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, HiFi Sound, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Universal Studios
• VHS Release Date: April 30, 1996
• Run Time: 91 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6300184935
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #17,018 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Besides being a terrific movie in its own right--and the second entry in a remarkable eight-film series teaming director Anthony Mann and star James Stewart--Bend of the River is also fascinating as a variation on one of the greatest Westerns. With or without anyone else's knowledge, screenwriter Borden Chase reworked scenes, character configurations, and much of the structure of Red River, the screenplay of which he had cowritten (from his own novel) for director Howard Hawks six years earlier. Seeing what Hawks and Mann did with some of the same scenes--a spooky night skirmish with Indians, for instance--makes for a compelling lesson in the transformative power of directorial style.

Instead of Texas and the Chisholm Trail, Bend of the River is set in the Oregon river country, with a wagon train substituting for an epic cattle drive. Wagonmaster Stewart, a man with a secret past he's determined to redeem, rescues another, not-so-ex-renegade (Arthur Kennedy) from a lynching. Stewart finds Kennedy a powerful ally in a fight but ultimately has to face him as a mortal enemy--and to revert to his old savage ways in order to save his adopted community. Along the trail, they are variously companioned and/or menaced by the likes of slick gambler Rock Hudson (compare the Cherry Valance part in Red River) and hard cases Harry (then Henry) Morgan, Royal Dano, and Jack Lambert. There's knockout scenery, as usual with Mann, and fight-to-the-death action as bracing as a plunge into an icy river. --Richard T. Jameson

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 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 (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (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.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

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

By	John McElwee (North Wilkesboro, North Carolina USA) - See all my reviews

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.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Mighty Pretty Country, May 29, 2003

By	Stephen Carlin (Bangor, Co Down United Kingdom) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bend Of The River (DVD)

This is one of my top 10 westerns of all time. Jimmy Stewart is my favourite actor. One of a number of Anthony Mann films in which Jimmy Stewart was cast as a character with a hidden past.

As the film begins, Jimmy Stewart's character is escorting a wagon train. En route he rescues Arthur Kennedy just as some folk are planning to lynch him. In return, Kennedy hooks up with the wagon train. There is a parting of the way, as Kennedy remains behind at the port while Stewart continues on with the settlers to the stretch of country that is to be their new home. When their pre-purchased supplies fail to show, the settlers send Stewart back to investigate. He finds a town tarnished by greed - gold has been found and food prices have soared.

Meeting up with Kennedy, Stewart makes off with the supplies intending to pass it on to the settlers but it is not long before he runs into trouble.

This is the same print that was used for the 90s laserdisc release. The picture quality is generally ok but there are a number of scenes when the print seems to suffer "double vision". The film also begins with the statement that it has been modified to fit the screen suggesting that this is a pan and scan version. With the only extra being a trailer for the film my suggestion would be wait until Universal issue a restored print in the correct aspect ratio.

Film = 5 stars, DVD = 1 star