Bend of the River (1952)

Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

So much average

Sadly Over-hyped

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

RELEASED IN 1952 and directed by Anthony Mann, "Bend of the River" stars James Stewart as wagon master, Glyn McLyntock, who leads pioneers to a remote settlement near Mount Hood, Oregon. When a profit-minded Portland boss confiscates the settlers' winter supplies due to a gold rush, McLyntock teams-up with a good-natured-but-dubious gunman (Arthur Kennedy) and a gentleman gambler (Rock Hudson) to get the supplies to them. Harry Morgan & Royal Dano are on hand as ne'er-do-wells while Julie Adams, Lori Nelson and Frances Bavier appear in feminine roles.This was the second of five Westerns Mann did with Stewart. These were uncompromisingly harsh, psychological Westerns featuring themes of revenge, obsession, rage and redemption. They were spectacularly shot on location, rather than in the studio, providing a backdrop of authentic rugged beauty. In this film you'll often see Mount Hood looming in the distance.A lot of action & events are crammed into an hour and a half, which is great for action fans or those with ADHD. Take, for instance, the opening campout sequence where the Natives waste little time in attacking; or the saloon scene where someone gets fatally shot within minutes. I'm not complaining because I enjoy muscular action, but the downside is that the movie lacks the mundaneness of real life in the Old West. That said, it's highly realistic in that it shows you how tough it was for settlers. Take, for instance, the rough, bumpy trails the wagons had to traverse.In any case, this is a dynamic, tough, psychological early 50's Western with James Stewart. It's atypical and original (although people say it has similarities to 1946' "Canyon Passage, which I've never seen). You just have to acclimate to some old-fashioned hokey elements.THE MOVIE RUNS 91 minutes and was shot in the Columbia River/Mount Hood region of northern Oregon. WRITERS: Borden Chase from William Gulick's novel.GRADE: B

BEND OF THE RIVER is a film that is based on the conflict between two strong characters that have the same past. However, they completely opposite think about the future. The director in this film, pay attention to the story, psychological analysis and demonstrated the sheer sense for psychology of personality. The former robber is scout who seeks a caravan of immigrants to bring in their new home in Oregon. The story shows how he joins with a man similar to the past, but due to different views on the future, the two become enemies. Well, partly because of the beautiful immigrant. I'll be sure to praise the picture and realism conflict between two characters.James Stewart as Glyn McLyntock He experienced wins space in the film. The gunman who tried to escape from the past and become a farmer and cattleman. However, his past catches up him with every step. Mr. Stewart is a pretty good deal with the challenges in this film. Arthur Kennedy as Emerson Cole on the robber that his past can not be hidden. He's too fast on the trigger. Character that has a strange sense of justice and friendship, as long as he at one point smells money.Adventure western that is worth seeing.

Not only is Bend Of the River a fine adventure, shot on location (an unusual location for a western: the Columbia River and Mount Hood, Oregon), but it's a nifty psychological western, with fascinating characters whose motives will keep you guessing throughout, and some I-never-saw-that-coming plot twists that really will surprise you.The cast is first-rate. James Stewart is extraordinary in one of his finest, most likable, most heroic, most intense performances. Stewart was finally coming into his own in the early fifties, as a tougher, more mature actor, and his work here is every bit as good as in any of the dramatic films he made later. His work is so deceptively simple.Arthur Kennedy (who worked with costar Julia Adams the year before, in his Oscar-nominated performance in Universal's Bright Victory) is fantastic as the enigmatic Emerson Cole, brilliant at making you like him but also distrust him. He plays it just right.Julia Adams and young Rock Hudson - Universal contract stars, at that time - also play characters whose loyalties seem to shift and twist - we're never quite sure of anyone in this film - not even Stewart - and that's one reason it's so gripping and enjoyable.Cast, locations, music, screenplay, and direction are top-notch in this refreshing, exciting "Northern." My favorite of the Stewart-Mann collaborations.

I don't hear this said often, but this might be the best of the Mann/Stewart Western. Personally, I thought "The Far Country" was better, but not by a whole lot.Here's what I liked:As usual in a Mann movie, it is thematically interesting. This time a haunted loner is trying to redeem himself from his sordid past.Very good tension is created and maintained throughout the movie.Restless change of location keeps the plot from stagnating and reinforces theme of the wide open West. This was done very well also in "The Far Country" and "The Naked Spur".Tough, tough location shooting results in brilliant technicolor scenery. Very limited use of studio sets. Also, location is authentic i.e. they are actually shooting the movie in Oregon where it is supposed to be taking place.James Stewart's charisma as a cowboy is off the charts.Arthur Kennedy is fantastic in this. You like him, but don't trust him for the entire movie. Kennedy knows how to project a unique mixture of charm, menace and sliminess all at once.Julia Adams is very good looking and has a lot of sex appeal (watch for her in a much better role playing opposite Raymond Burr and Robert Ryan in "Horizon's West", released the same year). Also, her character isn't purely ornamental. She develops and contributes.It was very interesting that the movie had rotating heavies. The mantle was passed from the Shoshones to Hendrix to the wagon train crew and finally to Cole.Now here's where it wasn't so great:Mann's not big on comic relief, yet he attempts it here. He misfires badly, employing Stepin Fetchit as the attempted humor. I try show a little more understanding for these flaws in films made in earlier eras, but this was released in 1952. No excuses.Indian presence is almost completely absent, except for an attack at he the beginning of the movie when they are presented one dimensionally Also, there are a couple of long windy speeches about how important it is for settlers to clear this "unclaimed" and "uninhabited" land.Listen, I'm not saying every movie has to side with the Indians on this issue, but the debate should at least be acknowledged.Finally, we encounter typical Mann plot holes, although they are not nearly as severe as those in "The Man From Laramie" and "The Naked Spur" and "The Man of the West". However, there are still several, the worst of which is during the film's climax, when McClyntock teleports himself around the forest, magically appearing wherever it suits the plot best.