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I love this movie so much

Great Film overall

Good concept, poorly executed.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

James Stewart is a man trying to put his chequered past behind him as he guides a group of settlers to virgin territory, and then returns to civilisation to collect their paid-for winter supplies, only to find the unscrupulous supplier has re-sold them at a much higher profit to gold rush miners. Arthur Kennedy is on the scene as another baddie-turned-good, except his teeth are far too white for it to be genuine in his case. This is a hugely enjoyable western directed by Anthony Mann, with excellent performances from all concerned, although Stewart and Kennedy excel. This is perhaps the first movie in which Stewart showed he could be a hard nut as well as a nice guy.The story creates a number of elements which have now become cliches, and puts them together in an original order. The scenery and colour photography are gorgeous.

RELEASED IN 1952 and directed by Anthony Mann, "Bend of the River" stars James Stewart as wagon master, Glyn McLyntock, who leads pioneers to a remote settlement near Mount Hood, Oregon. When a profit-minded Portland boss confiscates the settlers' winter supplies due to a gold rush, McLyntock teams-up with a good-natured-but-dubious gunman (Arthur Kennedy) and a gentleman gambler (Rock Hudson) to get the supplies to them. Harry Morgan & Royal Dano are on hand as ne'er-do-wells while Julie Adams, Lori Nelson and Frances Bavier appear in feminine roles.This was the second of five Westerns Mann did with Stewart. These were uncompromisingly harsh, psychological Westerns featuring themes of revenge, obsession, rage and redemption. They were spectacularly shot on location, rather than in the studio, providing a backdrop of authentic rugged beauty. In this film you'll often see Mount Hood looming in the distance.A lot of action & events are crammed into an hour and a half, which is great for action fans or those with ADHD. Take, for instance, the opening campout sequence where the Natives waste little time in attacking; or the saloon scene where someone gets fatally shot within minutes. I'm not complaining because I enjoy muscular action, but the downside is that the movie lacks the mundaneness of real life in the Old West. That said, it's highly realistic in that it shows you how tough it was for settlers. Take, for instance, the rough, bumpy trails the wagons had to traverse.In any case, this is a dynamic, tough, psychological early 50's Western with James Stewart. It's atypical and original (although people say it has similarities to 1946' "Canyon Passage, which I've never seen). You just have to acclimate to some old-fashioned hokey elements.THE MOVIE RUNS 91 minutes and was shot in the Columbia River/Mount Hood region of northern Oregon. WRITERS: Borden Chase from William Gulick's novel.GRADE: B

The second western collaboration between director Anthony Mann and actor James Stewart, "Bend of the River" qualifies as a sprawling oater about a reformed Missouri border hellion who leads a pioneer wagon train west into the mountains when they plan to establish a new settlement. Director Anthony Mann depicts the trials and tribulations that come from western migration and the effects that it has on people. The peaceful settlers are led by a man who doesn't believe that men who handle guns can be trusted. The theme of the effect of violence on men is scrutinized. James Stewart delivers an outstanding performance as an easy-going trailblazer with a secret history of violence in his past, while Arthur Kennedy makes a sympathetic villain who suffers from greed. Before he changes sides, Kennedy joins up with Stewart and they make a charismatic duo. Julie Adams is on hand for romance, and Jay C. Flippen of "The Hellfighters" in the prudish settler who believes that men are like apples. There isn't a bad performance in the cast and if you look closely you will spot none other than Frances Bavier of "The Andy Griffith Show where she played Aunt Bee as one of the settlers. The bad guys that help out the heroes but turn on them later consist of several seasoned character actors, including Harry Morgan, Royal Dano, and Jack Lambert.The film unfolds with a wagon train crossing the plains. Glyn McLyntock (James Stewart of "Winchester '73") scouts ahead of the wagon train and stumbles onto a lynching party with Emerson Cole (Arthur Kennedy of "Desperate Journey") about to be hanged for horse thievery. McLyntock, who remembers his moment of truth with a noose around his neck, takes pity on Cole and rescues him. They become fast friends and help the pioneers defend themselves from the Native Americans. Later, in the woods, Cole saves Glyn from getting scalped. This western has a little bit of everything, including a Southern riverboat, complete with none other than legendary Stepin Fetchit as the first mate and Chubby Johnson as Captain Mello who constantly observes that he should never have left the Mississippi. When the settlers arrive in town, they are welcome with open arms by the most influential businessman in town, Tom Hendricks (Howard Petrie of "Rocky Mountain"), who sells them supplies and promises to deliver their food stocks later. However, extraordinary things happen, chiefly a gold rush, and Hendricks refuses to deliver the settlers the goods that they had paid for in advance. Glyn and Cole hire men to load the supplies onto the riverboat and they head up river with Hendricks and his men at their heels. Before they leave town, our heroes get some help from a well-dressed gambler, Trey Wilson (Rock Hudson) who is rather handy with a six-gun."Bend of the River" is nothing short of an epic movie. Aside from some obvious studio interiors, most of the action was lensed on location in scenic Columbia River Gorge and around Mt. Hood in Oregon. Veteran western writer and Mann collaborator Borden Chase penned his excellent screenplay from a novel by prolific author William Gulick.

The second of five genre defining Westerns that director Anthony Mann made with James Stewart, Bend Of The River is the first one to be made in color. The slick screenplay is written by Borden Chase from William Gulick's novel "Bend Of The Snake," with support for Stewart coming from Arthur Kennedy, Julie Adams, Rock Hudson & Jay C. Flippen.Stewart plays guide Glyn McLyntock who in 1847 is leading a wagon- train of homesteaders from troubled Missouri to the Oregon Territory. What the group are hoping for is a new start, a paradise, with McLyntock himself hoping for a new identity to escape his own troubled past. But after rescuing Emerson Cole (Kennedy) from a lynching, it's an act that has far reaching consequences for McLyntock and the trail once they get to Portland.In typical Anthony Mann style, McLyntock is a man tested to the maximum as he seeks to throw off his shackles and find a new redemption within a peaceful community. Cloaked in what would be become Mann's trademark stunning vistas (cinematography courtesy of Irving Glassberg), Bend Of The River is often thought of as the lighter tale from the Stewart/Mann partnership; most likely because it has more action and no little amount of comedy in there. But although it's a simple story in essence, it is given a hard boiled and psychological edge by the makers. An edge that asks searching questions of its "hero" in waiting. Can "McLyntock" indeed escape his past? And as a "hero" is it OK to use violence when he is wronged? Potent stuff that is acted with tremendous gravitas by Stewart.Very recommended picture, but in truth all five of them are really. 7/10