Red River

Howard Hawks made so many great films that it’s inevitable a few are unjustly overlooked. One such film is 1948 western Red River, which offers a prime example of Hawks using a tried-and-trusted template to explore complex themes. It’s a fascinating study of masculine codes and an attempt to de-mythologise the legend of the cattle trail, but that subtext is in service to a grandly entertaining adventure, which ranks alongside the finest work of all involved.

The central conflict between Wayne and Clift brings the best out in both actors ("I didn’t know the big son of a bitch could act," John Ford said of Wayne after seeing the film), but Hawks also makes sure the men don't have it all their own way. The scene in which Joanne Dru shrugs off an arrow to the shoulder to trade flirtatious dialogue is perhaps the most Hawksian moment in a film full of them. [Philip Concannon]