Red River(1948).

Red River(1948). Directed by Howard Hawks. Cast:John Wayne, Montgomery Clift, Joanne Dru, Walter Brennan, Coleen Gray, Harry Carey, John Ireland, Hank Worden, Noah Beery Jr. and Harry Carey, Jr.

Thomas Dunson, is a man who has big dreams of running a successful cattle ranch in Texas. As he begins his journey to Texas with his trail hand and best friend, Nadine Groot, Dunson learns that the woman he loves was killed in an Indian attack. Heartbroken, Dunson and Groot ride on, only to come upon a orphaned boy named Matthew Garth, who Dunson takes under his wing.

With only a cow and a bull, Dunson and the boy cross the Red River and Dunson, quickly stakes his claim. Two Mexican men appear on horseback and tells Dunson that the land belongs to their boss. Dunson, kills one of the men and tells the other man to inform his boss that Dunson, now owns the land. Dunson, names his new ranch the Red River D and promises to add M to the brand, after Matt has earned it.

Fourteen years have passed and Dunson, now has over ten thousand cattle. After the Civil War, the price of cattle in Texas has dropped. Dunson, decides to drive his herd hundreds of miles north to Missouri, where he believes they will find a better price.

After, hiring some extra men to help out with the drive, including professional gunman Cherry Valance, they set off on their cattle drive. Along the way, a stampede started by one of the men making noise while trying to steal sugar from the chuck wagon.

The real trouble begins, when Dunson's temper affects the rest of the men. When Dunson, attempts to lynch two of the men who tried to desert the drive, Matt stands up to Dunson. With the help of the other men, Matt takes over of the drive and heads for Abilene, Kansas. Dunson, now vows to track down Matt and kill him.



On the way to Abilene, Matt and his men save a wagon train from Indians. One of the people they save is Tess Millay, who falls in love with Matt.

He leaves one night in the middle of a rain storm. Later, Tess meets up with Dunson, who is hot on Matt's trail, and tries to change his mind.

Matt reaches Abilene, and accepts a good offer for the cattle. The next morning, Dunson arrives in Abilene, with a group of men to kill Matt. The two men begin a fight for their lives, will Dunson be successful in his promise.

The film Red River, ranks as one of the great epic westerns. Montgomery Clift and John Wayne, give some of their best performances.

Fun Facts:

Texas Longhorn cattle had been nearly extinct as a breed for about 50 years when this film was made. Only a few dozen animals were available. In the herd scenes most of the cattle are Hereford crosses with the precious Longhorns prominently placed in crucial scenes.

The theme song, "Settle Down" was later used under the title "My Rifle, My Pony and Me" in Rio Bravo, another John Wayne western.

Five dams were built to bring the San Pedro River in Arizona, where the crossings were shot, to flood stage.

In a 1974 interview, Howard Hawks said that he originally offered the role of Thomas Dunson to Gary Cooper but he had declined it because he didn't believe the ruthless nature of Dunson's character would have suited his screen image.
Cary Grant (who had worked with Howard Hawks on Bringing Up Baby and Only Angels Have Wings) turned down the role of gunslinger Cherry Valance, a part that was subsequently minimized in the final film.

During production, many members of the cast and crew caught illnesses and injuries. Howard Hawks was hospitalized for several days after being stung by a centipede. John Wayne caught a severe cold. Joanne Dru suffered from influenza.

The only film that father, Harry Carey, and son, Harry Carey Jr. appeared together in.

Joanne Dru (January 31, 1922 – September 10, 1996). After moving to Hollywood, she found work in the theater. Dru was spotted by a talent scout and made her first film performance in, Irish Rose (1946).

She was cast often in western films such as Howard Hawks's, Red River (1948), and John Ford's, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949), and Wagon Master (1950).

She gave a well-received performance in the dramatic film, All the King's Men (1949) and co-starred with Dan Dailey in, The Pride of St. Louis (1952).

