IMDb > Red River (1948)
Red River
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Red River (1948) More at IMDbPro »

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Red River (1948) -- Trailerfan.com - Trailer (Flash)

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Overview

User Rating:
7.8/10   9,833 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 1% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Directors:
Howard Hawks
Arthur Rosson (co-director)
Writers:
Borden Chase (screenplay) and
Charles Schnee (screenplay) ...
(more)
Contact:
View company contact information for Red River on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
26 August 1948 (USA) more
Tagline:
Greatest Spectacle Ever! more
Plot:
Dunson is driving his cattle to Red River when his adopted son, Matthew, turns against him. full summary | full synopsis
Plot Keywords:
Awards:
Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 1 win & 2 nominations more
NewsDesk:
(5 articles)
Shall we gather at the river?
 (From Roger Ebert's Blog. 11 June 2009, 1:11 PM, PDT)

Playing it Straight
 (From AfterElton.com. 7 April 2009, 6:31 PM, PDT)

User Comments:
A film which is spectacle at its best , although spectacle is by no means all of it... more (117 total)

Cast

  (in credits order) (verified as complete)

John Wayne ... Thomas Dunson

Montgomery Clift ... Matt Garth
Joanne Dru ... Tess Millay

Walter Brennan ... 'Groot' Nadine
Coleen Gray ... Fen (also as Colleen Gray)
Harry Carey ... Mr. Melville (as Harry Carey Sr.)
John Ireland ... Cherry Valance
Noah Beery Jr. ... Buster McGee
Harry Carey Jr. ... Dan Latimer
Chief Yowlachie ... Quo
Paul Fix ... Teeler Yacey

Hank Worden ... Simms Reeves (as Hank Warden)
Mickey Kuhn ... Matt, as a boy
Ray Hyke ... Walt Jergens
Hal Taliaferro ... Old Leather
Paul Fierro ... Fernandez (as Paul Fiero)
Ivan Parry ... Bunk Kenneally
William Self ... Sutter - Wounded Wrangler (as Billie Self)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Lane Chandler ... Colonel (uncredited)
Davison Clark ... Mr. Meeker (uncredited)
Harry Cording ... Gambler (uncredited)

Richard Farnsworth ... Dunston Rider (uncredited)
George Lloyd ... Rider with Mr. Melville (uncredited)
Pierce Lyden ... Colonel's Trail Boss (uncredited)
John Merton ... Settler (uncredited)
Lee Phelps ... Gambler (uncredited)
Glenn Strange ... Naylor (uncredited)
Tom Tyler ... The Quitter (uncredited)

Dan White ... Laredo (uncredited)

Shelley Winters ... Dance Hall Girl in Wagon Train (uncredited)
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Directed by
Howard Hawks 
Arthur Rosson (co-director)
 
Writing credits
Borden Chase (screenplay) and
Charles Schnee (screenplay)

Borden Chase (The Saturday Evening Post story)

Produced by
Howard Hawks .... producer
Charles K. Feldman .... executive producer (uncredited)
 
Original Music by
Dimitri Tiomkin 
 
Cinematography by
Russell Harlan (photographed by)
 
Film Editing by
Christian Nyby 
 
Art Direction by
John Datu  (as John Datu Arensma)
 
Makeup Department
Lee Greenway .... makeup artist
Dotha Hippe .... hair stylist (uncredited)
 
Production Management
Norman A. Cook .... production manager (as Norman Cook)
 
Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
William McGarry .... assistant director
Arthur Siteman .... assistant director: second unit (uncredited)
 
Sound Department
Richard DeWeese .... sound
Larry Gannon .... sound (uncredited)
 
Special Effects by
Donald Steward .... special effects
Allen Q. Thompson .... special photographic effects (as Allan Thompson)
 
Stunts
Richard Farnsworth .... stunts (uncredited)
Ben Johnson .... stunts (uncredited)
Fred Kennedy .... stunts (uncredited)
Danny Sands .... stunts (uncredited)
Jack Williams .... stunts (uncredited)
 
Camera and Electrical Department
Thomas Thompson .... grip (uncredited)
 
Music Department
Dimitri Tiomkin .... musical director
Vinton Vernon .... music recorder
Lucien Cailliet .... orchestrator (uncredited)
Jester Hairston .... choral director (uncredited)
Paul Marquardt .... orchestrator (uncredited)
 
Other crew
Howard Hawks .... presenter
Sid Davis .... stand-in: John Wayne (uncredited)
Bobbie Sierks .... script clerk (uncredited)
 
