Red River (1948)

Popularity:

Down 83% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.

Directors:

Howard Hawks
Arthur Rosson (co-director)

Writers:

Borden Chase (screenplay) and
Charles Schnee (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

17 September 1948 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Romance | Western

Tagline:

Greatest Spectacle Ever!

Plot:

Dunson leads a cattle drive, the culmination of over 14 years of work, to its destination in Missouri. But his tyrannical behavior along the way causes a mutiny, led by his adopted son.

Plot Keywords:

Cattle | Texas | Kansas | Cattle Drive | Cowboy

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 2 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

John Wayne	...	Thomas Dunson
Montgomery Clift	...	Matt Garth
Joanne Dru	...	Tess Millay
Walter Brennan	...	Nadine Groot
Coleen Gray	...	Fen (as Colleen Gray)
Harry Carey	...	Mr. Melville (as Harry Carey Sr.)
John Ireland	...	Cherry Valance
Noah Beery Jr.	...	Buster McGee
Harry Carey Jr.	...	Dan Latimer
Chief Yowlachie	...	Quo (as Chief Yowlatchie)
Paul Fix	...	Teeler Yacey
Hank Worden	...	Simms Reeves
Mickey Kuhn	...	Matt - as a Boy
Ray Hyke	...	Walt Jergens
Hal Taliaferro	...	Old Leather (as Hal Talliaferro)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Lane Chandler	...	Colonel (uncredited)
Davison Clark	...	Mr. Meeker (uncredited)
Harry Cording	...	Gambler (uncredited)
Richard Farnsworth	...	Dunston Rider (uncredited)
Paul Fierro	...	Fernandez (uncredited)
George Lloyd	...	Rider with Melville (uncredited)
Pierce Lyden	...	Colonel's Trail Boss (uncredited)
Frank Meredith	...	Train Engineer (uncredited)
John Merton	...	Settler (uncredited)
Jack Montgomery	...	Drover at Meeting (uncredited)
Ivan Parry	...	Bunk Kenneally (uncredited)
Lee Phelps	...	Gambler (uncredited)
William Self	...	Sutter - Wounded Wrangler (uncredited)
Carl Sepulveda	...	Cowhand (uncredited)
Ray Spiker	...	Wagon Train Member (uncredited)
Glenn Strange	...	Naylor (uncredited)
Tom Tyler	...	Quitter (uncredited)
Dan White	...	Laredo (uncredited)
Guy Wilkerson	...	Pete (uncredited)
Shelley Winters	...	Dance Hall Girl in Wagon Train (uncredited)

Directed by
Howard Hawks
Arthur Rosson		(co-director)

Writing credits
Borden Chase		(screenplay) and
Charles Schnee		(screenplay)
Borden Chase		(from "The Saturday Evening Post" story)

Produced by
Howard Hawks	....	producer
Charles K. Feldman	....	executive producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Dimitri Tiomkin		(music composed by)

Cinematography by
Russell Harlan		(photographed by)

Film Editing by
Christian Nyby		(film editor)
Francis D. Lyon		(uncredited)
Jack Murray		(uncredited)

Casting by
Dave Gunreth		(uncredited)

Art Direction by
John Datu		(as John Datu Arensma)

Makeup Department
Lee Greenway	....	makeup
George Bau	....	assistant makeup artist (uncredited)
Don L. Cash	....	makeup department head (uncredited)
Mary Freeman	....	hair stylist (uncredited)
Dotha Hippe	....	hair stylist (uncredited)
Frank La Rue	....	makeup artist (uncredited)
Anna Malin	....	key hair stylist (uncredited)
Margaret Martin	....	head hairdresser (uncredited)
Maudlee McDougall	....	assistant hair stylist (uncredited)
Web Overlander	....	makeup artist (uncredited)

Production Management
Norman A. Cook	....	production manager (as Norman Cook)
M.W. Kennedy	....	assistant production manager (uncredited)
Walter Mayo	....	production manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
William McGarry	....	assistant director
Joseph C. Cavalier	....	second assistant director (uncredited)
Arthur Rosson	....	second unit director (uncredited)
Arthur Siteman	....	assistant director: second unit (uncredited)
Joe Wonder	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Harry Apperson	....	drapery department head (uncredited)
John F. Austin	....	set dresser (uncredited)
Oscar Brodin	....	studio construction department head (uncredited)
Jack Colconda	....	first prop man (uncredited)
Lester Hallett	....	assistant property master (uncredited)
Howard Harbough	....	stand-by painter (uncredited)
Al Hersh	....	second prop man (uncredited)
Winston Jones	....	second prop man (uncredited)
V.L. McFadden	....	construction superintendent (uncredited)

