River of No Return

"Reckless, Roaring, Adventure of the Great Northwest Gold Rush Days!"

1954 1h 31m EN

👍

6.7

SOLID

★6.7TMDB · 497

AdventureWestern

Synopsis

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An itinerant farmer and his young son help a heart-of-gold saloon singer search for her estranged husband.

“Reckless, Roaring, Adventure of the Great Northwest Gold Rush Days!”

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Cast

Robert Mitchum
Matt Calder
Marilyn Monroe
Kay Weston
Rory Calhoun
Harry Weston
Tommy Rettig
Mark Calder
Murvyn Vye
Dave Colby
Douglas Spencer
Sam Benson
Fred Aldrich
Prospector (uncredited)
Claire Andre
Surrey Driver (uncredited)

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Otto Preminger
Writers: Frank Fenton, Louis Lantz
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $2.2M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

72 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Otto Preminger, shot by Joseph LaShelle. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Cyril J. Mockridge. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Louis R. Loeffler shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Robert Mitchum and Marilyn Monroe and Rory Calhoun carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Reckless, Roaring, Adventure of the Great Northwest Gold Rush Days!".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0047422 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Otto Preminger directs. Joseph LaShelle behind the camera. Cyril J. Mockridge scores. Louis R. Loeffler cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $2.2M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
272 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
3Directed by Otto Preminger, shot by Joseph LaShelle. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Cyril J. Mockridge. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Louis R. Loeffler shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Robert Mitchum and Marilyn Monroe and Rory Calhoun carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "Reckless, Roaring, Adventure of the Great Northwest Gold Rush Days!".
8IMDB entry: tt0047422 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Classified under 11 themes, including "farm", "small town", "saloon", "gambling".

The technical file

Cinematography: Joseph LaShelle
Original score: Cyril J. Mockridge
Editing: Louis R. Loeffler
Costume design: Travilla
Makeup / hair: Allan Snyder
Stunt coordinator: Fred Zendar
Runtime: 91 min · 1h 31m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $2,195,000
Box office: $3,820,291
Return: 174% of budget
Original language: EN
IMDB: River of No Return (1954)

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Otto Preminger

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What people are saying

John Chard2019-02-06
★ 7/10
What are you chasing Calder? After a stint in jail, Matt Calder is reunited with his son Mark and sets both of them up at a riverside lodge. One day he helps aid a couple who are struggling with their raft down the river. It turns out to be a dubious gambler named Harry Weston and his saloon singer girlfriend, Kay, whom both Matt and Mark have already been acquainted with. Turns out that Harry is in a rush to register his mining claim that he has just won, and sensing his journey will be considerably quicker and safer on horseback, steals, after a fight, Matt's rifle and horse. Agreeing to let Kay stay behind with the Calder's, Weston sets off. Once roused and ready to travel, Matt, aware that an Indian attack on their remote home is imminent, sets off in pursuit of Weston with the other two in tow, down the treacherous river. River Of No Return, starring Robert Mitchum, Marilyn Monroe and directed by Otto Preminger, this is the film neither of them gave a second thought to once the picture had wrapped. It was a much troubled production that saw Preminger and Monroe reach positive levels of hatred for each other, with Mitchum acting as go between for much of the time. Preminger was tackling his first film in the Western genre and clearly wanted to make it a mark of realism. A hard task master at the best of times, Preminger further distanced himself from his stars by demanding they do their own stunts, something that even the normally professional Mitchum found over the top. There's much more back story to the film, all of it creating a bad atmosphere on the shoot (Preminger even walking off the film before completion, leaving Jean Negulesco to wrap it up), be it jealous husbands, nuisance coaches or peril from injury, it's all here! All tid-bids available from various biographies or clickable internet resources. So the film, hated by the critics and makers alike, has to be a stinker then, surely? Well some what surprisingly, no it isn't half bad. For sure the plot is simple in the extreme, and it's far from being a truly memorable Western offering. But it's IMDb rating of 6.5 is probably just about right. There is still much to like here. It's a gorgeous looking film for a start, yep there is some shonky studio work blending in with the location shoot, but Preminger and his cinematographer Joseph LaShelle really bring the wilderness rush on to the screen. Shot at both Banff and Jasper National Parks in Alberta, Canada, it's at once as beautiful as it is imposing, with Mitchum's ruggedness and Monroe's sensuality expertly framed within the landscapes. Some of the scenes alongside the Athabasca and Bow rivers are worth the viewing time alone, with the impact enriched by great work from the sound department (Bernard Freericks & Roger Heman). This a film that shows the need for the right location choices to utilise the Technicolor and CinemaScope enhancements available at the time. The cast work well considering what little quality is in the script, though Rory Calhoun as Harry Weston is underused because it's obvious that 20th Century Fox were trying to get maximum mileage from its two leading stars. Mitchum, if truth be told, cake walks through the movie. Not asked to do a great deal, it none the less works because Matt Calder is more about a beefcake presence than any thespian leanings. Something that Mitchum, in his laid back laconic way, was perfect for. It's a shame that Monroe, post release of the film, was so vehemently against it (calling it a Z grade Western at one point) because it's a sweet and affecting turn from her. In what could have been a stereotypical and typecast role as Kay, Monroe puts a bit of humanist thought into her, even coping well in the surrogate mother/ big sister strand involving Tommy Rettig's (The Raid & The Last Wagon) young Mark. Monroe also gets to do four songs in the piece, "I'm Gonna File My Claim", "One Silver Dollar", "Down in the Meadow" and the delightful finale of "The River of No Return" (Marilyn radiant here). Not remotely close to being the best work by all involved, but as much as they all seemingly hated it, it has too much going for it to ever be considered bad. Yeah, 6.5/10 sounds about right to me.

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