Red River (DVD)
APPROX. 133 MINS. - PROD. YEAR: 1948 - MPA RATING: PG
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There are a few problems, however. Scriptwriters Bordon Chase (also author of the short story) and Charles Schnee—and the uncredited Hawks—have a tendency to write speeches where conversation or behavior would be more effective. The delirious teenage Matthew isn't convincing. The writers' efforts to skirt prostitution in the wagon train derail Clift's first scene with Dru leaving us wondering why she can't see what Matt's upset about. There are occasional lapses into self-conscious artiness in the production—hyperactive editing in the midst of an otherwise conservative style and angled shots of horses on treadmills are examples. Dimitri Tiomkin's music is, well, Dimitri Tiomkin's music. An heroic main theme with a dysfunctional lyric and lots of snippets of familiar cowboy songs—"Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie" eulogizes a departed cowboy—with a banjo stuck in the middle of the strings and horns to make it sound "authentic."
The quality of the DVD is excellent. The newest VHS version includes the trailer but ironically the DVD includes no extras beyond the subtitles and multiple languages. It's a fairly old video transfer of what Hawks called the "television version" of the film. (The theatrical version was narrated by Brennan.) There are a trivial number of videotape dropouts and a couple of places where adjoining shots have mismatched video levels. All in all, Red River is a classic western in a classic mold built on strong performances and mythic energy.
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