John Ford was as famous for abusing his actors as much as for his brilliance as a director. So it must have come as quite a compliment when he commented on John Wayne's performance in 'Red River', "I didn't know the big son of a bitch could act." And to think, the Duke had only been in 10 Ford movies before that...
This movie was based on a Saturday Evening Post story by Borden Chase, who along with screenwriter Charles Schnee adopted it for the screen. Might explain the diary entries that pop up onscreen at various times as the story progresses. Duke takes a dark turn in his first pairing with director Howard Hawks. His role is Tom Dunson, a stubborn man who won't mind ya for nuthin', not even for the love of his woman. An Indian raid takes her, and all he gets for his troubles as he crosses into Texas is a young boy he finds with a cow. That boy, Matthew Garth, will be like a son to Dunson. Walter Brennan is there as Groot, the first of many old coots to appear alongside the Duke in years to come.
The pair turn out to be two sides of the same stubborn coin, the main difference being Matt hasn't entirely lost his heart. For Dunson, that's a sign of weakness. 14 years pass and Dunson has the biggest damn ranch in all of Texas, which pretty much counts for squat unless he can get over 900 head of cattle to market in Missouri. The make-up effects on the Duke as he transitions to an older man are extraordinary. His change from a stern taskmaster goes from bad to worse as the cattle drive progresses. Word comes to them of a quicker route to Abilene, but Dunson is too dense to chance it.
It's a bit like those wildebeest migrations you see on National Geographic, with cattle substituted, jostling across rivers and prairies. The inevitable stampede is brought on by a klutz who's fond of stealing sugar from the grub wagon. At one point Dunson is about to hang two deserters, and that's when Matt is forced to take charge. He leaves Dunson, his mentor and father-figure, with a shot-up hand and Dunson's promise that he's gonna kill him.
Of course thee's the circle of wagons surrounded by Indians, where Matt meets his lady love Tess Millay after he rides into the wagon train. She's a plucky young lass with a bad shot. She's still joking with him, even after she gets an arrow in the shoulder. Like Dunson before him Matt can't stay, but he leaves her with the bracelet Dunson had given him, the one that had belonged to his dead lover.
The shadow of Dunson is never far from anyone's mind. In fact he's only ten days behind Matt's drive when he encounters the wagon train. Tess matches wits with Dunson, persuading him to bring her with the gang of desperadoes he's rounded up to deal with Matt.
After last minute doubts and foreboding, the cattle drive crosses the tracks into Abilene, and boy is that conductor glad to see them, or at least their beef. Western hero Harry Carey Sr. greets them in Abilene as Melville, the man about to buy their cattle. This would be the veteran's fourth and final time to appear alongside the Duke in film.
The fateful confrontation with Dunson arrives, for which I have only one gripe. We know he's brought about a dozen hired killers with him to Abilene, but--they don't DO anything! They don't even follow Dunson as he tramples into town. They simply disappear, out of sight and mind. It's like he doesn't even need them, which leads to the inevitable question: why the hell did he hired them in the first place?
Even the cattle know to get out of his way. Now granted John Wayne isn't the best actor in the world, but once he fixes that dark, angry glare on you, even the strongest man wants to run away. He has that scowl on every step he takes toward Matt, firing left and right while Matt never flinches. Just when you think he's gonna beat the crap out of him--WHOMP! Matt comes to life and meets him blow for blow.
The only thing that stops them is Tess coming in with a few well-placed shots. She then treats both men to the tongue-lashing they've both had coming, verbally unloading on them with both barrels. She leaves them both tongue-tied; I guess it takes a woman all fired up to effect a reconciliation between two such hard nuts.
Speaking of which, this was Montgomery Clift's film debut, a great source of discomfort for the Duke not only because their political views didn't square, but on account of Cleft's homosexuality. Everyone agreed to put politics aside, which made shooting that much easier, but the OTHER thing...Nobody gives a lick about that nowadays--everybody knows there's a large contingent of gay actors in Hollywood. In 1948, in fact until very recently, nobody talked about it at all. John Ireland (Cherry Valance), another gay co-star, was Clift's emm, buddy at the time, shall we say. Not that there's anything wrong about that...
Yeh, I've run on and on too much about this film, but that's because it's that good, livid with breath-taking scenery, unconvincing backdrops, a tense drama and one of the darkest performances of Duke's career. Expertly recommended.
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