I love this film but one scene stinks to high heave. When the Indians attack the rest area and Clift comes to the rescue Tess(Joanne Dru)gets hit by an arrow. It is a moment of terrible acting, she acts as if she were serving tea. No wince, no tears no scowl. It took me out of the action looking at her blank acting.
When there are two, one betrays-Jean-Pierre Melville
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I just watched this and you are right but to be honest, because I was prepared for it (thanks to your message) I actually found it quite funny to watch. There she is chatting up Monty Clift; the arrow comes in - twang! - and she just sits there flirting with him all the way through it. I laughed out loud! 8=)
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"Maybe I should go alone"
- Quint, Jaws.
haha yeah i noticed that too.
but if i were talking to montgomery clift, i probably wouldn't realize an arrow in my shoulder
hehe
I didn't even flinch. It was obvious her character was trying to impress Matt. That's either a great descicion on the part of the actress or the director, to
a)reveal character and
b)avoid cliche acting choices.
A class-A director like Hawks would not allow a bad take to stay in the film if her reaction was not intentional.
Even class-A directors can make bad choices. Does Tarzan Jr, Shia LeBouf swingin with the mokeys in the last Indiana Jones movie ring any bells?
Even if her reaction was intentional, its unintentionally funny.
She was in shock from the wound and the emotional stress of receiving it. If you've seen someone wounded (I have) you'd know that this scene is on the money.
shareComanche arrows were known for feeling warmly pleasant on contact.
shareClift says poison, but Comanche arrows are actually notorious for being dipped in KY.
shareMaybe not a terrible moment -- I get that sometimes people have bad injuries and don't feel pain until later.
But IMHO this is another movie which wasn't improved by the romantic subplot. She played an important role later in the movie -- getting Matt and Dunson together again -- but that could have been just as easily done without her falling instantly in love with Matthew. What is she, 15? "Oooh, come here, tell me all about this guy -- he's so hot!" Puh-leeze.
It just happened much too quickly.
I disagree. I loved Dru's acting. Her character was really strong in the last quarter of the movie.
My understand of her introduction is that she did not take her life seriously for whatever reason (maybe she was lonely or thought no man was good enough for her), which is why she looks particularly unconcerned during the Indian raid. Her dry reaction after the arrow strikes her is like "who gives a damn?"
She is a particularly saucy character as evidenced by her banter with the rough and tumble Dunson and then pulling a gun on both Dunson and Clift at the end, so this is what I come up with to explain her strange introduction.
THE BIGGER THE GOVERNMENT, THE SMALLER THE CITIZEN.
That moment might seem bad if you're judging it on the basis of strict realism, but to me, the moment is actually about something very different and thus constitutes one of the great moments in cinematic history. As I wrote on this board in the final days of 2005:
Howard Hawks traditionally wove his cinematic women into the realm of male action, almost as if to prove their worth by making them step into the fracas and "become men." John Ford, conversely, tended to keep the male and female spheres separate and distinct.
Overall, I don't have a problem with the (rather sappy) women in Red River, and they do bring some sensuality to the enterprise. But to be sure, the best scenes involve just the men on the trail, and the film's tension and intensity slacken once Tess Millay sort of replaces Tom Dunson on screen. Hawks probably could have left her out and instead focused on Dunson's wearily embittered stalking, and it would have made for an even tauter, darker, more ferocious affair. Then again, I personally find the moment when the arrow "penetrates" Tess Millay to be one of the most sensual cinematic experiences ever. It even brings her to "orgasm," as evidenced by her slap of Matt Garth.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0040724/board/thread/11166543?p=3
First of all, as I've already noted, Hawks wanted his women to act like men and prove their physical and mental toughness, and the scene with the arrow is a case in point. Tess Millay acts not like a wimpy woman, but rather in the manner of a male hero, taking the arrow in stride rather than complaining and crying.
Secondly, and more importantly, Slokes and I have noted the sexual symbolism of this scene. Essentially, it's played for sex rather than violence, and it's the movie's real sex scene (in symbolic form, of course). Personally, I find the moment when the arrow penetrates Millay's body to be an erotic turn-on of the highest order, and I'll bet that that's what the filmmakers intended. And so again, the scene and Dru's acting need to be viewed in terms of sexual symbolism rather than "realism." Indeed, the "arrow" moment and the moment when Matt Garth stands up to Tom Dunson over the proposed hanging are two of the most memorable epiphanies in the history of American cinema.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0040724/board/flat/11166543?d=32636617& ;p=3#32636617
Seems like a stretch. Sometimes an arrow is just an arrow.
share