I've never been a huge fan of Montgomery Clift, amazing actor as he was, which is probably why I've given this film such a wide berth for so many years... it just goes to show how wrong a person can be.
Between the years 1946 and 1970 Howard Hawks and John Wayne collaborated on five motion pictures and I always thought 1959's Rio Bravo was my favourite..that is until today when I watched Red River for the first time.
John Wayne even manages to outJohnWayne himself as he plays a character a lot more tougher and ruthless than we would usually get to see.
He's an aging and embittered Cattle Baron determined to drive his giant herd all the way from Texas to Missouri, despite the threat of marauding hostile Indians and a band of infamous cattle rustlers. Hardened to the job, he is driving his men hard and is keeping them in line with harsh discipline and even harsher punishments for those who dissent.
Montgomery Clift plays Wayne's adopted son, who despite the obvious affection he has for the man who has brought him up, can no longer stand by and see Wayne's growing ruthlessness destroy both Wayne and the cattle empire they had both worked so long and hard to build,
Taking matters into his own hands he mutiny's against Wayne's leadership and casts him adrift, taking the herd and the men and changing course for the much nearer stock yards in Abilene.
However Wayne is in hot pursuit and has mercilessly vowed to kill Clift for this betrayal.
The great Walter Brennan plays his requisite toothless, old faithful much as he did in Rio Bravo and there is excellent support from Joanne Dru as Clift's love interest and John Ireland as Clift's co-mutineer and new 'best pal'
It is well documented that Ireland's drinking on set caused problems which resulted in Ireland's character being seriously cropped by Hawks for much of the finished picture which was a shame as the character was rather good.
He played a gun fighter who joins the trail early on and who threatens to be a potential adversary of Clift, the two are friendly but there is a thinly veiled menace in their interactions. It came to nothing however as due to the character being sidelined mid-picture, Ireland is instead portrayed as Clift's loyal friend who is even prepared to put his own life on the line to protect Clift when Wayne finally catches up with them.
It's a fantastic movie, with great black and white cinematography capturing all the rugged sinew of the American old west.
I suppose it's also unique as it's perhaps the closest we ever got to see John Wayne play a baddie. Although is character was still essentially good, he blurred the lines very heavily here and turned in perhaps the finest performance of his long and illustrious career.
He may have won his Oscar for True Grit, but this in my humble opinion is a much superior performance.
Between the years 1946 and 1970 Howard Hawks and John Wayne collaborated on five motion pictures and I always thought 1959's Rio Bravo was my favourite..that is until today when I watched Red River for the first time.
John Wayne even manages to outJohnWayne himself as he plays a character a lot more tougher and ruthless than we would usually get to see.
He's an aging and embittered Cattle Baron determined to drive his giant herd all the way from Texas to Missouri, despite the threat of marauding hostile Indians and a band of infamous cattle rustlers. Hardened to the job, he is driving his men hard and is keeping them in line with harsh discipline and even harsher punishments for those who dissent.
Montgomery Clift plays Wayne's adopted son, who despite the obvious affection he has for the man who has brought him up, can no longer stand by and see Wayne's growing ruthlessness destroy both Wayne and the cattle empire they had both worked so long and hard to build,
Taking matters into his own hands he mutiny's against Wayne's leadership and casts him adrift, taking the herd and the men and changing course for the much nearer stock yards in Abilene.
However Wayne is in hot pursuit and has mercilessly vowed to kill Clift for this betrayal.
The great Walter Brennan plays his requisite toothless, old faithful much as he did in Rio Bravo and there is excellent support from Joanne Dru as Clift's love interest and John Ireland as Clift's co-mutineer and new 'best pal'
It is well documented that Ireland's drinking on set caused problems which resulted in Ireland's character being seriously cropped by Hawks for much of the finished picture which was a shame as the character was rather good.
He played a gun fighter who joins the trail early on and who threatens to be a potential adversary of Clift, the two are friendly but there is a thinly veiled menace in their interactions. It came to nothing however as due to the character being sidelined mid-picture, Ireland is instead portrayed as Clift's loyal friend who is even prepared to put his own life on the line to protect Clift when Wayne finally catches up with them.
It's a fantastic movie, with great black and white cinematography capturing all the rugged sinew of the American old west.
I suppose it's also unique as it's perhaps the closest we ever got to see John Wayne play a baddie. Although is character was still essentially good, he blurred the lines very heavily here and turned in perhaps the finest performance of his long and illustrious career.
He may have won his Oscar for True Grit, but this in my humble opinion is a much superior performance.