River of No Return (1954)

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Director:

Otto Preminger

Writers:

Frank Fenton (screenplay)
Louis Lantz (story)

Release Date:

30 April 1954 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Western

Tagline:

MARILYN MONROE...Sultry, flaming, exciting as never before - on a desperate river journey...experiencing the violence and madness of desperate men!

Plot:

Matt Calder, who lives on a remote farm with his young son Mark, helps two unexpected visitors who lose control of their raft on the nearby river...

Plot Keywords:

River | Raft | Gambler | Native American | Vaudeville

Cast

Robert Mitchum	...	Matt Calder
Marilyn Monroe	...	Kay Weston
Rory Calhoun	...	Harry Weston (gambler)
Tommy Rettig	...	Mark Calder
Murvyn Vye	...	Dave Colby (prospector)
Douglas Spencer	...	Sam Benson (prospector)

Runtime:

91 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.55 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

West Germany:12 (f) | Canada:G (video rating) | Argentina:16 | Australia:PG | Chile:18 | Finland:K-16 | UK:PG | USA:Approved (PCA #16625, General Audience)

Filming Locations:

Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

Robert Mitchum was arrested for possession of marijuana during the filming of the movie.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: The chords Kay plays on the guitar do not match the chords necessary for that particular song.

Quotes:

Kay Weston: One thing about this, the longer you last the less you care.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker (1991)

Soundtrack:

The River of No Return

Sometimes it's peaceful,sometimes wild

Life is like this river,sometimes peaceful,sometimes wild.A "river" movie,before the "road movie" genre was invented,Otto Preminger's work remains extremely beautiful:an unusually inventive cinemascope which enhances the scenery :the raft tossed by the tides of misfortune,seems like a grain of sand in these deep valleys,these ancestral forests.

A story as linear as the river,which focuses on one of Preminger's favorite subjects:redemption (see "where the sidewalk ends","forever Amber").If someone does something wrong,Kay says ,it's because he's often compelled to do so.Mark,the young boy ,will understand ,and little did he know it would not be long !

The songs (the title track and "one silver dollar" ) are sumptuous,and add magic to this odyssey of redemption.And when Kay throws her high-heeled shoes in the dust,what a nice way to pick up the pieces!