Bend of the River (Umbrella) (1952)

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General		Extras
Category	Western	None
Rating
Year Of Production	1952
Running Time	87:24 (Case: 91)
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	1,2,3,4,5,6	Directed By	Anthony Mann
Studio Distributor	Umbrella Entertainment	Starring	James Stewart Arthur Kennedy Julia Adams Rock Hudson Lori Nelson Jay C. Flippen Chubby Johnson Harry Morgan Royal Dano Frances Bavier Howard Petrie Stepin Fetchit
Case	Amaray-Opaque
RPI	?	Music	Hans J. Salter

     In an attempt to escape his reputation and his past as a raider on the Missouri / Kansas border during the American Civil War Glyn McLintock (James Stewart) guides a wagon train of settlers including Jeremy Baile (Jay C. Flippen) and his daughters Laura (Julia Adams) and Marjie (Lori Nelson) across country from Missouri to Oregon territory to start a new life. One day Glyn saves Emerson Cole (Arthur Kennedy) from being lynched; Cole, from Kansas, also has a reputation as a raider in the war. That night McLintock and Cole combine to defeat an Indian attack on the wagon train and together they guide the settlers to Portland, Oregon.

     In Portland they meet Trey Wilson (Rock Hudson) and buy supplies from Tom Hendricks (Howard Petrie). The settlers, less Laura who was wounded in the Indian attack and Cole, stay in Portland, are transported up river on the River Queen, the paddlewheel river boat of Captain Mello (Chubby Johnson), as far as the rapids, having left money with Hendricks to purchase more supplies to send up to them before winter. They journey inland and settle below the mountains, establishing farms, houses and a school. However, by late autumn their supplies have not arrived. Realising that they will be cut off and starve when the snows arrive in winter, Glyn and Jeremy return to Portland to find out what happened to their promised supplies.

     They arrive to find Portland is a changed, chaotic town because gold has been discovered in the hills; the cost of supplies has skyrocketed and Hendricks is taking advantage, charging exorbitant prices and on-selling the supplies meant for the settlers. McLintock gets their supplies loaded onto the River Queen but Hendricks is not prepared to let them go. Helped in a gunfight by Cole and Wilson, the group plus Laura and Jeremy escape upriver. Knowing, however, that Hendricks and his mounted men will beat the steamer to the rapids, they unload the wagons and supplies downstream and set out on a difficult trail across the mountains to the settlement. They are pursued by Hendricks and his men, but a greater threat is betrayal by those in their party who might be seduced by the huge sums the miners in their camp, also facing a winter of starvation, are prepared to pay for the supplies. Can a man with a reputation and a bad past change?

     Bend of the River is based on the novel Bend of the Snake by Bill Gulick and has the same team of director Anthony Mann, star James Stewart and screenwriter Borden Chase as their hit Winchester ‘73 of a couple of years before. Indeed, director Mann and star Stewart is another of those wonderful director / star combinations: they made eight films together, six of which were westerns including classics such as The Far Country (1954) and The Man from Laramie (1955) as well as Winchester ‘73. Filmed in glorious Technicolor around Mount Hood and on the Columbia River, Oregon by cinematographer Irving Glassberg, Bend of the River looks fabulous with snow covered mountains in the distance and a full size paddle wheeler on the river. As was typical of the studio system of the time Glassberg was DP of seven films that were all released in 1952 working with well-known directors including The Duel at Silver Creek (director Don Siegal, star Audie Murphy) and The Lawless Breed (director Raoul Walsh, star Rock Hudson).

     Bend of the River is certainly a product of the early 1950s in other ways as well; there are Negro servant stereotypes, day for night filming, horse falls and a swelling score. On its release the reviews were indifferent, perhaps because audiences were not ready for a flawed Stewart character. The film is not, in my mind at least, the best Mann / Stewart collaboration, although currently on rottontomatoes the critic’s score is 100% (admittedly, and surprisingly, for a film that is 65 years old, from a small sample), the audience score 78%. What can be said however is that Bend of the River looks great in Technicolor, has a good cast including James Stewart who is, as always, worth watching.

Video

     Bend of the River is presented in the 1.33:1 aspect ratio, 4x3, in PAL.

     The print looks beautiful. There is something about shooting on film and the Technicolor process that gives a wonderful depth of field and deep, beautiful colours with rich greens for the woods and grasslands, blue for the skies and water, the brown of the wagons and costumes. The paddle wheeler on the river and the Portland set are beautifully detailed. In interiors, details in the foreground and background are equality clear. Blacks are fine and shadow detail good as the night sequences were day for night filming, skin tones natural. There were a couple of slight variations in brightness after scene changes and infrequent small marks.

     English subtitles are provided.

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Audio

     The audio is English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono at 192 Kbps. The film was released with mono audio.

     Dialogue is clear and easy to understand. The effects were understandably tinny but horses’ hooves, wagon wheels, shouts and gunshots were sharp enough. The score by Hans J Salter sounds somewhat standard for films of the time.

    Lip synchronisation is fine.

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     Nothing. The menu is silent.

     The Region 1 US DVD releases of Bend of the River are NTSC, 1.37:1 and have a trailer as an extra only and hardly seem worth importing. The Region A Blu-ray includes an audio commentary by historian Toby Roan if your system is comparable.

     Bend of the River is a fairly standard early 1950’s western although it looks great and with Anthony Mann in the director’s chair and James Stewart as a rather more complex, flawed character it is worth a look.

     Bend of the River has been released here about 15 years ago and was reviewed on this site here. The new release from Umbrella looks to be quite similar, so if you have the earlier release another purchase is not necessary. However, if you don’t already have the film, and are interested in the genre, director or the stars, Bend of the River is a decent, entertaining western.

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