River of No Return
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Movie Reviews of River of No Return
Movie Review: "River of No Return (1954) ... Otto Preminger ... 20th Century Fox (2002)"
Summary: 4 Stars
20th Century Fox presents "RIVER OF NO RETURN" (1954) (91 min/Color) (Fully Restored/Dolby Digitally Remastered) -- Director Otto Preminger's only western, River of No Return is set in Canada during the 19th century Gold Rush --- Farmer Matt Calder (Robert Mitchum) is released from prison after serving a sentence for shooting a man in the back to protect a friend --- He arrives in a small town to retrieve his young son, Mark (Tommy Rettig), who has befriended a sultry saloon singer, Kay (Marilyn Monroe) --- Matt is also friendly with Kay, and thanks her profusely for looking after Mark, but distrusts her paramour, Harry Weston (Rory Calhoun) - a gambler of shady morals --- Matt and Mark return to their rural homestead, but soon glimpse Kay and Harry on a sinking raft, apparently en route to make good on a gold claim; Matt rescues the two of them, but doesn't count on Harry doing an about face, beating him up, and stealing his horse and gun --- Kay stays behind to look after Matt. Meanwhile, the Indians go on the warpath, and the defenseless trio decides to seek refuge by fleeing the farm and sailing down the river on a raft.
Filmed in gorgeous Technicolor and CinemaScope with a larger budget, due to the star power involved in the project --- Much of it would be filmed in Banff and Jasper National Parks and Lake Louise in Alberta, turning out to be an exceptional western/adventure.
Under the production staff of:
Otto Preminger [Director]
Frank Fenton [Screenwriter]
Louis Lantz [Story]
Stanley Rubin [Producer]
Cyril J. Mockridge [Original Music]
Leigh Harline (Original Music]
Joseph LaShelle [Cinematographer]
Louis R. Loeffler [Film Editor]
BIOS:
1. Otto Ludwig Preminger [Director]
Date of Birth: 5 December 1905 - Wiznitz, Bukovina, Austria-Hungary (now Wyschnyzja, Ukraine))
Date of Death: 23 April 1986 - New York City, New York
2. Robert Mitchum [aka: Robert Charles Durman Mitchum]
Date of Birth: 6 August 1917 - Bridgeport, Connecticut
Date of Death: 1 July 1997 - Santa Barbara, California
3. Marilyn Monroe [aka: Norma Jeane Mortenson]
Date of Birth: 1 June 1926 - Los Angeles, California
Date of Death: 5 August 1962 - Los Angeles, California
4. Rory Calhoun [aka: Francis Timothy Cuthbert]
Date of Birth: 8 August 1922 - Los Angeles, California
Date of Death: 28 April 1999 - Burbank, California
5. Tommy Rettig
Date of Birth: 10 December 1941 - Queens, New York
Date of Death: 15 February 1996 - Marina del Rey, California
the cast includes:
Robert Mitchum - Matt Calder
Marilyn Monroe - Kay Weston
Rory Calhoun - Harry Weston
Tommy Rettig - Mark Calder
Murvyn Vye - Dave Colby
Douglas Spencer - Sam Benson
Mr. Jim's Ratings:
Quality of Picture & Sound: 4 Stars
Performance: 4 Stars
Story & Screenplay: 4 Stars
Overall: 4 Stars [Original Music, Cinematography & Film Editing]
Total Time: 91 min on DVD ~ 20th Century Fox ~ (05/14/2002)
Movie Review: Somewhat bizarre and hilarious
Summary: 4 Stars
I ordered this DVD having a bit of a Bob Mitchum season of movies - did this man have a great presence on screen or what? I had no idea what to expect from this title. Given Otto Preminger's reputation during his Film Noir years, I thought it might be quite entertaining. Well, it was, but mostly for all the wrong reasons. Marilyn Monroe breaking into incongruous ballads with her guitar every 30 mins, trying to pass herself off as a wayward circus performer, yet being made up to look like she's just walked off the set of the Beverly Hillbillies, was quite bizarre. Something happened to American films and costuming about this time, everyone starts wearing denim with the legs rolled up (like Jimmy Stewart in The Man from Laramie) - suddenly everything gets tarted up with a Rockwell-esque brush. The scenes of Mitchum and Monroe obviously on a film set with a grainy film backdrop of rapids behind them is so poorly executed it was also a scream (why they didn't just show us the stagehands rocking the raft from side to side, I'll never know). I imagine Mitchum felt his time hadn't been wasted in the scene where he gets to rub Monroe down from head to toe with her wrapped in nothing but a blanket - a tough gig (that got my attention). I have heard fairly uncomplementary things said about Rory Calhoun's acting ability, but in this I thought