River of No Return (1954)

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Director:

Otto Preminger
(more)

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)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Fred Aldrich	...	Barfly at Camp Saloon (uncredited)
Claire Andre	...	Surrey driver (uncredited)
Hal Baylor	...	Young Punk (uncredited)
Don Beddoe	...	Ben (Council City storekeeper) (uncredited)
Larry Chance	...	Young Punk (uncredited)
John Cliff	...	Leering Man (uncredited)
Edmund Cobb	...	Town barber (uncredited)
John Doucette	...	Man in saloon (uncredited)
Geneva Gray	...	Dance Hall Girl (uncredited)
Ed Hinton	...	Gambler (uncredited)
Mitchell Kowall	...	(uncredited)
Mitchell Lawrence	...	Young Punk (uncredited)
Jarma Lewis	...	Saloon dancer (uncredited)
Jack Mather	...	Dealer at card table (uncredited)
Ann McCrea	...	Dance Hall Girl (uncredited)
Harry Monty	...	(uncredited)
Fay Morley	...	Dancer (uncredited)
Paul Newlan	...	Prospector (uncredited)
Barbara Nichols	...	Blonde dancer (uncredited)
Ralph Sanford	...	Bartender (uncredited)
Jerome Schaeffer	...	(uncredited)
Harry Seymour	...	Piano Player (uncredited)
Arthur Shields	...	The Minister at Tent City (uncredited)
John Veitch	...	Young Punk (uncredited)
Harry Wilson	...	Barfly at Camp Saloon (uncredited)
Will Wright	...	Trader (uncredited)

Directed by
Otto Preminger
Jean Negulesco		(uncredited)

Writing credits
Frank Fenton		(screenplay)
Louis Lantz		(story)

Produced by
Stanley Rubin	....	producer

Original Music by
Cyril J. Mockridge
Leigh Harline		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
Joseph LaShelle		(as Joseph La Shelle)

Film Editing by
Louis R. Loeffler		(as Louis Loeffler)

Art Direction by
Addison Hehr
Lyle R. Wheeler		(as Lyle Wheeler)

Set Decoration by
Chester L. Bayhi		(as Chester Bayhi)
Walter M. Scott

Costume Design by
Travilla

Makeup Department
Ben Nye	....	makeup artist
Allan Snyder	....	makeup artist: Miss Monroe (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Paul Helmick	....	assistant director
Donald C. Klune	....	second assistant director (uncredited)

Sound Department
Bernard Freericks	....	sound
Roger Heman Sr.	....	sound (as Roger Heman)

Special Effects by
Ray Kellogg	....	special photographic effects

Stunts
Harry Froboess	....	stunts (uncredited)
Dan Heather	....	stunts (uncredited)
Bob Herron	....	stunts (uncredited)
Robert F. Hoy	....	stunts (uncredited)
Roy Jenson	....	stunt double (uncredited)
Harry Monty	....	stunt double: Tommy Rettig (uncredited)
Bob Morgan	....	stunts (uncredited)
Helen Thurston	....	stunt double: Marilyn Monroe (uncredited)
Tim Wallace	....	stunt double: Robert Mitchum (uncredited)
Fred Zendar	....	stunt coordinator (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Charles Le Maire	....	wardrobe director
Sam Benson	....	wardrobe supervisor (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Orven Schanzer	....	first assistant editor (uncredited)

Music Department
Ken Darby	....	vocal director
Lionel Newman	....	musical director
Edward B. Powell	....	orchestrator

Other crew
Jack Cole	....	choreographer
Leonard Doss	....	technicolor color consultant
Tim Wallace	....	stand-in: Robert Mitchum (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation (presents) (as Twentieth Century-Fox)

Distributors

• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation (1954) (USA) (theatrical) (released by)
• Centfox (1954) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• National Broadcasting Company (NBC) (1962) (USA) (TV) (original airing) (pan/scan)
• CBS/Fox (laserdisc)
• Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (19??) (Netherlands) (VHS)
• Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (2006) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (2002) (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Bausch & Lomb  CinemaScope lenses by
• Canadian Government  the Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation thanks for its cooperation in the production of this motion picture (as the Canadian Government)

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:

This movie was not the first meeting of Robert Mitchum and Marilyn Monroe. Mitchum had worked at Lockheed Aircraft with Monroe's, then known as Norma Jeane Baker, first husband James Dougherty. The two had met on at least one occasion during the mid 1940's.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): When Matt and Kay are in the cave, Matt trips (stumbles) when he is walking over to hang up Kay's bloomers to dry. It appears he stumbles over his feet.

Quotes:

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

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Getaway: (#16.35)" (2007)

Soundtrack:

Down in the Meadow

Monroe meets Mitchum--and Otto Preminger!

A nine-year old boy meets up with his estranged father in a northwest boom town in the midst of Gold Fever; they take off for a life of fishing and hunting but are soon railroaded by a crooked gambler and his gal, a saloon singer who gets a pang of conscience and stays with dad and the kid. Soon, all three are on the run from Injuns, on a raft down a treacherous river. Lackadaisical western puts action on the back-burner to focus on character interaction, which in this case isn't such a bad thing. Robert Mitchum never puts on a big show: tough and steely, but paternal towards the kid and easy with the lady, he's gruffly polite--and unapologetic about his behavior. Marilyn Monroe is such a drama queen, she can't deliver a simple monologue without twitching something (her eyes, her lips, her nostrils); she is lovely (and, in a singing scene outdoors with the boy, very natural), but one warms to her because she's Marilyn (her legend exceeds the worn material and her over-emphatic delivery). Otto Preminger directed, but this doesn't feel like a Preminger movie. There are no tart or prodding scenes, and the dangerous rapids excursions--and Indian rampages--are not staged for maximum impact. The Indians, armed with arrows, simply seem like bad shots, and the close-up sequences on the raft were obviously achieved in the studio. Still, the occasional on-location photography is breath-taking, and the three principles grow steadily on the audience as well as towards each other. Beautiful theme song is sung in versions by both Mitchum and Monroe. **1/2 from ****