Red River

1948

Action / Adventure / Drama / Romance / Western

39
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 87% · 32 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Upright 87% · 5K ratings
IMDb Rating 7.7/10 10 37469 37.5K

texas kansas, usa dangerous cattle drive revenge black and white

Plot summary

Following the Civil War, headstrong rancher Thomas Dunson decides to lead a perilous cattle drive from Texas to Missouri. During the exhausting journey, his persistence becomes tyrannical in the eyes of Matthew Garth, his adopted son and protégé.

Director

Howard Hawks Photo
Howard Hawks

Top cast

Harry Carey Photo
Harry Carey as Mr. Melville
John Ireland Photo
John Ireland as Cherry Valance
Mickey Kuhn Photo
Mickey Kuhn as Matt - as a Boy
John Wayne Photo
John Wayne as Thomas Dunson
720p.BluRay 1080p.BluRay
892.94 MB
988*720
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
2 hr 13 min
Seeds 6
1.89 GB
1472*1072
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
2 hr 13 min
Seeds 36

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by robertgdavis1-2-790429 8 / 10

Yes, the happy ending, no?

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!
Reviewed by secondtake 7 / 10

Very well made, amazing scenery, some great acting, though all a bit formulaic

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.
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