he was well cast and played it to perfection. This movie is an interesting cultural document of what was appealing for the times, but it is one rather bizarre experience looking back at it now. Everyone trying a little too hard to appeal to the contemporary fads while trying to tell a 'backwoods' story - doesn't quite gel, for some reason. To complete the picture, the unexplained and inoffensive looking Indians make their appearance just for some drama, but they disappear as quickly as they turned up - of course being mute and burning everything in sight. I was waiting for a ferocious grizzly bear to appear and charge Bob, but no. I wasn't sorry I devoted a couple of hours watching this film - it is still entertaining if largely stretching the credibility gap. Whichever way you look at it, Mitchum and Monroe were at the height of their fame and do their best in a rather lame, silly story. Having said that, there are some interesting scenes as they make their way down the river, especially where they are waylaid by a trio of desperados - that was very well and believably executed. Beware - this review is written by an Australian, so I don't mean to insult American sensibilities, however, this film, in my humble opinion, is largely a bit of Saturday matinee fluff that I suspect both stars took on for the pay cheque rather than the script. Well worth a look, though, overall entertaining and certainly diverting. Sometimes, however, it can be a little scary exploring the film archives of one's parent's generation.
Movie Review: Mitchum and Monroe set themselves adrift on the "River of No Return"
Summary: 4 Stars
1954's RIVER OF NO RETURN is arguably one of Marilyn Monroe's most offbeat, unusual films. A rollicking Western adventure, the film plays up her earthy side, with Monroe cast as a careworn saloon singer (with a heart of gold naturally) and her co-star Robert Mitchum, a close friend in real life, offers a solid grounding for her portrayal.
Matt Calder (Mitchum), a farmer with a murky past, rolls into a shanty town to reclaim his young son Mark (Tommy Rettig), who has found a loving surrogate home with saloon singer Kay Weston (Monroe). Kay later comes back into Calder's life when her n'er-do-well boyfriend (Rory Calhoun) arrives on the Calder property, forcibly taking Matt's rifle and horse in order to stake his claim in another town; and leaving Matt, Kay and the boy in the path of warring Indians. The group has no other option than to scramble aboard an old wooden raft and launch down the River of No Return...
RIVER OF NO RETURN takes a while to get going, plot-wise, but has lots of merits in it's favour; most notably the gorgeous location photography, captured in and around the Banff and Jasper national parks of Alberta, Canada. This was one of the first 'big' CinemaScope releases. Monroe (with the assistance of vocal double Gloria Wood) seductively strums her guitar around "I'm Gonna File My Claim", "One Silver Dollar", "Down in the Meadow" and the Title Song. She's costumed by Travilla in some suitably tacky "dance hall" costumes but spends the best part of the story in bluejeans and a corset-blouse.
Recommended.
Movie Review: Marilyn at her best?
Summary: 4 Stars
I had seen this movie years ago, and at that time thought it was one of Marilyn Monroe's better roles.
Seeing it again recently, I thought it was certainly dated, but still of some interest to me, because of the outdoor secenes.
I had recently returned from a fabulous trip to the Canadian Rockies, with a 2 day stop at Banff. The Bow River flows right through Banff, which is included in some of the scenes in "River of No Return".
Indeed, the raft these people were on "goes" over the Bow Falls and ambles down the river, which I also traveled down from the falls in a rubber raft.
Great to see that after 50+ years the falls had not changed a bit. The real scenery was the draw for me.
Movie Review: OTTO PREMINGER, OPUS 19
Summary: 4 Stars
***1/2 1954. Directed by Otto Preminger. A singer, a farmer and his son journey down a river while Indians are following them. Imposed by the 20th century Fox producer Darryl Zanuck on Preminger, RIVER OF NO RETURN is an entertaining film but may disappoint the fan of the great director who'll search in vain the shadow of his personal obsessions in this film. The songs performed by a superb Marilyn or Robert Mitchum performance, taciturn as usual, could nonetheless lead you to add this DVD to your library. Recommended.