"Bend of the River" is the second of the five Westerns made by James Stewart with director Anthony Mann during the 1950s, and the first they made in colour. Here Stewart's character, Glyn McLyntock, is the scout for a wagon train of settlers heading to Oregon. Along the way the settlers have to contend with all the perils which normally beset wagon- train pioneers in movies, including an attack by hostile Indians. (During this period Hollywood only occasionally acknowledged that there could be any other sort of Indian; Native Americans who were happy to let wagon-trains pass by unmolested clearly did not make good box- office). Most of the film, however, deals not with the journey itself but with what happens after they arrive at their destination.
The plot is quite a complex one so I won't set it out in full. Basically, it revolves around a consignment of food which the settlers will need if they are to make it through their first winter. Although the supplies have already been paid for, a gold rush in the region has inflated the cost of food and Tom Hendricks, a corrupt trader in Portland, wants to renege on the deal and re-sell the supplies at a higher price to the gold miners. McLyntock manages to foil this plan, at considerable risk to his life, but on the way back to the settlement he discovers that there are others who covet the supplies. Another important element in the story is the relationship between McLyntock and a man named Emerson Cole whom he saves from being lynched for alleged horse-stealing.
The Mann/Stewart Westerns often tried to get away from the traditional "good guys versus bad guys" theme and to introduce a greater emphasis on character development into the genre. They also introduced a new persona for Stewart, who in his films from the thirties and forties usually played straightforward good guys. In his collaborations with Mann his characters were often rougher, edgier, more willing to resort to violence and more ambiguous, although never straightforward bad guys.
For most of its length "Bend of the River" seems more like a traditional Western with a traditional morality, a straightforward adventure story with some exciting action sequences such as the Indian attack and the battle with Hendricks and his gang. McLyntock and the settlers are the good guys, while the bad guys are Hendricks and the Indians. The one ambiguous element is supplied by Arthur Kennedy's Cole. Although he seems amiable enough, befriending McLyntock and even saving his life during the Indian attack, there is always something of a roguish air about him and we begin to suspect that those horse-stealing accusations may have had some substance to them. We learn that he was at one time a "border raider"; the exact significance of this phrase is never established, but it appears to mean some sort of outlaw or bandit. Jeremy Baile, the settlers' leader, shares the viewer's distrust of Cole, but McLyntock does not, arguing that a man can change from good to bad. The film only becomes more character-driven in the last few scenes when Cole finally shows himself in his true colours and we discover that McLyntock also has a chequered past of his own.
Stewart is not as successful here at suggesting a "man with a past" as he was to be in "The Naked Spur" and we never learn enough about the psychological journey which has led him to try to make amends for his previous misdeeds. Apart from Kennedy, who is good as the mysterious Cole, the rest of the cast do not have a lot to do. Julie Adams as Laura, one of the pioneers, is there to provide a love-interest for McLyntock and a young Rock Hudson is there to provide an ally for McLyntock and a love-interest for Laura's sister Marjie. (Adams, here billed as "Julia", is today best remembered as the glamour girl from "Creature from Black Lagoon"). I could certainly have done without Stepin Fetchit's caricatured performance. There were plenty of black people in the Old West, but you rarely see them in Westerns except in racist stereotypes like this.
The film is a decent action Western shot against some spectacular scenery in the Pacific North-West, but I didn't enjoy it as much as some of the later Mann/Stewart Westerns such as "The Naked Spur" and "The Man from Laramie" or for that matter its predecessor "Winchester '73". Its theme of men being corrupted by greed was dealt with much better in "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre". 6/10
The plot is quite a complex one so I won't set it out in full. Basically, it revolves around a consignment of food which the settlers will need if they are to make it through their first winter. Although the supplies have already been paid for, a gold rush in the region has inflated the cost of food and Tom Hendricks, a corrupt trader in Portland, wants to renege on the deal and re-sell the supplies at a higher price to the gold miners. McLyntock manages to foil this plan, at considerable risk to his life, but on the way back to the settlement he discovers that there are others who covet the supplies. Another important element in the story is the relationship between McLyntock and a man named Emerson Cole whom he saves from being lynched for alleged horse-stealing.
The Mann/Stewart Westerns often tried to get away from the traditional "good guys versus bad guys" theme and to introduce a greater emphasis on character development into the genre. They also introduced a new persona for Stewart, who in his films from the thirties and forties usually played straightforward good guys. In his collaborations with Mann his characters were often rougher, edgier, more willing to resort to violence and more ambiguous, although never straightforward bad guys.
For most of its length "Bend of the River" seems more like a traditional Western with a traditional morality, a straightforward adventure story with some exciting action sequences such as the Indian attack and the battle with Hendricks and his gang. McLyntock and the settlers are the good guys, while the bad guys are Hendricks and the Indians. The one ambiguous element is supplied by Arthur Kennedy's Cole. Although he seems amiable enough, befriending McLyntock and even saving his life during the Indian attack, there is always something of a roguish air about him and we begin to suspect that those horse-stealing accusations may have had some substance to them. We learn that he was at one time a "border raider"; the exact significance of this phrase is never established, but it appears to mean some sort of outlaw or bandit. Jeremy Baile, the settlers' leader, shares the viewer's distrust of Cole, but McLyntock does not, arguing that a man can change from good to bad. The film only becomes more character-driven in the last few scenes when Cole finally shows himself in his true colours and we discover that McLyntock also has a chequered past of his own.
Stewart is not as successful here at suggesting a "man with a past" as he was to be in "The Naked Spur" and we never learn enough about the psychological journey which has led him to try to make amends for his previous misdeeds. Apart from Kennedy, who is good as the mysterious Cole, the rest of the cast do not have a lot to do. Julie Adams as Laura, one of the pioneers, is there to provide a love-interest for McLyntock and a young Rock Hudson is there to provide an ally for McLyntock and a love-interest for Laura's sister Marjie. (Adams, here billed as "Julia", is today best remembered as the glamour girl from "Creature from Black Lagoon"). I could certainly have done without Stepin Fetchit's caricatured performance. There were plenty of black people in the Old West, but you rarely see them in Westerns except in racist stereotypes like this.
The film is a decent action Western shot against some spectacular scenery in the Pacific North-West, but I didn't enjoy it as much as some of the later Mann/Stewart Westerns such as "The Naked Spur" and "The Man from Laramie" or for that matter its predecessor "Winchester '73". Its theme of men being corrupted by greed was dealt with much better in "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre". 6/10