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

If you've read a bio of Montgomery Clift, he did go over a cliff!
I commited the same typo in the poll and had to correct it.
Clift at his best was riveting in his portrayals and I disagree that he was ineffective in "Red River." He was not the usual cowboy with the facade of machoism but a kind of intellectualized concept of a cowboy. This might be off-track for many people but I feel it is so subtly done and Howard Hawks knew how to direct Clift. Clift did need a good director -- I don't think any great actor can deliver a great performance if the director is lackluster and/or off base. Sometimes it is because the director knows when to let the actor act with minimal instruction but that is also a talent of very few directors. Robert Altman is a master at letting his actors create their own performances but believe me, he is in control of the total package. George Stevens in "A Place in the Sun" coaxed supurb performances out of all the actors in the picture, but particularly it probably stands out more dominantly with Elizabeth Taylor and Shelley Winters. Clift did have that natural approach that he wasn't acting and very skillfully for only making a few pictures. "Raintree County" has some serious directorial problems even if some of the trouble stemmed from Clift's automobile accident. "Red River," again, froze a moment of historical time with a kind of gripping realism that makes a great movie.

LW, I've just finished watching Red River again. As I said, It's been many years since I saw the movie. With my tail between my legs, I take back my disparaging comments about Montgomery Clift. He did a fine job. In fact, a great job considering it was his first role. In his role as Matt, he was simply a man with a higher ethic, a greater respect for people, than Dunson. Dunson was a good man, but a heavily flawed man. He failed to respect the rights of others, and he failed to withstand the pressures of the drive. In addition he lacked judgment. Matt, gained in all these same respects as the movie progressed.

I suppose when I saw the movie years back, I was looking for a typical western formula movie, which this was not, and I was disappointed.

The woman who was the romantic interest talked too much. As Mrs. Hazlitt said, "Keep mouth shut. Dust not get in mouth."

I cannot comment on Red River because I haven't seen it. John Wayne, never one of my favorites, did do good work in The Alamo and True Grit. This is the nicest comment about Wayne that I have ever made.

Wayne's version of "The Alamo" (he also directed) was so far removed from the actual historical event that it verges on comedy. "Red River" is my favorite Wayne performance but it's Clift's extraordinary film debut that is amazing. He was nominated for "The Search" for an Oscar the same year (which was actually the film he made before "Red River" but was released after that film). A new version of "The AlamO," with Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn in LOTR) as Jim Bowe is in pre-production for 2004, hopefully more accurate to history. Wayne's was certainly a rip-snorter and he proved he could handle large battle scenes (rumor is that he was assisted by an unnamed director) but much of it was fictional.

Totally agree, LW. The Alamo was a hokey joke, with Richard "Palladin" Boone as Sam Houston yet! I think my favorite Wayne movie was The Quiet Man with Maureen O'Hara. A sleeper, but a good 'un. The thing is, many people disliked John Wayne because of his right-wing politics. But, in fact, he could be a damned good actor. Many of his Westerns established the benchmark for above-average oater fare.

I didn't like his politics, and I never confused him with Sir Laurence Olivier,.....But within his range, he made some D*MN entertaining movies.

John Ford is reported to have said after seeing Wayne in "Red River,"
I didn't know the son-of-a-bitch could act."

LW ,et al: Thought you might get a chuckle out of some of these John Wayne quotes (from Gary Herman's Hollywood Book of Quotes):

I play John Wayne in every part regardless of the character, and I've been doing okay, haven't I?

There's too much pretentious nonsense talked about the artistic problems of making pictures. I've never had a goddamm artistic problem in my life, never, and I've worked with the best of them.

McCarthy was a friend of mine. Whether he went overboard or not, he was of value to his country. A number of liberals think he started the witch-hunt. I think he was witch-hunted.

and on BBC Radio in 1980:
If they played my favorite tune everyone would have to stand up.

I lived quite near the Wayne's and one of my long term friends worked for him at one time. Pilar became a decorator shortly after they divorced (family values didn't have much credence in the Wayne household as he was just as well know to sleep around as any other Hollywood star). He is an icon and about as interesting as a person as a cold marble statue.

LW: I hope you realized that I posted those quotes so that I'd get a chuckle out of you.

Of course I found them funny even though I find the person himself humorless and void. He frequented two restaurants I liked in Newport Beach and the those who waited on him said he was amiable enough but my friend said he was stoic to the point that sometimes she thought she was conversing with a telephone pole. That doesn't discount that I've enjoyed many of his performances even if his personality was underwhelming.