She performed in, Thunder Bay (1953) and then a Martin and Lewis comedy, 3 Ring Circus (1954). Her film career faded by the end of the 1950s, but she continued working  in television, as "Babs Wooten" on the 1960-61 sitcom, Guestward, Ho!. She performed for the rest of the 1960s and the first half of the 1970s, with one feature film performance, in Sylvia (1965).

Along The Great Divide(1951).

Along the Great Divide(1951).Directed by Raoul Walsh. Cast: Kirk Douglas, Virginia Mayo, John Agar, and Walter Brennan.

The story begins when, Federal marshal Len Merrick and his two deputies save cattle rustler and murder suspect Tim "Pop" Keith, from a lynch mob headed by rancher Ned Roden, whose son was killed. Roden, sends his other son, Dan James Anderson, to round up his men. After Roden leaves, Merrick finds a pocket watch.

Keith suggests that they spend the night at his home and Merrick begins to regret his offer when Keith's daughter Ann, starts shooting at them.  Merrick, is able to get her gun from her. When they leave, Ann decides to go with them. Thinking he won't be followed Merrick, decides to take an the long hot desert route. Unfortunately, he is overtaken by Roden and his men. In the gunfight, Merrick's best friend and deputy, Billy Shear, is wounded and dies.

Merrick and Ann start falling in love. The marshal tells her why he takes his job so seriously, is because the one time he didn't, it cost his father his life. He was a deputy to his marshal father, and refused to help escort two prisoners. All three were lynched. Ann, warns him that her first loyalty is to her father.

Dan convinces the deputy, Lou Gray, to help him escape by promising him a ranch. When the group reaches a waterhole, they find the water undrinkable. Everyone, except Merrick want to head south. Knowing the river is on the Mexican border, Merrick insists on continuing on to Santa Loma. Gray draws his gun, but Merrick shoots it out of his hand.

Later exhausted,  Merrick falls from his horse. Keith grabs his gun, but can not bring himself to shoot. When Gray goes for his rifle, Keith kills him, then hands the gun back to Merrick.

At the trial in Santa Loma, Merrick tells the jury that Keith is not a killer, but all the evidence is against him, and  he is found guilty.  Will Merrick save Keith from being hanged?

This Western , has everything you need : Gunfights, fistfights and the scenery is beautiful. Most of the film was shot in the Alabama Hills, just west of Lone Pine, California. Over 300 movies have been filmed at the base of Mt. Whitney. 

Ray Teal (January 12, 1902 – April 2, 1976), performed in more than 250 movies and some 90 television shows in his 37-year career. His longest running role was as Sheriff Roy Coffee in the western, Bonanza (1960–1972). He also played a sheriff in the film, Ace in the Hole.

Teal had a recurring role as a police officer in the 1953-1955 Where's Raymond?, renamed The Ray Bolger Show. Ray Bolger played Raymond Wallace.

In 1955, Teal played a ruthless cattle baron in the episode "Julesburg" Cheyenne, starring Clint Walker, the first hour-long western series.

Teal, a saxophone player, worked his way through UCLA as a bandleader before becoming an actor. He was a bit part player in western movies for several years before landing a role in, Northwest Passage (1940). Another of his roles was as Little John in, The Bandit of Sherwood Forest (1946). In his most memorable movie role he played one of the judges in, Judgment at Nuremberg (1961) with Spencer Tracy.

My Darling Clementine(1946)

My Darling Clementine(1946) Director: John Ford. Cast: Henry Fonda, Victor Mature, Walter Brennan.

The movie was adapted by Samuel G. Engel, Sam Hellman, and Winston Miller from the book Wyatt Earp: Frontier Marshal by Stuart N. Lake. The title is from the song "Oh My Darling, Clementine", which is the theme song of the movie (sung in parts over the opening and closing credits). Whole scenes from an earlier version, 1939's Frontier Marshal, directed by Alan Dwan, produced by Sol M. Wurtzel, were re shot by Ford for this remake.

In 1991, this film was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.

