Don't Believe the Hype

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

it respects the rules of genre in each detail. so, at first sigh, it is only other western. but the good point is the cast and a seductive Arthur Kennedy who, using stereotypes, creates more than an ordinary villain. the presence of James Steward and Rock Hudson is a virtue in same measure and that details, the decent script who use all flavor of genre, the music and the lovely performance of Julie Adams does a nice, beautiful film. the honor, duty and change of life, the fight scenes and the end are significant parts from poetry of western and the result is just respectable.not only for fans of lead roles but for the searcher of old soft dramas in which the basic values are impressive pillars.

The Follow Up to Winchester 73 (1950) is Another One Aimed at Adults and Helped the Genre Mature and Gave it a Gravitas with Added Psychology, Complex Characters, and Evolving and Unpredictable Plot Developments.The Ingredients are All Here that Made the Mann/Stewart Collaborations Enduring and Classic. Technicolor, Rough and Rugged Virgin Terrain and Raw Danger. The Outdoor, Outward Struggle for Survival and the Inner Soul Searching about Past Sins and Redemption, to find a Center of Being that was Individually Acceptable and Socially Necessary for a Civilization.This Film has an Extremely High Body Count, Probably the Highest of the Five Films, and it is Foreshadowed by the Opening where the Indians are Actually Counted Down Numerous Times ("How many are there? Five...That makes four...that leaves three......now there are none."). But that's just the Beginning. Dozens More (all White Men) will meet Their Death before its Over in Gunbattles that are like Shooting Galleries and Chaotic Situations where Bullets are Flying Everywhere.After One such Battle Stewart turns to Arthur Kennedy (another fine performance as a McClintock's alter ego), who keeps Unloading His Rifle into Trapped Horseman when it is No Longer Necessary, and Shouts, "That's enough, hold your fire." Kennedy says "why?" Flashing a Maniacal Grin, Stewart Replies, "If you don't know, I can't tell ya." Simple but Chilling.

Very entertaining and colorful combination of character study, complicated plot, gun play, wagon train realism, beautiful eligible young women, and fantastic on site scenery in the Mt. Hood and nearby Columbia River region, all in crisp Technicolor. Whereas John Ford liked to site his westerns in the dry Southwest, Anthony Mann preferred the verdant Pacific Northwest, also evidenced in "The Far Country" and "The Last Frontier", for example.On the down side, there are some problems with historical, physical and psychological realism. I am confused just when this story supposedly takes place. According to Wikipedia, it occurs in 1847. But, several features of the screen play say that can't be, and nothing in the film indicates the year. Jimmy Stewart's and Arthur Kennedy's lead characters are both former participants in the Missouri-Kansas border wars, which didn't begin until after Kansas was made a territory in 1854, continuing through the Civil War. Then, there is the matter of the gold rush. We might be generous in assuming that the screenwriter was thinking of the 1862 strike in the Blue Mtns.,relocated to the Mt. Hood area. Riverine steamboats first began to ply the lower Columbia in 1850, although none were named "River Queen", as was a famous East Coast(not Mississippi) steamer. As depicted, the Shoshone(or Snake) tribe did have many skirmishes with settlers and the US army in the 1850-60s. However, it took 6 months to complete the Oregon Trail. Thus, a spring arrival, as stated, isn't feasible, horses(as shown) rarely pulled the wagons, and the Little Bighorn(as Kennedy questions) was irrelevant.The later Mann-Stewart film "The Far Country" exhibits many similarities to this film. Both involve Stewart as a traveling loner, with a price on his head for murder. Both were mainly shot in the Cascades or Canadian Rockies, and both involve a gold rush as central to the story. In both films, there is fighting over the ownership of food desired by the miners. Stewart mostly has a partner, who eventually is killed. There are two central young women in both. Stewart nicknames the younger of the two 'funnyface' to denote that he thinks them too immature as a romantic interest for him...There are some important differences. In the later film, Stewart's character is the quintessential anti-hero: not interested in getting involved in other people's problems. In this film, he is repeatedly a hero, risking his life to help others. Also, his traveling buddy(Kennedy) in most of this film, whom he saves from a lynching, without knowing the details, eventually becomes his arch enemy, whom he must kill to fulfill his mission of delivering essential supplies to the settlers whom he guided to Oregon. Kennedy's character(Emerson Cole), as well as Tom Hendricks, the steamboat owner who promised to deliver supplies to the wagon train settlement, then reneged when he could sell them at a much higher profit to miners, represent men whose sense of duty is overcome by greed, in contrast to Stewart's character. The point is that Jeremy Baile's(Jay Flippen) expressed distrust of men with a violent period in their past(Stewart's and Kennedy's characters), who seem reformed, is sometimes justified and sometimes not. The latter may revert to their former selves, given sufficient reason and opportunity. In Kennedy's case, it was the mutiny of the gang of helpers in getting supplies to the settlement, and Stewart's refusal to join him and them in redirecting these supplies to the miners that instigated his changed attitude. Kennedy argued that the settlers(and the justice system) would hold their past against them forever, once they were found out. Stewart admitted this was a possibility, but chose to take the chance that his repeated heroism on behalf of the settlers would absolve any doubts about his changed character.Chubby Johnson. as always cheery Cap'n Mello, provides unrealistically accommodating willingness to help Stewart and the settlers in their violent clash with his boss, Hendricks, over their due supplies. African American Stepin Fetchit displays his stock 'coon' character as Mello's seemingly retarded first mate.Stewart seems an unrealistic superman in his chase of the mutineers, just after having been thoroughly beaten up and left without a horse or firearm. Rock Hudson's enigmatic role as a professional gambler dandy, turned member of the settler's 'gang' is interesting. Why? He figures he owes Cole something for saving his life in a gambling dispute. Later, he seems to side with Cole during the mutiny(probably to save his skin!), then switches back to being Stewart's aid when the latter unexpectedly shows up. His consistent flippant attitude toward the obvious overtures of luscious Lori Nelson presumably reflects a message of desired independence, and we are left wondering if they become a couple. Mann usually left the romantic aspects minimally covered and mostly implied. Stewart refused to be cast with Rock again, after he got a bigger applause than Stewart at the premier.

