"Bend of the River" is a good Western, with well-developed themes of loyalty and redemption, with revenge thrown in for good measure.
"Bend of the River" stars James Stewart. He has the enormous task of leading a team of homesteaders across the country in Conestoga wagons past marauding Indians. Later, he must secure needed supplies for them after the settlement has been founded. Of course, many troubles await the hapless settlers, who seem completely dependent upon Stewart for their aid.
Both Stewart and his sometime partner Arthur Kennedy have been on the wrong side of the law in the past. Patriarch Jay Flippen, figurehead leader of the expedition led in fact by Stewart, does not believe that a person's moral character can change. While we know that Stewart will be loyal to the homesteaders to his final breath, can Stewart convince Flippen of this when he learns of Stewart's past? And will Kennedy, who repeatedly saves Stewart's life, remain loyal to the cause despite temptations to profiteer the supplies?
Stewart's first Western was the comedy "Destry Rides Again" in 1939. Looking to extend his dramatic range, he made his next and more serious western in 1951. It was "Winchester '73", an excellent movie. It was the first of eight films that Stewart would make under the direction of Anthony Mann.
"Bend of the River" was the second Mann-Stewart collaboration, made the following year. It is generally a good movie, but it has some faults that help keep it short of the quality of its predecessor.
Early in the film, Stewart and Kennedy hunt and kill raiding Indians who communicate by imitating bird calls. These scenes are practically lifted from the great western "Red River" (1948).
There are derogatory stereotypes of blacks. A white riverboat captain has a black assistant (Stepin Fetchit) that is dim-witted and has slurred speech. There is also a sassy housemaid with a strong Southern accent. While these characters were intended as comic relief, to modern eyes they just seem racist.
Universal studios was strongly promoting the career of then-unknown Rock Hudson. His gratuitous good-guy gambler character appears to have been inserted by force into the film, and he is out of place. Compare his role with that in "Winchester '73" the year before, where he actually does well playing an imposing Indian chief.
Stewart's obsession with obtaining supplies for the settlers leads to a gunfight with considerable carnage. Stewart never questions whether obtaining a few barrels of grain and meat is worth the lives of a half-dozen men. After all, how long will the supplies last? When they need to be replaced, the settlers will be unable to afford them.
Look for Henry Morgan, who would much later play Colonel Potter on the TV show M*A*S*H, in a minor supporting role.
Minor faults aside, "Bend of the River" is an intelligent western, filled with action and tension, with nary a dull moment. (67/100)
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