Bend of the River

Biscuits, apples and the troubled past.

The second of five genre defining Westerns that director Anthony Mann made with James Stewart, Bend Of The River was the first one to be made in colour. The slick screenplay is written by Borden Chase, adapted 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. Unfortunately, after rescuing Emerson Cole (Kennedy) from a lynching, ...

Jimmy Stewart ("McLyntock") is great in this grand-scale western as a gent, with his pal "Cole" (Arthur Kennedy) who leads a group of settlers through the wilds of Oregon. As the hard winter approaches, the pair set off to obtain their winter supplies but fall foul of some crooked officials in Portland. They end up having to shoot their way out of town, with a bit of help from Rock Hudson ("Wilson") but that's the just the start of his troubles. The scenery is spectacular and, together with a rousing score from Hans Salter creates a good framework for a story that demonstrates the true pioneering spirit of these homesteaders, as well as plenty of more human failings - a fair smattering of greed, envy, and betrayal. It packs loads of story i...