Review of Red River

Howard Hawks and Arthur Rosson's adaptation of Borden Chase's tale of cattle driving across America at first glance (in other words the first twenty minutes or so) seems almost like it won't have much to it, except to glorify the old Cowboys and Indians approach to a western, and to have the lead as a one sided viewpoint over the story. But what soon becomes clear about Red River is that the supporting characters (such as Montgomery Clift as Wayne's son, Walter Brennan as one of the fellow Cattle drivers, Joanne Dru as the lady of the bunch, and Harry Carey as a cattle buyer) bring out a greater sense of humanity to the film, and there are scenes captured by Hawks and his cameraman Russell Harlan that are, for lack of a better word, glorious. Whatever minor flaws come up from the characters is made up by the storytelling qualities of the final product. I'd have to see it again (it was months ago I first viewed it) to know for certain if it's one of the all time best westerns- as some might say- yet from what I saw it is an impressively executed tale. Grade: A