Sound Department
Richard DeWeese	....	sound
Earl Crain Jr.	....	boom operator (uncredited)
Larry Gannon	....	cable man (uncredited)
Jack Gard	....	boom operator (uncredited)
Slim Houghton	....	cable man (uncredited)
Gordon Sawyer	....	studio sound department head (uncredited)
Cecil Shephard	....	cable man (uncredited)
Frank Webster	....	sound mixer (uncredited)
Kenneth C. Wesson	....	sound recordist (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Donald Steward	....	special effects
Allen Q. Thompson	....	special photographic effects (as Allan Thompson)
Jack Caffee	....	department head (uncredited)
Perzy High	....	3rd assistant (uncredited)

Stunts
Richard Farnsworth	....	stunt double: Montgomery Clift (uncredited)
Richard Farnsworth	....	stunts (uncredited)
Ben Johnson	....	stunts (uncredited)
Fred Kennedy	....	stunts (uncredited)
Danny Sands	....	stunts (uncredited)
Riley R. Waters	....	stunt double: John Wayne (uncredited)
Jack Williams	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Pete Bernard	....	second man grip (uncredited)
Ray Binger	....	director of photography: second unit (uncredited)
Roy Black	....	gaffer (uncredited)
George T. Clemens	....	camera operator (uncredited)
Cleo Crabtree	....	gaffer (uncredited)
Dave Donlon	....	best boy (uncredited)
Bert Eason	....	assistant camera: second unit (uncredited)
Carl Gibson	....	grip department head (uncredited)
Otto Johnson	....	first assistant grip (uncredited)
Henry Maak	....	second company grip (uncredited)
Robert Rhea	....	assistant camera (uncredited)
James Ryan	....	third assistant grip (uncredited)
Herman Selgrath	....	studio grip department head (uncredited)
Earl Stafford	....	assistant camera (uncredited)
Palmer 'Pete' Swenson	....	best boy electric (uncredited)
John D. Thompson	....	first company grip (uncredited)
Thomas Thompson	....	grip (uncredited)
John D. Weiler	....	camera operator: second unit (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Chuck Arrice	....	wardrobe assistant (uncredited)
Howard Child	....	wardrobe assistant (uncredited)
Wesley Jeffries	....	wardrobe: men (uncredited)
Saul Jick	....	tailor (uncredited)
Jack E. Miller	....	wardrobe department head (uncredited)
Adele Parmenter	....	wardrobe: women (uncredited)
Nevada Penn	....	wardrobe assistant (uncredited)
Fred Starns	....	wardrobe (uncredited)
John Zacha	....	wardrobe (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Barbara Ford	....	assistant editor (uncredited)
Stewart S. Frye	....	assistant editor (uncredited)
Olive Hofmann	....	negative cutter (uncredited)
Bernard Loftus	....	feature editor (uncredited)

Location Management
Gus Schroeder	....	location manager (uncredited)

Music Department
Dimitri Tiomkin	....	music director
Vinton Vernon	....	music recorder
Lucien Cailliet	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
David Chudnow	....	music department head (uncredited)
Jester Hairston	....	choral director (uncredited)
Paul Marquardt	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Other crew
Howard Hawks	....	presenter
Howard Alston	....	accountant (uncredited)
Bea Benjamin	....	comptroller (uncredited)
Grant Butler	....	publicity assistant (uncredited)
Betty Church	....	publicity secretary (uncredited)
Bob Clarke	....	wrangler (uncredited)
Scoop Conlon	....	publicity director (uncredited)
Sid Davis	....	stand-in: John Wayne (uncredited)
Andrew A. Dexter	....	payroll (uncredited)
'Doc' Elliott	....	assistant wrangler (uncredited)
Betty Evans	....	accountant (uncredited)
Don Hill	....	first aid nurse (uncredited)
Ruth Horth	....	payroll (uncredited)
Dorothy Huefner	....	secretary (uncredited)
Stella Jacobs	....	clerk (uncredited)
Gordon G. Jones	....	wrangler boss (uncredited)
Cliff Lewis	....	head publicist (uncredited)
Irene Lewis	....	nurse (uncredited)
Sol London	....	studio manager (uncredited)
John E. McDermott	....	comptroller (uncredited)
Helen McSweeney	....	secretary to producer (uncredited)
Robert Shaw	....	publicity assistant (uncredited)
Bobbie Sierks	....	script clerk (uncredited)
Josephine Woods	....	production secretary (uncredited)
Don Wyman	....	paymaster (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Charles K. Feldman Group (uncredited)
• Monterey Productions (A Monterey Production)

