Consider Red River in terms of the genre of the Western. What characteristics of the film lead us to classify it this way? How does it conform to our genre expectations? And in what ways does it depart from these expectations? Consider both the overall scope of the film--with its epic passages, like the scenes of cattle stampeding and of crossing the Red River--and the particularities of character and plot. Westerns are often said to present a mythical view of America; to what extent is this the case in the present film?
Howard Hawks directed films in many genres: most notably, adventure films, crime films, and screwball comedies, as well as Westerns. What marks Red River as particularly a Hawks film? How does it fit in to the overall shape of his oeuvre? Are these connections strong enough to support some version of the auteur theory?
Consider the main conflict of the film, between Dunston (John Wayne) and Matt (Montgomery Clift). How is the conflict played out? What is really at stake between the two men? To what degree is it true, as Tess (Joanne Dru) claims, that the two of them really love each other? How similar, and how different, are they? Consider that both actors are iconic figures, from different generations: Wayne as the classic figure of patriotism and masculine strength, and Clift as a more troubled figure from a later, post-World War II, generation.
How is gender portrayed in this film? How much independence do the women characters have in relation to the men? What do you make of Tess' relation to both Dunston and Matt?