Dunson leads a cattle drive, the culmination of over 14 years of work, to its destination in Missouri. But his tyrannical behavior along the way causes a mutiny, led by his adopted son.Dunson leads a cattle drive, the culmination of over 14 years of work, to its destination in Missouri. But his tyrannical behavior along the way causes a mutiny, led by his adopted son.Dunson leads a cattle drive, the culmination of over 14 years of work, to its destination in Missouri. But his tyrannical behavior along the way causes a mutiny, led by his adopted son.
- Nominated for 2 Oscars
- 2 wins & 4 nominations total
Coleen Gray
- Fen
- (as Colleen Gray)
Harry Carey
- Mr. Melville
- (as Harry Carey Sr.)
Chief Yowlachie
- Quo
- (as Chief Yowlatchie)
Hal Taliaferro
- Old Leather
- (as Hal Talliaferro)
John Bose
- Dunston Rider
- (uncredited)
Buck Bucko
- Cowhand
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaHoward Hawks shot the beginning of the cattle drive in close-ups of each of the principal cowhands because he felt tight shots would be needed to help the audience keep all the characters straight in their minds. To that end, he also gave them all different kinds of hats, including a derby. Montgomery Clift used Hawks' own hat, which was given to him by Gary Cooper. Cooper had imparted a weather-beaten look to the hat by watering it every night. "Spiders built nests in it," Hawks said. "It looked great."
- GoofsThe film gives 14 August 1865 as the completion of the first cattle drive on the Chisholm Trail. However, the first cattle drive on the Chisholm Trail started and finished in 1867, two years later.
- Crazy creditsOpening credits prologue: Among the annals of the great state of Texas may be found the story of the first drive on the famous Chisholm Trail. A story of one of the great cattle herds of the world, of a man and a boy--Thomas Dunson and Matthew Garth, the story of the Red River D.
- Alternate versionsAccording to Peter Bogdanovich, the shorter version is in fact the Director's Cut. Howard Hawks was unhappy with the pacing of the longer, 133 minute cut.
- ConnectionsFeatured in The Screen Writer (1950)
- SoundtracksSettle Down
(1947)
by Dimitri Tiomkin
Lyric by Frederick Herbert (uncredited)
Played during the opening credits
Featured review
You don't have to use up too much of your imagination to get into and to appreciate this Epic, Howard Hawks does a manificent job in bringing to us a story that depicts the strengths ( and weaknesses ) of early pioneers in the American West. In Red River, Hawks clearly makes us aware of the hardships and loneliness settlers experienced doing their thing, particularly on cattle drives. John Wayne, as always in his element astride a horse, does a great job portraying the single minded cattle Baron Tom Dunson. He looked comfortable in the role with all his regulars like Harry Carey Snr. and Jnr,.Hank Worden and Walter Brennan around him and, along with Hawks is responsible for the Movie being as good as it is. You could almost taste the dust and sweat as Dunson bullies his way along the cattle drive, ignoring advice, doing what a man has to do and saying often, ' I'll read over them in the mornin ', then, being left in the dust himself after his men and his adopted son Matthew Garth...... played by Mongomery Clift.... decide they've had enough. We always knew they'd meet up with each other again, and when they did....what a showdown! Dunson catches up with them in Abeline, gets off his horse when he sees Garth and bullies his way again, this time through a herd of cattle to get to him. That walk Wayne makes amongst the cows is a classic. For a big guy he's got a lot of balance, never losing his stride as he forces his way through the herd, turns, draws and fires at Cherry Valance....played by another resident bad guy of the era, John Ireland....gets hit with a bullet from Valance, crosses the railway track then proceeds to beat up on the only man game enough to stand up to him, and in the process gets a bit of a pasting himself. Fantastic stuff!! Both Clift and Brennan, who played Dunson's old friend Groot Nadine give fine supporting roles, particularly Brennan with his excellent narrative throughout the Movie. Made in 1948, Red River is a great Western and perhaps had much to do in setting standards for others to follow.
Details
Box office
- Budget
- $3,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross worldwide
- $14,462
- Runtime2 hours 13 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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