marilyn monroe river of no return jeans

River of No Return (1954) Poster

6 /10

Exceptionally adequate

This is a decent time-passer and not a lot more. In some ways, it's a pretty good film but in so many others it is only adequate at best. First let's discuss the good. Pairing Robert Mitchum with Marilyn Monroe actually worked pretty well. Mitchum's laid-back style and Monroe as a sexy but more human sort of character than she normally played made the casting decision pretty good. Monroe was quite beautiful but her makeup was definitely more under-stated. She also sang pretty well, though she did seem to sing an awful lot. Also the main story idea was very good and culminated in a wonderful showdown--with a terrific ending. The problem, though, is that the film sunk to the level of mediocrity due to it being pretty sloppy--with some ridiculous dialog sounding, at times--more like it belonged in a Film Noir flick, grainy rear-projection during the rafting scenes, a silly knife fight where both Mitchum's son and Monroe just stand there doing NOTHING as he's almost killed and many, many contrived situations to see Ms. Monroe take off her clothes. Most men in the audience didn't mind this, but after a while it made me laugh because it looked as if the writers deliberately inserted many such scenes! First, she is a barroom singer and she must naturally sing in her underwear, then when she's on the raft she gets so cold and wet that Mitchum tells her to take off her clothes when they take a break (though he and his young son were fine and kept theirs on) and when they were attacked by Indians, one grabbed Monroe's blouse and naturally it just tore away!!! I actually thought this was pretty funny.

Finally I'd like to point out that the print on videotape is really, really bad. At times, it's very, very yellowed. Oddly, it often went from very yellow to normal or even (briefly) black and white! The film really needed restoration and I hope the DVD version has been cleaned up quite a bit.

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5 /10

Watchable, but somewhat of a disappointment too

I like Otto Preminger's films, and I came across this channel surfing. River of No Return was watchable but somewhat of a disappointment of a disappointment at the same.

The scenery is glorious and the cinematography is lovely. The music is also a nice touch, and I liked the songs Monroe sang. Preminger directs decently, while Robert Mitchum has a good presence and Marilyn Monroe is beautiful and acts convincingly at least. However, the script creaks really badly, while the story is clumsily handled. I also thought the pace was rather sluggish, and some of the characters are uninteresting and lack credibility.

In conclusion, I guess it is a watchable movie but for fans of Preminger or Mitchum or Monroe while they all do adequate jobs they deserved better. 5/10 Bethany Cox

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6 /10

White Water Rafting With Marilyn and Mitch

Of all of Marilyn Monroe's leading men, Robert Mitchum was the only one who knew her back when. In 1941 before he made his screen debut in a Hopalong Cassidy film, Mitchum was among other things an aircraft factory worker and one of his friends was one James Daugherty. Of course Jim had a wife Norma Jean at the time and Bob and Dorothy occasionally socialized.

He knew all about her psychological problems and when it came time to do a film with her when both became screen legends, Mitchum was not about to get himself involved. That probably helped because during the shooting Marilyn and director Otto Preminger stopped speaking and would only communicate through Mitchum.

Marilyn's a saloon gal involved with a no good gambler/drifter in Rory Calhoun. Calhoun and Monroe nearly drown on a river when Mitchum rescues them and their raft. No good deed goes unpunished so Calhoun takes Mitchum's horse and Mitchum, Monroe, and Mitchum's son Tommy Rettig use the raft to go after him. They're kind of forced to because the Indians are on the warpath.

She's certainly quite a distraction for a man on a mission and at one point Mitchum does give into lust ever so briefly. Which does make River of No Return one of the more realistic westerns ever done.

Twentieth Century Fox decided to go whole hog on this one, shooting the film up in Banff. But with Marilyn and Otto feuding it was not a happy set. Otto walked off the picture and Jean Negulesco finished it out. Joe DiMaggio flew up to the set because of rumors of Mitchum and Marilyn, that were completely unfounded, but Joe was the jealous type. As for Mitchum legend has it that he and another legendary drinker, Murvyn Vye, killed many a bottle during the long evenings.

