Bend of the River (1952)

Bend of the River, released by Universal-International in 1952, was the second of the Anthony Mann westerns starring James Stewart, following the success of the superb Winchester ’73.

This time Stewart plays Glyn McLyntock. He’s acting as guide to a party of about a hundred settlers setting off into the wilderness in Oregon to establish farms. McLyntock figures he might take up farming itself.

Then comes a chance encounter. A man accused of horse stealing is about to be hanged by a Lynch mob. McLyntock saves him. The man tells McLyntock that he didn’t steal the horse. McLyntock says he doesn’t care. He just doesn’t like to see a man get hanged.

The man is Emerson Cole (Arthur Kennedy). Cole decides to ride along with the settlers for a while. He might eventually decide to head for California. McLyntock and Cole strike up a friendship which is solidified after Cole saves McLyntock’s life in a clash with a Shoshone raiding party.

When these two men meet we get our first inkling that McLyntock may have a colourful past. Cole has heard of him, and is surprised that the legendary Glyn McLyntock would want to take up farming. When Cole tells McLyntock his name there’s an interesting flicker of recognition in Glyn McLyntock’s eyes.

The leader of the settlers is Jeremy Baile (Jay C. Flippen). He has two beautiful daughters, Laura (Julia Adams) and Marjie (Lori Nelson). Cole senses that there’s something between McLyntock and Laura and asks McLyntock outright if Laura is his girl. McLyntock says that no, she isn’t.

The settlers have bought food supplies and cattle from Tom Hendricks (Howard Petrie), a trader in Portland, and they’re rather worried when the supplies don’t arrive. McLyntock and Cole ride into Portland and discover why. Portland is in the grip of gold fever. Hendricks has resold the shipment of supplies to gold miners, for ten times its value. McLyntock and Cole take steps to get those supplies back, which leads to a series of wild action scenes. In Portland they pick up another mysterious stranger, the smooth gambler Trey Wilson (Rock Hudson).

They also pick up half a dozen men to help with the loading and unloading and with the wagons. These men seem like a bunch of cut-throats but there’s no alternative to hiring them.

McLyntock and co set off down the river in a steamer but they can only go as far as he rapids and they can be sure that Hendricks will be waiting for them with a bunch of gunmen. Setting off cross-country seems like a better option. But Hendricks in is hot pursuit.

There’s plenty of action in store, and plenty of opportunities for betrayal.

Mann handled spectacle particularly well and this is a visually very impressive movie. The action scenes (of which there are many) are expertly staged.

James Stewart gives the sort of performance he was starting to become known for - there’s an edge to it and there are hints of inner darkness. Arthur Kennedy is splendid. Rock Hudson’s rôle is strictly a supporting one but he’s fine. Julia Adams makes a spirited heroine. I like Chubby Johnson as the riverboat captain, Mello. He just knows he should never have left the Mississippi.

There are critics who like to see the Anthony Mann-James Stewart westerns as noir westerns. I see this as representing a kind of condescending attitude towards the western genre. It’s as if a western can only be treated seriously if you can see it as a film noir with six-guns and horses. By the late 40s westerns were starting to become more ambitious and more thematically complex but the thematic complexity came from exploring the potential of the western genre itself. The westerns of the 1950s can stand on their own merits. They’re best understood on their own terms. I don’t see any film noir elements in this movie. Approaching Anthony Mann’s westerns as noir westerns sets up misleading expectations.

Major themes which recur during the golden age of the western (from the late 40s to the early 60s) are revenge and redemption. There’s a bit of both in Bend of the River.

We have three central male characters in this film, and all three are nicely ambiguous. McLyntock is clearly a good and honourable man but we have reason to believe that maybe there are things in his past that he’d really like to forget. Possibly things that aren’t so good and honourable.

We have no idea for most of the movie what makes Emerson Cole tick. He obviously has a very shady past but he seems like he’s a reformed character. Jeremy Baile doesn’t believe that a man can change. He thinks Cole is still a wrong ’un. McLyntock wants to believe that Jeremy is wrong. He has to believe that Jeremy is wrong. He has to believe that a man can change.

This is clearly the core of the movie. Can a man really escape his past?

McLyntock needs to believe that Cole can achieve redemption because if he can’t then McLyntock might start doubting whether his own redemption is possible.

Trey Wilson seems like the kind of character who will turn out to be a ruthless crooked gambler and a generally bad type but his behaviour doesn’t seem consistent with superficial appearances.

The plot is fairly straightforward. The suspense in this movie lies not in wondering what will happen next but rather in wondering how the major characters will react. It’s suspense that is character-driven.

Bend of the River was shot in Technicolor in the Academy ratio and it looks terrific.

Bend of the River is not a noir western but it is a grown-up serious western and an intelligent one. It’s also very exciting. Highly recommended.

Umbrella Entertainment in Australia have released this movie on DVD in their remarkably good-value Six Shooter Classics range. The transfer is extremely good.