Red River

1948 2h 13m EN

👍

7.3

SOLID

🔥

100%

CERTIFIED FRESH

💯

METACRITIC

⭐

7.7

IMDB

★7.3TMDB · 621🍅100%Rotten Tomatoes●96Metacritic★7.7IMDB · 37,344

WesternDramaAdventure

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Following the Civil War, headstrong rancher Thomas Dunson decides to lead a perilous cattle drive from Texas to Missouri. During the exhausting journey, his persistence becomes tyrannical in the eyes of Matthew Garth, his adopted son and protégé.

“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”

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Cast

John Wayne
Thomas Dunson
Montgomery Clift
Matthew Garth
Joanne Dru
Tess Millay
Walter Brennan
'Groot' Nadine
Coleen Gray
Fen
Harry Carey
Mr. Melville
John Ireland
Cherry Valance
Noah Beery Jr.
Buster McGee

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Howard Hawks
Writers: Borden Chase, Charles Schnee, Borden Chase
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $3.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 3.0× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

78 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Howard Hawks, shot by Russell Harlan. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Dimitri Tiomkin. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Christian Nyby shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

John Wayne and Montgomery Clift and Joanne Dru carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0040724 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Howard Hawks directs. Russell Harlan behind the camera. Dimitri Tiomkin scores. Christian Nyby cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $3.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
2Made its money back 3.0× over at the box office.
378 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
4Directed by Howard Hawks, shot by Russell Harlan. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Dimitri Tiomkin. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Christian Nyby shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7John Wayne and Montgomery Clift and Joanne Dru carry the top of the cast.
8IMDB entry: tt0040724 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Classified under 9 themes, including "texas", "kansas, usa", "cattle drive", "revenge".
10Released under 14 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Russell Harlan
Original score: Dimitri Tiomkin
Editing: Christian Nyby
Makeup / hair: Margaret Martin
Runtime: 133 min · 2h 13m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $3,000,000
Box office: $9,012,000
Return: 300% of budget
Original language: EN
IMDB: Red River (1948)
Rotten Tomatoes: 100% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 96/100
IMDB rating: 7.7/10 · 37,344 votes
MPAA: Approved

Awards

Nominated for 2 Oscars. 2 wins & 5 nominations total

Also by

Howard Hawks

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

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Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2019-05-29
★ 10/10
Bury those quitters! Tom Dunson is a self made cattle baron, he will do what ever it takes to protect the life he has made for himself. The constant fall in the value of livestock means that Tom, and his adopted son Matthew, must drive the gathered herd through the perilous Chisholm Trail, and then hope to get good value for the beef. With their assembled group of hands they head off North, but many problems will come their way, not least, a fallout due to Dunson's tyrannical ways, meaning there could well be mutiny on the range. Without a shadow of doubt, Red River is one of the greatest Westerns ever made, boasting incredible performances from the cast, directed with sumptuous skill by Howard Hawks and photographed as good as any film in the genre. Based on the novel The Chisholm Trail written by Borden Chase (also co writing duties for the film), Red River is a sweeping spectacle that doesn't have a frame that's wasted. Hawks (this his first Western) frames his wonderfully vivid characters in lush expansive landscapes, fleshing them out amongst the constant stream of drama and action. Though Chase would be annoyed at the changes Hawks made to the story, he surely would have marvelled at the finished product, with Harlan's photography in and around the Arizona's locales capturing a cowboys terrain expertly, while Dimitri Tiomkin's score stirs the blood and pumps the viewer with Cowboy adrenaline. If anyone doubts John Wayne as an actor of note then they need look no further than his performance here as Dunson. Tough and durable in essence the character is for sure, but Wayne manages to fuse those traits with a believable earthy determination that layers the character perfectly. With Wayne all the way, matching him stride for stride is Montgomery Clift as Matthew Garth, sensitive without being overly so, it's the perfect foil to Wayne's machismo barnstorming. Walter Brennan and John Ireland also shine bright in support, while a special mention has to go to a wonderful turn from Joanne Dru as Tess Millay, for Howard Hawks' CV shows a ream of strong female characters, and here Dru firmly puts herself in amongst the best of them - check out her first appearance alongside Clift, it's precious. Red River made a fortune upon its release, it was revered by the critics back then, and it's still being revered today. Rightly so, because it is quite simply magic cinema, a case where everything comes together perfectly, it's in short, a film that even none Western fans should be able to marvel at as entertainment. Or? at the very least give credit to the Tech accomplishments on offer. 10/10
CinemaSerf2022-07-09
★ 8/10
Perhaps not a film you'd expect to work given the stars, but John Wayne and Monty Clift do manage to convey a sense of a repectful, but loving relationship - something I don't recall ever seeing before (or since) in a Wayne film towards another man. Hawks takes us on a dirty, unrelenting cattle drive and we can almost feel the strains and tension build as the younger man rails against the almost brutal control of his father-figure. Walter Brennan, as ever, is superb but in this has a little more nuanced a role treading a fine line between his old friend and their younger protégé. The photography really does demonstrate just how tough the whole enterprise would have been for the real cattle drivers and the denouement is superbly staged. A truly epic example of the Western genre that is as good as it gets.