Thomas Dunson (John Wayne) and trail hand Nadine Groot (Walter Brennan) leave the wagon train and turn south into Texas. Soon after the wagon train is attack and they find boy survivor Matthew Garth (later played by Montgomery Clift). Dunson cross the Red River, kill a man, steal a vast tract of land and start his Red River D ranch. Fourteen years later, the war has devastated the south and there is no market for his beef. Dunson has no money but thousands of heads of cattle. He's a hard man all too willing to put his brand on other people's cattle. Matthew has a mind of his own returning after the war. They clash as the dictatorial Dunson drive the herd on the long trek to Missouri.
This is old fashion with some twists from Howard Hawks's first western. John Wayne is full of machismo and a hard American frontiersman. In other westerns, he is the heroic protagonist. It's not quite so simple here although many would still root for him. Montgomery Clift gets the perfect role for him opposite Wayne. Howard Hawks brings the majestic west down to a personal relationship between the two leads.
This is old fashion with some twists from Howard Hawks's first western. John Wayne is full of machismo and a hard American frontiersman. In other westerns, he is the heroic protagonist. It's not quite so simple here although many would still root for him. Montgomery Clift gets the perfect role for him opposite Wayne. Howard Hawks brings the majestic west down to a personal relationship between the two leads.