RED RIVER: The Prerelease Version
Red River
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2h 13m
There are two versions of RED RIVER: the 1948 theatrical version, which director Howard Hawks preferred, and a longer, prerelease cut of the film, presented here. Although there are a number of differences—for example, the earlier version contains extra shots and dialogue, and has a prologue scroll—two things in particular set them apart tonally. First, the theatrical version substitutes voice-over narration by Walter Brennan for the prerelease cut’s optical sequences of book pages. Second, the ending of the theatrical release is significantly shorter.
Up Next in Red River
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Peter Bogdanovich on RED RIVER
In this interview, conducted in 2014, filmmaker and critic Peter Bogdanovich shares his memories of director Howard Hawks and discusses RED RIVER and the differences between the two versions of the film.
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Molly Haskell on RED RIVER
In this 2014 interview with critic Molly Haskell, the longtime champion of Howard Hawks discusses RED RIVER in relation to the western genre and gender politics and expresses her appreciation for the filmmaker.
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Lee Clark Mitchell on RED RIVER
This interview with scholar Lee Clark Mitchell, author of “Westerns: Making the Man in Fiction and Film,” delves into the cultural history and trademarks of western genre literature and film, framing RED RIVER and the novel’s author, Borden Chase, within these terms.