For its portrayal of the rough going of emigrant wagon train life, and its spectacular scenery in the Cascade Mountains of Oregon and the Columbia River Gorge, "Bend of the River" scores high marks. It also has a first rate cast, all of whom shine in their performances. And it is an engaging story that pulls together very well elements of several genres of film — Western, pioneer, adventure, historical and dramatic.Many Westerns have been made with wagon trains, but they were mostly action movies. Very few have shown the hardships of wagon train life. "Bend of the River" is an exception. It shows the difficulty of moving wagons across streams, up and down steep grades, and over rocks and uncleared trails and mountain passes. So, this film shows a little reality from what historians call the longest migration in human history.Now, for a closer look at some curious aspects that render the film's particular story implausible. Except for the license of Hollywood to alter facts, times and places to fit the fiction, this story just couldn't have happened as shown. That doesn't take away from the movie's entertainment value. But, for those who enjoy finding solutions to curiosities, I offer these few salient points about the film. First — No one in the film seemed to know the name of Mt. Hood that shows so prominently throughout the movie. They referred to it as that old mountain, or old baldy. This is interesting because Mt. Hood was named in 1792, and Lewis and Clark noted it during their expedition in 1804-1806. Soon thereafter, towns sprang up in Oregon – Astoria in 1811, Oregon City in 1829 and Portland in 1843. Everyone knew the name of Mt. Hood, and the maps of the Northwest would have clearly shown Mt. Hood. Indeed, the diaries of Oregon Trail pioneers mentioned landmarks such as Mt. Hood all the time. The time setting of the movie had to be after 1846. That's when the Barlow Road was completed around Mt. Hood, so wagons didn't have to raft down the Columbia from The Dalles. So, why would the filmmakers not use the name of Mt. Hood when it's shown so clearly for long periods of the film, and from three different directions? My guess is to support the rest of the fictional story and give the impression to viewers that there were many different mountains, and that the parties were traveling to more distant places. Otherwise, the rest of the storyline in the movie wouldn't make sense. Second — The Portland outfitter described the great lush land beyond the falls where they were headed. He was describing the Willamette Valley, which was the goal of most who rode the trail to Oregon to settle. And, about 10 miles upstream from Portland, Willamette Falls blocked river navigation upstream on the Willamette. The Willamette Valley would be an easy overland trek from Portland. But then, the movie would have had to eliminate the spectacular Columbia Gorge scenery and the squabble over gold. So, our movie group instead heads back up the Columbia River toward Celilo Falls. In real life, at 75 miles east of Portland, they would have been right back where they were when they came out, before starting their trek around Mt. Hood. But now Jimmy Stewart has the captain stop to let them off 20 miles below the falls. That would be about where Hood River is. They're going to look for a route across the mountain. That means they will cross the Barlow Trail to get to their settlement, which obviously doesn't make sense. But it is believable to think that they might have settled in the Hood River Valley. In the film, Harry Morgan drops a tree when he is loading the boat and Jeremy tells him that they are going to plant apple, pear and plum trees at the settlement. Today, Hood River is known for its pear, apple and cherry orchards. And, in 1858 the Post Office opened in Hood River. Third — The gold strikes and gold camps are the hardest part of the story to reconcile. Since they account for most of the action and drama, we know why they are there. But, in real life and times, it wasn't like the movie shows. Gold was first discovered in Oregon in 1852 at Jacksonville near the Siskiyou Mountains that border California. That's more than 200 miles south of Portland and way beyond the Willamette Valley. The second gold discovery in Oregon was in 1862 in the Blue Mountains. Again, more than 200 miles from Portland, east toward Idaho. Even if some prospectors bought provisions in Portland, they had no way to take the goods by river or boat. And they were far beyond any of the lands settled by people from the Oregon Trail. Yet the movie has the gold camp closer than the wagon settlement.Fourth — The Stewart and Kennedy characters had been raiders on the Missouri-Kansas border. That period began in 1861 and ended shortly after the Civil War ended. That would mean that the movie setting was much later – perhaps toward the end of the Oregon Trail in 1869. Fifth —In the early scenes, after Stewart has saved Kennedy from a hanging and the wagon train sets up camp, Kennedy asks Stewart how the wagon train got through the Black Hills and the Big Horn country. The Oregon Trail doesn't go near either place — it's more than 100 miles away. For the life of me, I can't imagine why they left this erroneous reference in the script.