River of No Return

Love is a rider on the rider on the river of no return.

This was an interesting film, a western that covers a very short period of time about a man released from prison to pick up his son and start a farm in gold mining country. Marilyn Monroe, who is gorgeous as ever in this film, is a saloon singer in the closest town. Her and her gambler boyfriend are headed to a larger city to make a claim on some land that he won gambling. On the way down the river on a raft they get themselves in trouble and our farmer along with his son save them...only to have their kindness repaid by the gambler stealing their only horse and only gun...leaving them at the mercy of the natives who seem to be on a war path of destruction. This leaves the farmer, played by Robert Mitchum, Marilyn and the farmer's son defenseless and on the run from the natives. Down the river they head...

This film was filled with action...including a mountain lion attack! There is also a moral story about leaving people, especially children defenseless.

The end is pretty fun and makes this film worth it. If you are a western fan or a fan of either Marilyn Monroe or Robert Mitchum, I recommend giving it a watch.

An unexceptional story beautifully directed by Otto Premiger, whose handling of this routine material makes it work as well in its way as the best of Anthony Mann. A stolen rifle figures prominently in this western, as does an Indian attack, the budding romance between a puritanical homesteader with a past and a saloon singer in trouble, and of course the eponymous and oftentimes violent river they raft down. The northwest scenery is breathtaking. Preminger gives a nice drive to his narrative without stressing any one element for too long. For a while it's a farmer-son story, then a badman story, then there's a journey down the river, then a romance, then an Indian attack. Scenes play out dramatically rather than melodramatically despite the genre limitations of the script, and this shows Preminger's steady hand. He doesn't mind making his movie a bit of a travelogue or nature film if the mood strikes him, and therefore the picture has a nice diversity, and many lovely things to look at. Chief among its many scenic attractions is Marilyn Monroe in the female lead. I can't say that this is her best performance but it's one of her best non-musical or comedy roles that isn't too serious, which is to say it's not at all like How To Marry a Millionaire, Bus Stop, The Prince and the Showgirl or The Seven Year Itch in that there's no air of a heavyweight property with lots of money and talent behind it, which works in the movie's favor, as it is a pleasant surprise. This is perhaps Miss Monroe's only 'throwaway' role of her starring career, and she makes the best of it by playing her part naturally and with none of the ironic, self-referential self-deprecation one often finds in her major starring vehicles. Robert Mitchum is excellent in the male lead, as is Tommy Rettig as his son, who more than holds his own with these two adult heavyweights. The songs Monroe sings are all pretty good and well-delivered and add to the story in each case, which is unusual. One cares for these people, who behave credibly despite the mechanical plot devices, and the movie ends on a touching visually and musically orchestrated grace note, as if something of profound importance had just transpired.

You won't waste your time watching Robert Mitchum in any movie as he has proved himself to be an actor to take note of. In this movie, he gives a stable performance as a rugged pioneer type adventurer and good father who is trying to make a go farming in the wilderness. If things aren't hard enough, Indians harass, strangers become unpredictable and the work does not become easier. The rafting scenes remain fake but the real life shots of the river remain beautiful. Monroe detracts from the picture as being too much when she should be just a little however that is the part they wanted her to play. Unfortunately they like selling her as a sex object first and an actor second which comes through in some scenes almost like they were afraid the picture wouldn't do well and needed some additional assurance. The fact is it did do well and in no small part to Preminger's directing while filled with criticism still delivered a watchable entertaining film. Behind the scenes there was much ego and unprofessional conduct which reminds us all that wherever we go and whatever we do the people add or detract from the experiences. This film could have used more specific emphasis on the area and when it took place as that is always interesting history. Instead, they made it more for the actors than the viewers is how it came across. Good movie to snack by with a tasty drink and just enjoy watching a piece of movie making history with times gone by...

Cinemascope was at the height of popularity when Fox decided to cast Marilyn Monroe and Robert Mitchum in a story set against the scenic splendor of the Rockies. Marilyn even gets to sing a few fetching song numbers (her saloon song atop a bar is a standout and she delivers a totally professional job). Sleepy-eyed Mitchum makes a good partner for Monroe and little Tommy Rettig scores as the adoring little boy who watches wistfully as Monroe strums a song on her guitar.

Into the story, slight as it is, is an Indian attack while Mitchum and Monroe battle the rapids. It's all very routine going, for the most part, but the chance to see Monroe strut her stuff in a tight pair of jeans and Mitchum give a sturdy, likeable performance is enough to make the movie a pleasant way to spend a couple of hours.

Nothing great here, but a very satisfying performance by Marilyn who does a more than competent job on her less than inspired songs. And the scenery helps.

Otto Preminger's direction is not as taut as it should have been for a tale of this sort--in fact, the whole film has a lumbering pace that seems to make some parts of the story seem more like filler material than anything else. And poor Rory Calhoun has little to do.

Nine-year old boy is reunited 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 ****