Bend of the River (1952)
Bend of the River (1952), starring James Stewart and directed by Anthony Mann, is not just one of my favorite Westerns, it’s one of my very favorite films.
Readers with long memories may recall I wrote about Bend of the River here way back in 2018, in my introductory column about my favorite Westerns. A few years later, I recommended it in my column on Westerns for young viewers.
The impetus for this full-length review is the release of a new Bend of the River Blu-ray by Kino Lorber Studio Classics.
Kino Lorber previously released Bend of the River on Blu-ray about seven years ago, in 2019. It was a nice-looking disc but has been supplanted by a far better Blu-ray featuring a new restoration by Universal Pictures in collaboration with the Film Foundation.
The restoration seen on the disc is from a 4K scan of the original 35mm three-strip Technicolor negative.
The new Blu-ray looks, in a word, spectacular, and I wanted to share the news on this release with my Western RoundUp readers!
Bend of the River was the second of Stewart and Mann’s eight collaborations, following Winchester ’73 (1950). I wrote about Winchester ‘73 here after seeing it at the 2019 TCM Classic Film Festival, if any readers would like to visit that review for additional context. Winchester ’73 might possibly be the best of the Stewart-Mann films, but Bend of the River is my favorite.
Bend of the River has a very good screenplay by Borden Chase; readers may recall I recently visited Chase’s gravesite at Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills. His script was based on a novel titled Bend of the Snake by Bill Gulick.
The film tells the story of Glynn McLyntock (Stewart), a man with a violent past seeking to reform and live a new life, leading a group of settlers to Oregon.
McLyntock saves a stranger, Emerson Cole (Arthur Kennedy), from a lynch mob, but while the grateful Cole is initially helpful to McLyntock in various ways, bit by bit Cole’s darker side emerges. Even having won the love of settler Laura Baile (Julia “Julie” Adams) is not enough for Cole, who ultimately betrays all of his new friends.
It’s a relatively short film, at 91 minutes, but I always appreciate movies which tell their stories efficiently. I do think Julie Adams’ character could have used a couple more minutes of screen time to better develop her character, but that’s truly my only criticism of a movie I’ve affectionately termed “movie comfort food.”
The film has a marvelous mixture of interesting characters, exciting action set pieces, and beautiful locations, filmed in Technicolor by Irving Glassberg. It’s stood up to countless repeat viewings over the years, and I tend to notice new things on each viewing, which for me is one of the marks of a good film.
Stewart is outstanding straddling the line between being a gallant, kind romantic and someone who clearly has a questionable past. Stewart let his darker side come out at appropriate times in his Mann Westerns, and when he says “You’ll be seein’ me!” to Kennedy’s Cole in this film, it’s absolutely chilling. No doubt he means it.
There’s also humor to go along with the dark and upsetting moments; in fact, McLyntock and Cole’s initial lighthearted camaraderie is one reason Cole’s ultimate betrayal hits so hard. One of the film’s most interesting themes, on the possibility of redemption and what that looks like, is illustrated by these two men, who make very different choices as far as how they will live the rest of their lives.
When I saw Julie Adams interviewed at a 2011 screening of the film, she said she would watch Stewart film his closeups and marvel over what he could convey simply with his eyes; she said she worked with many actors over the years and few could match Stewart’s skills in front of a camera. Here we see quiet love, fear, anger, and hurt all conveyed through Stewart’s expressive eyes.
There’s a wonderfully deep cast, including Rock Hudson as a charming gambler who joins the settlers and is sweet on Adams’ younger sister (Lori Nelson).
Mann regulars Jay C. Flippen and Harry Morgan are on hand, along with Frank Ferguson, Jack Lambert, Royal Dano, Howard Petrie, Lillian Randolph, and Frances Bavier.
Chubby Johnson and Stepin Fetchit, as the captain of a paddlewheeler and his righthand man, have a sweet friendship that adds another enjoyable dimension to the movie.
Kino Lorber Studio Classics has provided not one but two commentary tracks with this release: A commentary by Toby Roan which was part of their original 2019 Blu-ray release, and a new track by Julie Kirgo and C. Courtney Joyner.
I’ve listened to Roan’s track in the past, which includes detailed backgrounds on all of the cast and interesting information on some of the difficulties faced by the company shooting at remote locations in Oregon.
Joyner is a Westerns expert who’s been a guest at the Lone Pine Film Festival. Having also enjoyed tracks by Kirgo in the past, I’m looking forward to listening to the new commentary track soon.
The disc also includes the trailer and a gallery of five additional trailers for other Westerns available from Kino Lorber.
As mentioned at the outset, this new Blu-ray print is outstanding and I highly recommend it.
Thanks to Kino Lorber for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray.
It’s hard to believe, but as briefly referenced at the outset of this piece, June 2026 marks my eighth anniversary writing the Western RoundUp column. My continued thanks to Classic Movie Hub and all who support this column!
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– Laura Grieve for Classic Movie Hub
Laura can be found at her blog, Laura’s Miscellaneous Musings, where she’s been writing about movies since 2005, and on Twitter at @LaurasMiscMovie. A lifelong film fan, Laura loves the classics including Disney, Film Noir, Musicals, and Westerns. She regularly covers Southern California classic film festivals. Laura will scribe on all things western at the ‘Western RoundUp’ for CMH.
