Red River

It’s father against son in “Red River.”

Thomas Dunson  (John Wayne) built his cattle empire from the ground up.  When the local cattle market goes bad, he knows that the only way that he can make money from his herd is to take them to Kansas. This will not be easy because the Chisholm Trail from Texas to Kansas is known for being tough and treacherous.  Nevertheless, Dunson doesn’t have a choice if he wants to save his ranch and everything that he has worked for.

Dunson’s adopted son, Matt Garth (Montgomery Clift), has worked by his father’s side all his life and accompanies him on the cattle drive.  However, the pressure between father and son starts to build because of Dunson’s harsh leadership style.   Matt believes that his father is pushing everyone too hard and begins to question his sanity.

There’s a showdown between father and son.  Now the Chisholm Trail is their path of rage.

• “Red River” is based on the book named “Blazing Guns on the Chisholm Trail” by Borden Chase.  The story was first serialized in The Saturday Evening Post magazine before being made into a novel.  Borden Chase was a very interesting author.  His real name was Frank Fowler. He chose his name by combining the names of the Borden Milk Company and Chase Bank.  Borden Chase wrote a number of famous Western screenplays.  Many of them are top classic western movies.  They are:

• Winchester ‘73
  
• Bend of the River
  
• The Far Country
  
• Vera Cruz

• “Red River” was the first film that actor John Wayne and director Howard Hawks made together.  After “Red River” they would go on to make three more western films together: Rio Bravo, Rio Lobo and El Dorado. 

• “Red River” is one of the few western movies to be selected in 1990 to the U.S. Library of Congress, National Film Registry.  This is a national registry for movies that are deemed to have significant cultural or historical value to the United States.

• “Red River” was nominated for two Academy Awards: Best Writing (Borden Chase) and Best Film Editing (Christian Nyby)

•  Howard Hawks was nominated for a Directors Guild of America award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement for his direction of “Red River.”