Ebert's GREAT MOVIES, Part 10: Howard Hawk's "Red River"

It's interesting to read that this was the last picture
show, in that epinomous film.

This Is My Favorite Ford Film
By the way, "Red River" is both my favorite Ford film, and my favorite western.

While "The Searchers" is a huge step above almost all else of it's time and scope, no other film of this genre can compare with "Red River" as a perfect Western film, and, Montgomery Clift's performance in that film, as even more perfect. The black-&-white film involved only amplifies the quality of this film, and Clift is spectacularly, too, amplified in his black-&-white appearance (as he was, too, in "Suddenly, Last Summer," among others -- I realize that "SLS" wasn't/isn't a Western, as an aside)."

I see that "100%" of us consider Montgomery Clift to be the most exemplary in this film, all two of us who voted (so far).

..."Red River" is among my top 5 westerns of all time. (Along with "Shane", "Three Bells", "Lonesome Dove", and "Tombstone")
...I voted for Montgomery Clift, but Matt Garth should be given an assist, for establishing the character as my favorite, in the early stages. Mention "Red river" to me, and the first image that jumps in my mind, is that slap John Wayne gave him, and the gun flying out of his back pocket.
... I obviously agree with Ebert, about the weak ending, because that was one part, I didn't even remember. How often do you say that about one of your all-time favorite movies?

GW....Since mine was the first vote, I'm curious as to your favorite. But I won't rush you. I know patience brings roses.

hard to imagine clift in chaps, at least on the job, but that's another film i think.

wayne is great as the nasty hard driving cattleman. one of his best, he chewed up the scenery and proved that with a great director and script, that he was a damn good actor if given the chance .. but i really loved him in that film where he dressed in goatskins and played ghengis khan.. 'The Conquerer " (???) "Hey there little buddhist pilgram."

the film, "RR" seemed to me one of a father/son story, like a Shakespeare on ponies saga, and next to High Noon, about the first really psychologically driven western.

loved the cinamatography of RR, because one could almost taste the grit in the air during the cattle drive.

but clift as a cowboy? casting against type is not always a good thing. i would have preferred an actor who was himself able to project the image of a young buck on the rise, sort of a mirror of a younger character that wayne was playing so the audience could see thae battle of essentially one personality of two diferent ages. question is who would hav eplayed it better than clift?

Kuvasz,
...Trying to think of someone the right age, the first name that popped into my mind, was James Dean. Then I rembered that, although I first saw the movie in the mid 50's, it actually came in '48. But do you think he would have been right if the age was right?

I grew up loving western movies. I have so many favorites it boggles my head to try to pick the ones I consider the best. But RED RIVER is definitely in the top running. I understand the movie had to end eventually; that may be why they settled it so anemicly - no more time. I only pick it above THE SEARCHERS for one reason - It was the earlier one made. THE SEARCHERS borrows some of its best stuff. Aside from that I sort of prefer SEARCHERS.

globes
I don't recall the movie, but Clift is, to my mind, America's greatest actor. The most intense actor ever.

Red River is, without a doubt right up there among my half a dozen best loved westerns. I agree with Kuvasz -- nothing can outrank High Noon but Red River comes close. So does The Searchers. I don't see Clift as miscast at all. Against type? His role in The Misfits, opposite Clark Gable and Maralyn Monroe, wasn't all that different.

yeap, i was thinking james dean too, especially since he played a similar son to tough father in "East of Eden" where raymond massey played the patriarch. but dean did not break into films for another 6 years after red river.

Not to mention he looked right at home under a cowboy hat in "Giant". An when I made my first post, I had forgotten about that.

Hi,Mr.Wizard.

If I saw Red River, I don't remember it. Although John Wayne was America's hero, I never cared for him.(except in True Grit) I was quite surprised to see that this was Montgomery Cliff's first screen role, however. Frankly, I never cared for Monty, either. Always seemed to me that his face never changed.

Happy New Year, pilgrims

Clift's incredible performances in "The Heiress" and in "A Place in the Sun" are my two tied-for-first with this performance a close second. After the accident in the middle of filming "Raintree County," he just had problems reaching those levels again and with "Judgement at Nuremburg," he clearly was emulating his own mental state.

I loved this movie. Montgomery Clift gets my vote. Clift was a rather accomplished horseman having learned to ride in military school in Germany and for the Matt Garth role he quickly mastered the art of riding like a cowboy. As M.A. said earlier, he was a convincing cowboy in The Misfits, too. I think his quiet, understated performance was a contributing factor in making Wayne's character so convincing. Gary Cooper (who was considered for the role) or Joel McCrea, probably would have done just as well in the Tom Dunson Role. (But then, I'm not a die-hard John Wayne fan )

Since it was decided that Wayne's character wouldn't die, the movie had to end the way it did. Macho Wayne would have beaten Clift to death, (although Clift learned to punch for this role and was quite convincing later as a boxer in From Here to Eternity and The Young Lions) if Joanne Dru hadn't interceded, and Joann Dru was absolutely necessary for the romantic element we ladies needed. And Clift sucking the poison from Dru's shoulder after she was shot by an arrow, well, that was (sigh). So there, I've said it and I'm glad.

Welcome HumsTheBird!

Hope you enjoy our film discussion group -- it's not necessary to be a film buff to participate, its' main purpose is to turn one toward seeing films they've never seen and discuss those they cherish.

Ooooops! in my first post, I said I voted for Monty, with an assist to Matt Garth, who played the character as a child. Obviously Matt Garth is the character name dummy! Can anyone tell me the kid's name that played the younger Matt.

I had forgotten A Place in the Sun, based on Dreiser's An American Tragedy.
Yes, Cliff was quite convincing as a man who had come to terms with the irony of his fate.

After all this favorable comment about Montgomery Clift, I'm going to watch this movie again. At this point, having seen the movie a couple of times, not recently, I've always felt that Cift was miscast in the part. He never seemed the sort of man who could ever stand up to a force like Wayne. Nor does he strike me as a leader of men. I tend to agree with Kuvasz's remarks.

I'll watch this one again. I've often changed my mind about movies, I don't know about this one. Every time Red River comes to mind, I always think, "Yeah, but for Clift, it might have really been good."

Of course the ending needs some adjustment. Maybe the following would have been an improvement: Big tough sheriff says to Wayne, "I'm arrestin' you for your many crimes against humanity. Your'a goin' behind bars, and you ain't never gettin' out." Whereupon Wayne turns to Clift and says, "Son, I done you wrong. The old ways is a passin'. It's a new west that's rising. It's gonna be up to the young ones, the good ones, like you to help bring it in. Maybe I'm gettin' what I deserve. I don't know. Hard to tell. I done what I thought a man ought to do. Still don't see how it could have been any other way. But that's out of my hands now. Good luck, boy. Give it all ya got." Clift replys, "Yup." Pulls down the brim of his hat, turns his back and walks away.

Heh! heh! Make that Clift.