Movie of the Week: Red River

   

 

    Movie of the Week (10/6/13-10/12/13): Late, again this week, but I had to go to a wedding out of town, so that sounds like a good excuse to me! But, as usual, we do have a movie of the week this week and it is one that most people don't know of, especially of my generation. I decided to go way back this week and pick a movie that a lot of people hadn't heard of, but a movie that has a major star in it. This film came out in 1948, a good few years before I was even heard of, but it is known as one of the best Westerns of all time, which is one of my favorite genres. The movie is "Red River."
    We have a classic Western here that follows a man named Thomas Dunson, played by John Wayne, who plans to move his cattle from Texas to Red River in Missouri. He is accompanied by his adopted son Matt Garth, played by Montgomery Cliff, and many other men who decide to travel with them to the new land to start over and sell the cattle. Along the way they encounter several obstacles, including Indians, but no bigger obstacle than Dunson himself, who uses brutal ways to treat his men when they have done wrong. Soon Matt, his adopted son, takes his cattle away from him and leaves him behind in disgrace. Dunson, fueled by vengeance, then pursues them.
   Like I said this has one star that everybody knows, John Wayne, who in my opinion give his best performance in this film. It is probably my favorite of his, if it is not his best movie then it is his second best, behind either The Searchers or True Grit. But, it definitely is his best black and white Western. Next we have Montgomery Cliff, who I'm sure none of you know, but hey, it's okay I didn't know him until I saw this movie. That is probably expected since he only did 18 movies and died in 1966. But, nevertheless his performance was fantastic in this, although I don't have anything else to compare it too because I haven't seen his other films, but I was impressed with him in this picture. The rest of the cast was unknown to me, but they all contributed very well and made the film more interesting.
    Even though this film is in black and white the cinematography is still at its best and it was shot beautifully with the landscape. With it being 1948 we get some classic long shots and some interesting angles that bring us into the west, which is why it got nominated for an Oscar. The direction was also fantastic with Howard Hawks at his finest giving us beautifully filmed dialog scenes and fight scenes, although it is 1948 so some might look a little cheesy, but that is alright. One scene in particular near the beginning when they are deciding on whether or not to go on the journey was particularly well done. The writing was also great because it told us a great story about family, trust, and revenge along with well written dialog.
    One final aspect that made this an adventure was the editing and, again, for 1948 was very well done. It gave the film some very good pacing from start to finish and I was not bored once while watching it. This film is an underrated Western in history and probably should have gotten more Oscar nominations, and wins, than it did. To me it is one of John Wayne's best performances of his career, his performance alone is what made the movie worth while. He carried the film and with his attitude towards it, we love him and we hate him all at once. This is truly a great picture that most people do not know about, and they should. If you can, watch it soon!
4/4 Stars