Red River (1948)

Directed by Howard Hawks. Starring John Wayne, Montgomery Clift, Joanne Dru, Walter Brennan, John Ireland, Noah Beery Jr., Paul Fix, Harry Carey Jr., Ivan Parry, Harry Carey, Chief Yowlachie.

Possibly the best John Ford Western that John Ford didn’t actually direct, this rousing and scenic horse opera comes courtesy of stylistic chameleon Howard Hawks. The script by Borden Chase and Charles Schnee is considered expanded from an original story by Chase (originally serialized in The Saturday Evening Post), even though it’s clearly just Mutiny on the Bounty set among the sagebrush. Wayne is the cowboy version of Captain Bligh, a hard-driving, tyrannical rancher leading a cattle drive from Texas to Missouri; Clift is the Fletcher Christian stand-in, a sensitive and clear-headed cowhand on the trail (and the adopted son of Wayne’s character). Their battle of wills dominates the middle section of the film, and following the “mutiny,” a final confrontation is all but guaranteed. Falters only during the back half with the miraculous appearance of an implausibly glamorous love interest for Clift (played by Dru), and a deflating conclusion that is neither logical nor dramatically satisfying. Contains one of Wayne’s best performances, arguably as close to being a villain as he ever came (even if his Ethan Edwards from The Searchers was more deplorable).

83/100