#709: HAWKS, Howard: Red River (1948)
HAWKS, Howard (United States)
Red River [1948]
Spine #709
Blu-ray
Blu-ray
No matter what genre he worked in, Howard Hawks played by his own rules, and never was this more evident than in his first western, the rowdy and whip-smart Red River. In it, John Wayne found one of his greatest roles, as an embittered, tyrannical Texas rancher whose tensions with his independent-minded adopted son — played by Montgomery Clift, in a breakout performance — reach epic proportions during a cattle drive to Missouri. The film is based on a novel that dramatizes the real-life late nineteenth-century expeditions along the Chisholm Trail, but Hawks is less interested in historical accuracy than in tweaking the codes of masculinity that propel the myths of the American West. The unerringly macho Wayne and the neurotic, boyish Clift make for an improbably perfect pair, held aloft by a quick-witted, multilayered screenplay and Hawks's formidable direction.
127 minutes
Black & White
Black & White
Monaural
1:37:1 aspect ratio
Criterion Release 2014
Director/Writers
From the Saturday Evening Post story by Borden Chase.
Screenplay by Chase and Charles Schnee.
Howard Hawks was 52 when he directed Red River.
Other Hawks films in the Collection:
#1239: Scarface (1932)
#1085: Bringing Up Baby (1938)
#806: Only Angels Have Wings (1939)
#899: His Girl Friday (1940)
The Film
Other Hawks films in the Collection:
#1239: Scarface (1932)
#1085: Bringing Up Baby (1938)
#806: Only Angels Have Wings (1939)
#899: His Girl Friday (1940)
The Film
A
Film Rating (0-60):
The Booklet
Thirty-two page booklet featuring an essay by critic Geoffrey O’Brien and a 1991 interview with Hawk’s frequent editor Christian Nyby; and a paperback edition of Chase’s original novel.
Commentary
None.
Two versions
60
The ExtrasThe Booklet
Thirty-two page booklet featuring an essay by critic Geoffrey O’Brien and a 1991 interview with Hawk’s frequent editor Christian Nyby; and a paperback edition of Chase’s original novel.
Commentary
None.
Two versions
- The rarely presented original theatrical release, the preferred cut of director Hawks; and
- The longer, prerelease version.
Interview 1
With filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich about Red River and the two versions.
Interview 2
With critic Molly Haskell about Hawks and Red River.
Interview 3
With film scholar Lee Clark Mitchell about the western genre.
Audio excerpts 1
From a 1972 conversation between Hawks and Bogdanovich.
Audio excerpts 2
With filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich about Red River and the two versions.
Interview 2
With critic Molly Haskell about Hawks and Red River.
Interview 3
With film scholar Lee Clark Mitchell about the western genre.
Audio excerpts 1
From a 1972 conversation between Hawks and Bogdanovich.
Audio excerpts 2
From a 1970 interview with novelist and screenwriter Chase.
Lux Radio Theatre
Adaptation of Red River from 1949, featuring Wayne, Dru and Brennan.
Lux Radio Theatre
Adaptation of Red River from 1949, featuring Wayne, Dru and Brennan.
Trailer
Extras Rating (0-40):
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