Crew verified as complete


Production CompaniesDistributors
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Additional Details

Also Known As:
The River Is Red (USA) (working title)
La rivière rouge (Belgium: French title) (France) [fr]
Panik am roten Fluß (Austria) (West Germany) [de]
Red River (Austria) (Germany) [de]
De rode rivier (Belgium: Flemish title) [un]
Fiume rosso (Italy) [it]
Ha-Nahar Ha-Adom (Israel: Hebrew title) [iw]
Kanli nehir (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
O Rio Vermelho (Portugal) [pt]
Punainen virta (Finland) [fi]
Río rojo (Spain) [es]
Red River (Denmark) [da]
Rio Vermelho (Brazil) [pt]
Rzeka czerwona (Poland) [pl]
more
Runtime:
133 min
Country:
Language:
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (Western Electric Recording)
Certification:
Filming Locations:

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Filmed in 1946 but held for release for two years, in part due to legal problems with Howard Hughes who claimed it was similar to his The Outlaw (1943). more
Goofs:
Crew or equipment visible: An equipment shadow tracks across the wagon as the camera pans from Groot to Dunson during their first night on guard at Red River. more
Quotes:
Nadine Groot: He didn't know about money, Matt. He never had none. He didn't know what to do.
Matt Garth: You mean he just doesn't know who to fight.
Nadine Groot: Yeah.
Matt Garth: Well that's all right.
more
Movie Connections:
Spoofed in Support Your Local Sheriff! (1969) more
Soundtrack:
Settle Down more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
31 out of 41 people found the following comment useful.
A film which is spectacle at its best , although spectacle is by no means all of it..., 21 November 1999
9/10

From 1939 to 1948, two major Westerns done with taste and skill and with an eye to beauty could be mentioned: John Ford's "Stagecoach," and Howard Hawks' "Red River."

"Red River" is a great adventure Western considered as the very best among all Westerns... But could we compared it to Ford's splendidly filmed "Wagon Master"? John Ford maintains his shooting eye at a certain distance while Howard Hawks keeps it nearby... But both are skilled directors of a bunch of great movies…

Ford is closer to Western movies, and Hawks to other genre... Ford treats his Western characters as people behave... Hawks displays it in vivid adventure... In "Red River," "Rio Bravo," and "The Big Sky" Howard Hawks is far from the magnitude of Ford's "The Searchers." Under Ford's instruction, John Wayne is fluent and moderate, refined in conduct and manners as in "The Quiet Man." With Hawks, Wayne's character prevails differential tendency toward passion and fury...

It is soon evident that the cattle boss is tough to the point of obsession… It could be argued that only men of this spirit could have handled and survived the first pioneering cattle drives… One of the drovers (John Ireland) wants to make for Abilene but gets no change out of Wayne… When the cattle stampede Wayne goes to 'gun-whip' one of the hands, Clift intervenes… It was then evident that Wayne was going to drive his men just as hard as he intends to drive the cattle…

"Red River" is a Western just as much concerned with human relationships and their tensions as with spectacle and action—a hallmark of Hawks' films and this element is introduced when the pair meet up with a boy leading a cow… The boy confirms the wagon-train massacre, and the boy and the cow from then on are included in the partnership… This is not only a key-point of the narrative but also a highly symbolic moment…

For some years Garfield was the only screen rebel... But in Clift's appearance in "Red River," another rebel was born… In "Red River," Clift plays the adopted son who opposes his father's domineering attitudes and behavior towards himself and also towards the cowhands who work for them on the drive to market… The struggle between father and adopted son, compels delighted interest... Dunson's unfeeling hardhearted style remembers us Captain Bligh in "Mutiny on the Bounty." In the beginning of the film we had admiration for Wayne's persona... We concluded finding him unfriendly, unconscious, unacceptable and faulty... Clift wins our sympathy!

Clift was the withdrawn, introverted man who quietly maintains his integrity as he resists all pressures… These qualities were summed up in the words of Private Prewitt in "From Here to Eternity" probably Clift's finest rebel role!

"Red River" will remain a film with a unique flavor… It has, and will continue to have, its own special niche among honored Westerns…

With two Academy Award Nomination for Writing, splendid music score by Dmitri Tomkin and excellent acting including the supporting cast, the film had all the concepts of Howard Hawks' quality: vigor in action, reality as opposed to emotions and a faculty of scale...

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