure of Captain Lionel Jeffries.) B
7. Rain Man (1988 drama; Tom Cruise is a financially desperate California wheeler dealer who finds out that Dustin Hoffman, an autistic savant in Ohio, is the brother he never knew he had and is the main beneficiary of their millionaire father's will.) A
8. Red River (1948 western; John Wayne is a despotic Texas rancher who, with his son Montgomery Clift and a dozen other men, leads a thousand mile cattle drive north, destination Missouri.) B+
9. Yours, Mine and Ours (1968 comedy; Navy officer Henry Fonda and Lucille Ball, both widowed with lots of kids, marry each other and face the challenges of melding their families.) C+
No comments:
Post a Comment