Red River

[Lzcutter]

This may be my favorite Monty Clift film and it is definitely one of my favorite Hawks westerns.

Just some idle thoughts:

The Red River D brand is on the belt buckle that Wayne wears in Rio Bravo and Tompkin's main theme "Settle Down" from Red River gets new lyrics and is used in Rio Bravo in the scene with Dean Martin and Ricky Nelson (oh, how I wish Elvis hadn't been drafted and had gotten that role).

Did John Ireland have a falling out with Hawks during the making of this film? Cherry Valance seemed to have an important role after being introduced in the film but as the film goes on Buster (Noah Berry, Jr) becomes more important to the story and to Garth.

I know that Harry Carey, Jr got cut out of Rio Bravo for calling Hawks "Howard" one morning instead of Mr. Hawks. Was wondering if something similar happened with Ireland.

The movie was shot in 1946 but held up for distribution for two years because Howard Hughes took it to court saying it was similar to The Outlaw.

Hank Worden looked great in that oversized black hat. Paul Fix seemed to age a great deal between this film and The Rifleman. Loved Harry Carey, Sr and Jr. This had to be one of the last films for Harry, Sr.

John Ford was very impressed with the performance that Wayne gave and that revitalized their working relationship and made Ford consider that Wayne could play Ethan Edwards when the time came.

[ken123]

I have heard versions of the Hawks - Ireland fallout, which lead to much of Ireland's role ending up on the cutting room floor. Hawks was romancing female lead Joanne Dru, The future Mrs. Ireland, the other version, and the two may be intertwined, was that Hawks caught Ireland smoking dope and decided to cut " Cherry's " role.

[MissGoddess]

I'm not a fan of Montgomery Clift but I do like him in this movie and despite the questions I am constantly asking about the plot and why certain characters did or didn't do what they did or didn't do, Hawks always manages to make it fun! Walter Brennan is priceless in his role.