Distributors

• United Artists (1948) (USA) (theatrical)
• New Gold Entertainment (1948) (Italy) (theatrical)
• United Artists Corporation (1948) (UK) (theatrical)
• United Artists (1948) (Canada) (theatrical)
• United Artists (1948) (Belgium) (theatrical)
• United Artists (1948) (France) (theatrical)
• United Artists (1948) (Brazil) (theatrical)
• Adams Filmi (1950) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Nederland NV (1949) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• United Artists (1949) (Argentina) (theatrical) (as Artistas Unidos)
• United Artists (1951) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• United Artists (1952) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Mainostelevisio (MTV) (1967) (Finland) (TV)
• CBS/Fox (1984) (USA) (VHS)
• Playhouse Video (1987) (USA) (VHS) (For CBS/Fox Video)
• TV3 (1988) (Finland) (TV)
• MGM/UA Home Video (1990) (USA) (VHS) (Restored director's cut)
• MGM/UA Home Video (1990) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• MGM/UA Home Video (1995) (USA) (VHS) (Restored director's cut)
• MGM/UA Home Video (1997) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (1997) (USA) (VHS)
• MGM Home Entertainment (1999) (USA) (video) (LaserDisc)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2004) (Germany) (VHS)
• Warner Home Vídeo (2004) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Yleisradio (YLE) (2003) (Finland) (TV)
• Emerald (2006) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Emerald (2006) (Argentina) (VHS)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2007) (USA) (DVD) (For MGM Home Entertainment)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2007) (USA) (DVD) (Triple-featured with "Legend of the Lost" and "The Horse Soldiers")
• Eureka Entertainment (2013) (UK) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Wild Side Vidéo (2013) (France) (DVD)
• Wild Side Vidéo (2013) (France) (DVD) (Blu-Ray)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2014) (Germany) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Criterion Collection, The (2014) (USA) (DVD)
• Criterion Collection, The (2014) (USA) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Epoca (????) (Argentina) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Fat Jones Stables  horses
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment  vhs package design
• Western Costume Company  wardrobe
• Western Electric  sound recording

Also Known As:

Runtime:

133 min | West Germany:92 min | USA:126 min (original theatrical version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Argentina:Atp | Australia:PG (TV rating) | Australia:G (original rating) | Finland:K-12 | Netherlands:18 (original rating) (1948) | Norway:16 | Sweden:15 (cut) | UK:U | USA:Approved (PCA #12398) | West Germany:12 (nf)

Filming Locations:

Old Tucson - 201 S. Kinney Road, Tucson, Arizona, USA

Company:

Charles K. Feldman Group

Trivia:

In his movie Rio Bravo (1959), Howard Hawks encouraged 19-year-old Ricky Nelson to copy Montgomery Clift's mannerism from this film, rubbing his nose with his index finger.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Dunson is standing next to his horse after Mathew Garth takes the herd from him, he clearly has a belt full of cartridges, but later on Mathew confirms to Groot that he took all of Dunson's cartridges.

Quotes:

Nadine Groot:Never liked seeing strangers. Maybe it's because no stranger ever good newsed me.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Big Guns, Bigger Heroes: The 1980's and the Rise of the Action Film (2012) (V)

Soundtrack:

She'll Be Comin' Round the Mountain

An enjoyable western

Fourteen years ago Thomas Dunson entered Texas across Red River with two head of cattle, his trail hand, and a young boy, Matt Garth, who survived an Indian attack on a wagon train that killed Dunson's sweetheart. After years of development he is now head of a ranch and is preparing to drive his head of thousands of cattle up to Missouri for sale, despite the perils. However Dunson's brutal leadership style bucks up against the more peaceful Matt, leading to a rebellion and a splitting of the ways between Dunson and his adopted son.

With an early scene establishing both Dunson's methods (taking land by force) and the source of much of his future bitterness and rage, this film sets itself out to be a real good character piece and pretty much manages to do it. The plot sweeps across 14 years but doesn't suffer for it. The main plot device is the cattle drive, which is depicted with affection here, however the main story is the conflict between Dunson and Matt's methods and views on man management. This aspect is not given quite as much time as I had hoped and tends to be over shadowed by the scale of the cattle drive itself – however this is still good.

The weakest point here is the romance which feels tacked on at the end. Not only does it feel unnecessary but it doesn't really work very well either. To make matters worse – when the conflict between Dunson and Matt manifests itself physically, it is devalued by the involvement of Tess somewhat. Wayne's leading man is strong and is a good performance considering how unpopular he is as a character. Clift gives a balanced performance and stands up well alongside the Duke. The support cast is full of western favourites and does well to fill the story out with colour, comic relief from Brennan's chuck wagon driver is great fun.

Overall this is a good western that I felt didn't quite reach it's full potential as a film. It could have gone further with the battle of wills between the characters but instead the cattle drive takes the lion's share of screen time. Having said that, there is still plenty to enjoy with both the character clashes and the perils of the cattle drive itself.