RED RIVER (1948) was Howard Hawk’s first Western (unless you count Viva Villa) and a spectacular, enjoyable Western it is, even to me (I’m not generally a Western fan). In the opening scenes, Dunson (John Wayne) breaks away from a wagon train with an eye to claiming some Texas land and breeding his cattle there. His true love wants to go with him but he refuses, promising to send for her. A short while later, she’s dead, the wagon train butchered by the Comanche. The only survivor is Matt, a teenager (who grows up to be Montgomery Clift) who becomes Dunson’s surrogate son and his trusted right hand along with Groot (Walter Brennan) — yes, I laughed at the name too.
Years later, after the Civil War has left Texas mired in poverty, Dunson decides the only way to save himself from ruin is to drive his 10,000-strong herd across country to Missouri. Matt and Groot are along, backing him up, but as the road gets tougher, Dunson turns into a petty tyrant and Matt eventually has to make a stand.
While the Western stuff doesn’t grab me, the acting is good and the drama is strong enough to hold me — well, with the exception of Matt’s rivalry with fast gun Valance (John Ireland), which comes off incoherent (Valance’s actions at the climax seem more plot-driven than character). It doesn’t pass the Bechdel test — Joanne Dru’s Tess is the only female character besides Wayne’s dead love, and she’s not strong enough to make her role work. Still, I really enjoyed this. “You ever had a good Swiss watch?”
As I enjoyed the Japanese horror film Goke, the Bodysnatcher from Hell, I spent my birthday gift money on a boxed set including that film and three others from the Shokichu studio. Alas, THE X FROM OUTER SPACE (1967) is a pale imitator of Toho’s kaiju films, with the first hour taken up with dull drama and spaceflight as a Japanese mission tries to figure out why all Earth trips to Mars have failed. When we finally get to the silly-looking monster there’s plenty of satisfactory city-smashing but not satisfactory enough to excuse the first hour. “It’s advancing towards Tokyo creating mass hysteria and devastation.”
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