In 1882, the Earp brothers are driving cattle to California when they cross the Clanton family led by the "Old Man", who tells the bothers of a nearby town, Tombstone, the older brothers ride in, leaving the youngest brother James to watch over the cattle. The Earps find Tombstone a lawless town. When they return to their camp, they find the cattle rustled and James dead.

Seeking vengeance, Wyatt returns to Tombstone and takes the job of town Marshall, meeting with, Doc Holliday and the Clantons, to find out who was responsible. In the meantime, a young woman from Boston named Clementine Carter arrives in town...

Although the characters and setting of the Gunfight at the OK Corral is the plot of the film is loosely based on actual history. Important plot changes in the film, the death of James Earp, the death of Old Man Clanton and Doc Holliday (who was a dentist, not a surgeon, and actually died years later of tuberculosis), are inaccurately portrayed.

Absolutely the perfect western. "My Darling Clementine" is at the top of my favorite list of westerns ever made.

THE COWBOY AND THE LADY (1938).

The Cowboy and the Lady(1938). Western comedy/romance. Cast: Gary Cooper and Merle Oberon. Director H.C. Potter. Written by S.N. Behrman and Sonya Levien based on a story by Frank R. Adams and veteran film director Leo McCarey. It won an Academy Award for Sound, Recording (Thomas Moulton) and was nominated for two others, Original Score (Alfred Newman) and Original Song ("The Cowboy and the Lady", Lionel Newman and Arthur Quenzer).

Not having any fun, Mary Smith is surrounded by the friends of her father, Judge Horace Smith. Looking for a little excitement, her Uncle Hannibal takes her to a gambling club, which is raided by the police. To keep her name out of the news paper her father decides to send her to Palm Beach to avoid trouble. While there, her two maids, Katie Callahan and Elly, invite her to go on a blind date with them. She develops a crush to rodeo star Stretch Willoughby and to catch his attention, she tells him a hard luck story about supporting her father and sisters while working as a maid. The next day Stretch proposes and she joins him on a boat to Galveston. There they are married by the captain and all seems well, until, Katie calls with the news that Mr. Smith will be in Palm Beach. Mary tries to tell Stretch the truth, but she can't because he does not like the rich. Not knowing what else to do, she tells him that she has to return home because of a family emergency. When she arrives home, her father not happy with her news, asks her to hostess his dinner party. Stretch decides to go to Palm Beach to look for his new wife. Arriving at the Smith home, he walks in on their dinner party and learns of Mary's real identity. When Stretch arrives home in Montana will he have his new bride on his arm?

The story line is so romantic. When Gary Cooper's character says "When a man feels this way about a woman, it's time to get married" and as the camera fades to the porthole. :::sigh:::

Merle Oberon (18 February 1911 – 23 November 1979), began her film career in British films and the role, Anne Boleyn in the film, The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933). Leading roles in such films as: The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934)  which helped  her career.  She travelled to the United States to make films for Samuel Goldwyn. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in, The Dark Angel (1935). A car accident in 1937 caused facial injuries that almost ended her career, but she soon performed in her best known role, as "Cathy" in Wuthering Heights (1939). Her career continued until the end of the 1940s.

Walter Brennan

Walter Brennan, Was highly thought of as a film character actor, Brennan won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor 3 times. He is tied with Jack Nicholson for the most Academy Award wins for a male actor.

While Walter Brennan was studying engineering, he became interested in acting, and began to perform in Vaudeville. He enlisted in the U.S. Army and served as a private with the 101st Field Artillery Regiment in France during World War I. After the war, he moved to Guatemala and raised pineapples. In 1920 Walter moved to Los Angeles and sold real estate, he did very well until the market took a sudden downturn. Broke, he began taking bit parts in as many films as he could, including; The Invisible Man(1933) and The Bride of Frankenstein (1935). In the 1930s, he began performing in more substantial roles. Receiving the very first Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in the period film Come and Get It (1936). Two years later he played the town drunk in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Throughout his career, Brennan played characters older than he was in real life. A 1932 accident that cost him his teeth and his thinning hair, made him seem older than he really was. Director Jean Renoir gave him his first leading role in Swamp Water(1941). In Sergeant York(1941), he played a preacher who befriend the title character played by Gary Cooper. He hardly played the villain, except for the roles; My Darling Clementine (1946), How the West Was Won (1961), The Westerner (1940), where he won his 3rd best supporting actor Academy Award.

