Tonight on ARTE: Why a two-year trial blocked western La Riviere Rouge

The 1946 Howard Hawks-directed Western masterpiece that is La Rivière Rouge still took two years to hit theaters. But what is the event that caused such a delay?

The Red River breaks during the transport of 1,000 head of cattle. Danson, the leader of the colony (John Wayne), is particularly strict with the cowboys, and only his adopted son Matt (Montgomery Clift) dares to oppose his behavior, which inevitably leads to increased tension.

Wayne (39 years old at the time of filming and acting on Instinct) and Clift (26 years old and an Actor’s Studio student) speak little to each other on set, prolonging the generational conflict already envisioned behind the scenes. .

But beyond the clash of cultures, the film faces a major problem: Howard Hughes, an aviator, director and owner of the RKO film studio, is threatening to sue the producers. He does claim that the end of the film, the showdown between Danson and Matt, was taken from his film The Banished, which was partially directed by Howard Hawks (before he threw in the towel two weeks into filming).

The Outcast ends with a showdown between Billy the Kid (Jack Boutelle) and Pat Garrett (Thomas Mitchell), during which, after exchanging colts, Billy manages to escape the sheriff and land with his friend Rio. (Jane Russell) .

At the end of The Red River, Danson advances, determined to meet Matt one last time, and punches him in the face several times before he responds. that cutting Designed to slow down Danson’s lines (which prompted Matt to draw his gun) and muffle Danson’s shot that hit Matt in the cheek (an injury that can still be seen in one of the following shots):

Filmed in 1946, La Rivière Rouge would only be released in a procedural and post-production purgatory that would last two years to find an adequate ending to the film and one that no longer bothered Hughes. Because of this delay, it technically remains Monty Clift’s first feature film, but it was released after his second film, The Scarred Angels.

For the anecdote, the final sequence of La Riviere Rouge will affect a sequence Goodfellas, in which Henry Hill plays Ray Liotta, attacks his neighbor who is repairing a Corvette and stabs him several times with the butt of a revolver.

A way for Martin Scorsese to pay tribute to one of his masters, Howard Hawks.