Howards Hawks is mostly known for making a wide variety of genres, but if you had to boil it down more specifically, he's know for the screwball comedy first and the Western second. In the first half of his career, he made many screwball comedies, and he even incorporated the screwball element in his other works.
Near as I can tell, he had not made a true Western in his first 20 years as a filmmaker, and then made five in his last 24 years as a filmmaker. And I'm guessing a large reason why is because of John Wayne, who was the lead actor in all of his Westerns, with one exception, and starred in five movies directed by Hawks.
Red River is a bit long, and it takes a while until the real meat of the movie happens. The movie is about the tension between John Wayne's character, Thomas Dunson, and his adopted son and protegé, Matt Garth. The tension arises while on a long voyage to sell cattle. Dunson grows increasingly hostile and paranoid, leading to some less than stellar leadership decisions. Garth grows dissatisfied with the direction Dunson is going and eventually has to take matters into his own hands.
Wayne, somewhat surprisingly I suppose, plays the villain. Roger Ebert says he plays both hero and villain, but I'll be honest. When he comes to Texas and immediately claims land that is not his own as his own, and then kills at least eight people over the years to defend it, wasn't really getting much of a good guy vibe. Clearly, morality works different in Western movies, but even then, from a modern perspective, he is at best, an anti-hero in the beginning.
Which actually adds to the movie, doesn't diminish it. The character he is throughout the movie and at the end isn't at odds with who is at the start. He is determined, and that determination could lead to blindness as to the possibility he may be wrong. He frequently makes choices that make it harder on the group he leads and his punitive measures only turn people further against him as a leader.
Opposed to him is Garth, played by Montgomery Clift. Clift, who was 26 at the time this was filmed, was making his debut in Red River. He was not nominated for an Oscar for Red River, but his first nomination came in 1949, and he was nominated three more times by 1962 before he committed suicide in 1966.
This is my second Clift movie, and while he's good here, neither movie gave me an indication this guy was some highly acclaimed actor. I don't see a large difference in his performance from any other leading guy at the time. Then again, he never actually won an Oscar so who knows.
There are three main weaknesses to the movie. I do think the pacing of the movie is a little off. I think Garth's inevitable split from Dunson should happen earlier in the film. There's a go nowhere subplot involving Cherry Valance (played by John Ireland) and Garth that never leads anywhere.
Somewhat related to the pacing, Tess Millay, played by Joanne Dru, shows up very late in the movie and then ends up having an outsized role in the plot. Dru plays her like she's in a different movie than everyone else. She's making quips and being unafraid of shots being fired at her - she actually gets hit - and the movie momentarily turns into a wacky romantic comedy. The tone is all off when she pops in.
Lastly, the ending. The ending feels off because the ending is different in the source material. Originally Valance was supposed to shoot and kill Dunson, which would have been a much better ending. Instead, Valance dies and his character ends up seeming pointless, and they fight, only for the late arriving Millay be the one who convinces them to stop.
Red River fits firmly in the category of good movies with flaws. Sometimes obvious weaknesses are a sign that a movie is bad, but other times, they tend to stand out specifically because it's contrasted against the rest of the movie. They made so many right decisions that the wrong ones can be noticeable.
I've seen a few Wayne movies and Wayne appears to be at his best when his characters are more morally questionable. His acting style doesn't really deviate all that much, and just plain works better when he's not playing a straightforward hero, because it's somewhat hard to buy. Maybe I'm letting my opinion of Wayne influence my opinion here, but he's just harder to accept.
Old reliable and Hawks favorite Walter Brennan shows up in this movie. Interestingly, an actual Native American named Chief Yowlachie plays a Native American in this movie and purely as comic relief. And not at his expense. So I thought that was cool for 1948.
I've said about all I have to say about Red River. Like I said above, I think it's a good movie with flaws. And I honestly wouldn't be surprised if I liked it better the second time, once it was clearer where the movie was headed. Can't see myself turning around on Joanne Dru though to be honest.
3/4 stars
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