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.