From 1957-1963, he starred in the ABCs television series, The Real McCoys. He received top billing over Pat O'Brien in the TV-movie The Over-the-Hill Gang in 1969 and Fred Astaire in The Over-the-Hill Gang Rides Again. From 1970 to 1971, he was a regular on the show To Rome With Love, which was his last TV show. He is probably best known for his performances in the Westerns: Red River and in Rio Bravo. Both directed by Howard Hawks. Brennan's career never really went into decline. As he grew older, he continued to endear him to new generations of fans. Walter would perform in more than 230 film and television roles, a career spanning over 50 years.

List of Walter Brennan, WESTERNS:
Support Your Local Sheriff (1969)
How the West Was Won (1962)
Shoot Out at Big Sag(1962)
Rio Bravo (1959)
At Gunpoint (1955
Bad Day at Black Rock (1955)
Four Guns to the Border (1954)
The Far Country (1954)
Drums Across the River
Lure of the Wilderness (1952)
Return of the Texan (1952)
Best of the Badmen (1951)
Along the Great Divide (1951)
The Showdown (1950)
Curtain Call at Cactus Creek 1950
A Ticket to Tomahawk (1950)
Singing Guns (1950)
Blood on the Moon (1948
Red River(1948)
Driftwood (1947)
My Darling Clementine (1946)
Hangmen Also Die!
The Westerner (1940)
The Cowboy and the Lady (1938)
The Texans(1938)
Banjo on My Knee(1936)
Three Godfathers (1936)
Law Beyond the Range (193)
Northern Frontier (1935)
Texas Cyclone (1932)
The Long, Long Trail (1929)
The Lariat Kid (1929)
Smilin' Guns(1929)

THE WESTERNER (1940)

The Westerner (1940) Director: William Wyler. Writter Niven Busch, Stuart N. Lake, and Jo Swerling. Cast: Gary Cooper, Lilian Bond and Walter Brennan in one of his best performances, as Judge Roy Bean. Which helped him win his record-setting third Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. James Basevi and Stuart N. Lake also received nominations for the Academy Award for Best Art Direction, black-and-white, and the Academy Award for Best Story.

Drifter Cole Harden, is arrested for stealing a horse and faces hanging. Harden talks his way out of it by claiming to be a friend of stage star Lillie Langtry, with whom the judge is a big fan of. Harden even claims to have a lock of her hair. Things start to go wrong, when Harden comes to the defense of a group of homesteaders, who Judge Bean is trying to drive away. Harden becomes sheriff and issues a warrant for Bean. When Lillie Langtry is to perform in a nearby town, Bean buys up every ticket and waits for her. Will Bean finally meet the woman he is obsessed with, or meet his match?

Everything about this film is perfect, the performances, the photography, the humour. The fight scene between Cooper and Tucker is as very realistic and the scene where Cooper cuts off a lock of Davenports hair is very.. how should I say it.. for lack of a better word, "cute".

Lilian Bond (18 January 1908 – 25 January 19910. She began her film career in the film, No More Children(1929). Between 1929 and 1931 she starred in nine films,best known for her performance in the film, Rider of the Plains(1931) opposite Tom Tyler.

From 1932 to 1953 she would have roles in 39 films, some of which were uncredited, with others having her in the lead role. Bond played Gladys DuCane in, The Old Dark House, a chorus girl who falls in love with Roger Penderel. Possibly her best-known film role was in the film, The Westerner(1940), in which she played legendary stage actress Lillie Langtry. By the 1950s her career had slowed, with her having mostly television series appearances. She retired from acting at the age of 50 in 1958.