Red River: Difference between revisions

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A 1948 movie starring [[John Wayne]], the first [[The Western|Western]] directed by ([[Howard Hawks]]). Perhaps the ultimate [[Cattle Drive]] movie, it is based on the novel ''The Blazing Guns of the Chisholm Trail'' by Borden Chase, which was previously serialized in the ''[[Saturday Evening Post]]''. Remarkable as the first movie in which John Wayne played a character with greater depth, an aging man, and a larger-than-life borderline [[Ubermensch]]. On first seeing it, [[John Ford]] famously commented: "Hey, the S.O.B. can act!" Ford would go on to use Wayne in a similar way in ''[[The Searchers]]'' and it is perhaps significant that critics have likened the Duke's character in both these films to Captain Ahab from ''[[Moby Dick]]''. Originally Howard Hawks wanted to cast [[Gary Cooper]] in the lead, but Cooper demanded the screenplay be changed in order to make his character more sympathetic, so Hawks offered the part to John Wayne instead. Which turned out a good thing, because not only could Wayne teach Hawks a thing or two about filming Westerns, but he also was instrumental to get the budget doubled to 1.5 million dollars.
 
In the prologue Tom Dunson (Wayne) and his sidekick Groot ([[Walter Brennan]]) set up a farm on the Red River in Texas. Dunson's lady love Fen is killed in an Indian attack on a wagon trek, but he picks up the sole survivor, Matt, and adopts him, using his cow as the first of germ of what is to become a giant cattle farm.
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After the arrival in Abilene, Matt succeeds in selling off the entire herd, but then has to face up with Tom Dunstan the following day. As Matt refuses to draw, Dunson can't bring himself to shoot him in cold blood and the showdown devolves into a fistfight, which is finally broken up by Tess. Says Dunston to Matt: "Why don't you marry the girl?"
 
Not to be confused with the [[Time Travel|time travellingtraveling]] [[Anatolia Story|Shoujo Manga]] of the same name.
 
=== This film shows examples of: ===
 
{{tropelist}}
* [[Black and Gray Morality]]: Cherry's morality was always a little shaky {{spoiler|until his [[Heel Face Turn]] at the end}}. And Mr. Dunson kept spiraling downward up until the very end.
* [[Camp Cook]]: Goot, though ''some'' may disagree.
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* [[Cattle Drive]]: The main focus of the film.
* [[Cool Train]]
* [[Fastest Gun in the West]]: Cherry wants to go toe to toe with Matt, to see who's the best.
* I'll Kill You!: Dunson tells Matt this after the mutiny.
* [[The Gunslinger]]
* [[I'll Kill You!]]: Dunson tells Matt this after the mutiny.
* [[MacGuffin]]: The bracelet that Tom Dunson gives to Fen and later on Matt gives to Tess.
* [[The Mutiny]]: ''Red River'' has been described as "''[[Mutiny on the Bounty]]'' on the prairie".
* [[The Gunslinger]]
* [[The Narrator]]: Groot.
* [[Fastest Gun in the West]]: Cherry wants to go toe to toe with Matt, to see who's the best.
* [[Rancher]] Tom Dunson.
* [[Retired Gunfighter]]
* [[The Mutiny]]: ''Red River'' has been described as "''[[Mutiny on the Bounty]]'' on the prairie".
* [[The Narrator]]: Groot.
* [[Showdown At High Noon]]: {{spoiler|subverted}}
* [[Spared by the Adaptation]]: Tom Dunson.
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[[Category:Roger Ebert Great Movies List]]
[[Category:National Film Registry]]
[[Category:Index of Film Westerns]]
[[Category:Films of the 1940s]]
[[Category:The Forties]]
[[Category:Red River]]
[[Category:Index of Film Westerns]]
[[Category:The Criterion Collection]]
[[Category:Films Based on Novels]]
[[Category:Films With Recuts]]
[[Category:Film]]