15. Red River (1948)

by Brandie Ashe

It’s 1851, and an entire generation of Americans is shifting westward, seeking to settle the untamed lands on the other side of the Mississippi River. Among them is Tom Dunson (John Wayne), a willful, determined man who seeks to make his fortune as a cattle rancher. He leaves behind a wagon train and sets off with his longtime friend, Groot Nadine (Walter Brennan), to find a parcel of land in Texas to call his own. His lover, Fen (Coleen Gray), begs to come along, but Dunson does not think she is strong enough to handle the rough conditions and promises to send for her once he is more established.

As Dunson and Groot make their way south, they notice smoke behind them and realize that the wagon train has been attacked by Indians—something that is confirmed later when the pair are set upon by a couple of Indian scouts. As Dunson does away with one attacker, he notices his foe is wearing the gold bracelet he had given Fen as a token of his love, confirming her fate.

In the wake of the attack, Dunson and Groot stumble upon an orphan, Matthew Garth (Mickey Kuhn), who had escaped the massacre at the wagon train. Dunson takes in the boy, and later lays claim to a large parcel of land owned by a Mexican rancher after killing the rancher’s hired gunman. Dunson takes ownership of Matt’s cow, mating her to his own bull and crafting grand plans for the ranch he will soon build.

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Nebraska, The Book Thief, Tennessee Williams’ Play ‘The Mutilated’ and Rutgers-Cincinnati college football game on Monday Morning Diary (November 18)

Eric Lampmann and Ruthers Marching Band at High Point Solutions Stadium in Piscataway, New Jersey on Saturday afternoon during Rutgers-Cincinnati game

Mink Stole and Penny Arcade in Tennessee Williams’ “The Mutilated” at New Ohio Theater in Manhattan

by Sam Juliano

Enjoying a mid-November football game in the New Jersey-New York area would normally require a winter coat and a hoodie.  But the weather at Piscataway’s High Point Solutions Stadium was unusually comfortable, with 65 and sunny skies.  Too bad that the 5-3 Rutgers team played their worst game of the year and got dismantled by the high-flying Cincinnati Bearcats by a score of 52-17 in front of a near-sold crowd in the Scarlet Knights’ playground.  But heck, teams have bad days as can be seen by the deplorable performance by the Jets against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday afternoon.  Lucille, Sammy and I attended to watch our nephew Eric Lampmann performance with the Rutgers Marching Band at halftime and after the game, but the entire college football experience and the great tailgate party before and after made Saturday a most memorable day, regardless of the fortunes of the Scarlet Knights.

Lucille and I took in one of Tennessee Williams’ less performed plays, “The Mutilated” at the New Ohio Theater on Christopher Street on Wednesday night.  The one act play has long been neglected, but seems properly staged at the seedy underground theater, where the one-act work benefits enormously from a jazz score, a great trumpet player, and the performance of John Waters alumni Mink Sole (“Pink Flamingos”) who joins the boozy revelers in effective song numbers.  The setting is the Silver Dollar Hotel, and the play is both funny and truthful.

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