Product Details

• Actors: James Stewart, Rock Hudson, Arthur Kennedy, Jay C. Flippen, Julie Adams
• Directors: Anthony Mann
• Writers: Borden Chase, William Gulick
• Producers: Aaron Rosenberg, Frank Cleaver
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC
• Language: English
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Universal Studios
• DVD Release Date: May 9, 2010
• Run Time: 91 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00008CMRL
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #16,612 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Bend of the River" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

BEND OF THE RIVER - DVD Movie

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Who are you running away from?, February 27, 2005

By 

Steven Hellerstedt "SH" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Bend of the River (DVD)

Man-with-a-past Glyn McLyntock (James Stewart) guides a wagon train of settlers to new land in Oregon. They first battle man and mountains to reach the land and later looming starvation when their vital first year supplies are delayed and hijacked by men maddened with gold fever. All the while McLyntock is haunted by his secret past: Can a bad man change? Perhaps more importantly, will others let you change?
Jimmy Stewart and Anthony Mann collaborated on some of the best westerns ever. In them they usually explored the inner demons the main character was wrestling with. Beyond vague references to McLyntock's past (He's THE Glyn McLyntock of the Missouri border wars, one character tells us, explaining it all) and hints that he was once the odd-man out during a lynching party, we're spared the gruesome details. McLyntock's past is left unexplored, the point being that he has the capacity to be very bad, and is trying his best to start anew. I can't think of any other actor, then or now, capable of convincingly playing a basically decent character who, when pressed, allows the devils to erupt.
The same can, and can't, be said for Arthur Kennedy's Emerson Cole, another gun sharp who, like McLyntock, has a capacity for goodness but seems a little weaker when confronted with temptation. McLyntock and Cole are from the Kansas and Missouri area, "good, clean country" moral center and settler leader Jeremy Baile (Jay C. Flippen) says, "'til man came in to steal and kill. Can't let it happen here." Of course Baile doesn't know anything about McLyntock's past and trusts him completely, a trust McLyntock values enough to make him that much more concerned about keeping his secrets secret.
A strong cast and story makes BEND OF THE RIVER one of the best movies of the 1950s. As usual in a Mann western, the story is played out against a glorious, Technicolor background. In this case Mount Hood, Sandy River, and Timberline, all in Oregon. The story is credible and, as usual, Stewart is excellent as the outlaw trying to reform. Strongly recommended.

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Another Fine Stewart/Mann Western, March 2, 2000

By 

John McElwee (North Carolina USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Bend of the River [VHS] (VHS Tape)

The second of the well-known star/director collaborations,and the first in color,"Bend Of The River" maintains the standard of "Winchester 73".A big selling point for Universal was the location shoot in Oregon(they went back for the world premiere),but this being Universal,there are economies---camp sequences are shot on obvious sound stages,including an extended episode in the first reel where Stewart and Arthur Kennedy are tracking Indians through a stream---it's forgivable since this was S.O.P. in most "A" westerns of the period(even "The Searchers" has a number of phony "exteriors").The outdoor stuff is great---it must have bowled them over in 1952 when this sort of thing was less commonplace---only after the introduction of Cinemascope were the majors really forced to get out on location as a matter of policy.Universal liked to give their youngsters a little on-the-job training with high-profile star vehicles,so top-liner Stewart's got Julia Adams,Rock Hudson,and Lori Nelson along for the ride.This was just before Hudson broke into leads---he earns the promotion here as a sensitive pro-gambler---intrestingly the Kennedy character,an unreconstructed 'border raider',tells him he's "too soft"---for reasons more apparant to us today,it's perfect casting for Rock.He's even coy and tentative when Lori Nelson's fairly hurling herself at him.This is the precursor of the character he would play in the Douglas Sirk pictures---gentle,non-threatening---it's no wonder he scored so big with the femme viewers in his day.As for Stewart,his big nuerotic outburst comes late in the game,but as always,it's worth waiting for.Plenty of good character people are there to back him up---something audiences took so much for granted then.There are a few surprises---just when you figure Julia Adams for Stewart's demure love intrest,she beds down with Kennedy,cashing out the chips in his gambling hall---who ever said the 50's were predictable?The boom-town scenes have a terse,nasty edge---always good for repeat viewings as long as you're springing for the video.This one's well worth having---as are all the westerns in the Stewart/Mann group.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Can A Man Change?, July 22, 2001

By 

James L. - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bend of the River [VHS] (VHS Tape)

James Stewart, a man with a past that he is trying to put behind him, leads a group of settlers in this highly entertaining Western. He's taking them deep into the country of Oregon where they are going to set up a farming community. Along for the ride is Julia Adams, the daughter of the settler's leader and a girl that Stewart likes. But she only has eyes for Arthur Kennedy, another man with a shady past that Stewart has befriended. I liked this Western a lot. The main character is complicated and a bit mysterious, and Stewart plays him with a lot of intensity and authority. This is one of the films where you see the kind of actor of great depth that Stewart matured into as he grew older, and although I have seen few of his films with director Anthony Mann, I'm going to make a point of it do so now. The rest of the performances are also very effective, although Rock Hudson is given a badly underwritten character that adds little to the film. Mann builds up a lot of tension as the story progresses, and the photography is beautiful. In one sense, the story is a character study about redemption and how a man can change. But it is also a well produced Western, with plenty of action. The combination works unusually well!