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BEAU'S
NOTES: Three great examples of John Wayne playing different shades
of an Anti Hero. In The Searchers he plays a homicidal racist
(this while Clint Eastwood was still in short pants), in Red River
he's the heavy, and in Liberty Valence he plays a second or third
tier role just to support Jimmy Stewart ... Wayne had MUCH more
courage in his choice of roles and pushed the boundaries of his
art much farther than he is ever given credit for.
Red River is essential for anyone who loves Westerns. Tom Dunson
(Wayne) builds a cattle empire with his adopted son Matthew Garth
(Clift). Together they begin a massive cattle drive north from
Texas to the Missouri railhead. But on the way, new information
and Dunson's tyrannical ways cause Matthew to take the herd away
from Dunson and head to a new railhead in Kansas. Dunson, swearing
vengeance, pursues.
Any short list of the all-time greatest Westerns is bound to
include this 1948 Howard Hawks classic about an epic cattle drive.
Red River features one of John Wayne's greatest performances.
Like his Ethan Edwards in John Ford's 1956 masterpiece The
Searchers, the Duke plays an isolated and unsympathetic man
who is possessed by bitterness.
STARRING: John Wayne, Montgomery Clift, Walter Brennan,
Joanne Dru, Coleen Gray, John Ireland, Noah Beery Jr., Harry Carey,
Harry Carey Jr., Paul Fix, Mickey Kuhn, Chief Yowlachie
DIRECTED BY: Howard Hawks
Approxomate Running Time: 133 Minutes
DVD Release Date: November 18, 1997
U.S. and Canada only. This DVD will probably NOT be viewable in
other countries.
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Red
River 