Red River (1948)

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.

Directors:

Howard Hawks, Arthur Rosson (co-director)

Writers:

Borden Chase (screenplay), Charles Schnee (screenplay)

Stars:

John Wayne, Montgomery Clift, Joanne Dru

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 2 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited 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)

Storyline

Fourteen years after starting his cattle ranch in Texas, Tom Dunston is finally ready to drive his 10,000 head of cattle to market. Back then Dunston, his sidekick Nadine Groot and a teen-aged boy, Matt Garth -who was the only survivor of an Indian attack on a wagon train - started off with only two head of cattle. The nearest market however is in Missouri, a 1000 miles away. Dunston is a hard task master demanding a great deal from the men who have signed up for the drive. Matt is a grown man now and fought in the Civil War. He has his own mind as well and he soon runs up against the stubborn Dunston who won't listen to advice from anyone. Soon, the men on the drive are taking sides and Matt ends up in charge with Dunston vowing to kill him.

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Plot Keywords:

cattle drive | cowboy | cattle | betrayal | orphan | 

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Taglines:

Greatest Spectacle Ever!

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Romance | Western

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

17 September 1948 (USA)

Also Known As:

The River Is Red

Filming Locations:

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

Box Office

Budget:

$3,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$5,500,000, 31 December 1948

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$9,012,000, 31 December 1948

Company Credits

Production Co:

Monterey Productions, Charles K. Feldman Group

Technical Specs

Runtime:

133 min 126 min (original theatrical)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Montgomery Clift had learned to ride horses while at military prep school, but it was a different kind of riding than he was required to do in this role. He asked experienced Western actor Noah Beery Jr.. for help and worked hard to become convincing on screen. Beery later said, "The thing he enjoyed most was becoming a hell of a good cowboy and horseman." Howard Hawks always had high praise for how hard Clift worked on the picture.

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Goofs

As the drive approaches Abilene, there is a fear that it will miss the town and eventually end up in Canada. At that time, it would have only existed as the United Provinces or today's southern Ontario and Quebec.

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Quotes

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

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Crazy Credits

Opening credits prologue: Among the annals of the great state of Texas may be found the story of the first drive on the famous Chisholm Trail. A story of one of the great cattle herds of the world, of a man and a boy--Thomas Dunson and Matthew Garth, the story of the Red River D.

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Alternate Versions

According to Peter Bogdanovich, the shorter version is in fact the Director's Cut. Howard Hawks was unhappy with the pacing of the longer, 133 minute cut.

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Connections

Featured in Commemoration: Howard Hawks' 'Rio Bravo' (2007)

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Soundtracks

I Ride an Old Paint
(uncredited)
Traditional
Sung by Harry Carey Jr.

User Reviews

One of the finest movies ever--and I don't like Westerns

Although I have never been a huge fan of Westerns nor of John Wayne, this movie was truly excellent. My father is a true-to-life cowboy from that era and could vouch for how accurate this movie portrayed the life of a cowboy in those days. What really makes this movie is the stellar performance of Montgomery Clift as Matt Garth, brilliant though forgotten actor of the late 40's thru the mid 60's. The depth of John Wayne's acting in this movie was very refreshing. In short, this movie deserves a viewing by even the most avid loathers of Westerns.