Red River (DVD)

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Tom Dunson (John Wayne at the peak of his career) has turned the barren Texas land across the Red River into a cattle kingdom. His partners are the grizzled Groot Nadine (Walter Brennan) and Dunson's young ward Matthew Garth whom we meet first as a teenage orphan of a wagon train massacre. Unfortunately, Dunson's cattle become worthless in the post Civil War economy. When Garth (Montgomery Clift at the start of his film career) returns from his military duties, they set out to find a market in Missouri to revive their fortunes. But Dunson is so obsessed that he drives his hands to mutiny and eventually he and the young man he raised like a son become mortal enemies.

Red River is considered a masterpiece by fans of Wayne and its producer-director, Howard Hawks. Although its scope is narrower, it follows the tradition of epic films that depicted the lengthy westward covered-wagon migration. It even imitates the practice of using title cards to mark off the various chapters of the tale. It's beautifully photographed by Russell Harlan. Rugged vistas are clouded by miniature dust bowls kicked up by the cattle, there are eye-to-eye confrontations with the steers, a 360° panorama comprised of three separate shots, and an atmospheric scene lit by a swinging lantern. Harlan frequently crowds characters against the edges of the frame, making this one of the few films that make you wish the standard TV screen were 1.37:1 instead of 1.33:1.

The drama builds convincingly to its surprising conclusion. The obsessive Dunson character fits Wayne like a pair of Levis. Wayne is still young enough to require aging, but his age is as much in his performance as his makeup. Clift more than holds his own, tempering the older man's swagger with a quieter kind of confidence and loyalty and with a readiness to face up to and face down his own fears. Matt is thus the inevitable heir to Dunson's power and a counterbalance to Wayne's screen presence. Hawks goes a little too far in giving Dunson's mannerisms plus a matching scar in the final scene to Garth, but he gets physical contrast too as when the younger man glides into his saddle and the older mounts like a sack of potatoes. Clift also gets the sweet, reticent 1948 love scenes with Joanne Dru as Tess Millay whom he meets in an embattled wagon train. Groot makes a terrific sidekick. The movie is most entertaining and realistic when Wayne and Brennan are arguing in overlapping dialogue—a Hawks' trademark. John Ireland also scores as Matthew's gun-itchy rival, Cherry Valance.