Done in cinemascope and 3-D, River of No Return should be seen on the big screen. Not even a letterbox DVD does it justice. And 3-D was definitely the medium for Monroe. Marilyn even has some nice songs to sing in this one.

It's not a great western, still it's entertaining enough especially in those rafting sequences. But it was a film Otto Preminger shuddered about when recalling.

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5 /10

Slightly dated western adventure teams Mitchum and Monroe

Warning: Spoilers

RIVER OF NO RETURN is a fairly standard western adventure that features the pairing of movie tough guy Robert Mitchum and the iconic actress Marilyn Monroe. It's one of those river-themed movies which, like THE RIVER WILD, features the characters rafting down a sometimes turbulent river for much of the running time.

It's an acceptable enough piece of fare, one which has dated somewhat but still works as a harmless time-waster. Rory Calhoun's bad guy is never quite as villainous or as imposing as he ought to be, but there's a nice twist ending and Mitchum's bravado keeps you watching. Monroe is quite gracious although she does spoil things by singing a little too much. The back projection effects don't look very good these days but there are some fun stunt scenes to enjoy.

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6 /10

big names but not a classic

Warning: Spoilers

Matt Calder (Robert Mitchum) returns from prison taking his son Mark back to their farm on a river. Harry Weston and his wife Kay (Marilyn Monroe) get into trouble on their raft and the Calders come to their help. Harry is a professional gambler and she's a saloon girl. He's registering a mining claim and steals the Calders' only gun and horse. Fearing an Indian attack, the Calders and Kay set off down the wild river on the raft.

Otto Preminger... Robert Mitchum... Marilyn Monroe, just the names alone I had no choice but to check this out. Of course I didn't know that Otto and Marilyn were forced into making this movie. Marilyn Monroe didn't sing her songs. Matt tries to rape Kay. The only good thing is Marilyn has a nice pair of tight jeans and she got really wet. It has some river stunt work but the story isn't anything to be proud of. Apparently, it was a tough shoot. Check it out if you're a fan of any of the three names.

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7 /10

"Just how many kinds of fool are you?"

Warning: Spoilers

Stunning Canadian Rockies scenery add a dramatic backdrop to "River of No Return", a fairly predictable tale involving a recently released convict (Robert Mitchum), and an out of place Marilyn Monroe who's physical presence and colorful saloon outfits are the stuff of repeated double takes. Oddly, Monroe winds up being well cast here, even to the point of singing a few tunes that hold up surprisingly well.

Mitchum's character is Matt Calder, newly reunited with a nine year old son last seen before serving a prison sentence for shooting a man in the back. As the story unfolds, we learn extenuating circumstances were behind the killing, causing a certain amount of angst to come between the boy and his father as a result of the disclosure. 'Mark follows Matthew' in the Bible, thus serving as the basis for young Mark Calder's name, portrayed by Tommy Rettig.

If you were a baby boomer kid growing up in the 1950's like me, Tommy Rettig might have been one of your first small screen heroes, or at least his pal Lassie was. My weekly fix of "Lassie" came on Sunday evenings on CBS, a tough call going up against "The Wonderful World of Disney" on the NBC network. When Timmy outgrew Lassie, it seemed like the magic was gone.

Rory Calhoun is the film's obligatory bad guy and fiancée to Monroe's character. He's a bit tough to recognize if you're used to his role as "The Texan" in the 1958 Western series; perhaps it was the mustache.

I'd be curious to learn more about the scene involving Matt Calder's forced advance on Monroe's Kay during the trip along the river. Though discreetly interrupted by the interference of a mountain lion, it seems the lead character of the story came pretty close to attempted rape. I wonder how audiences of the time reacted to that particular scene.

Always on the lookout for historical perspective in films, I got a kick out of two saloon signs - 'Whiskey, 25 cents per swallow', followed by 'Good Whiskey, 4 Bits'. Oh, for the good old days!

It occurred to me that the movie's title might have been more than just a passing reference to the hazards met and overcome along the way by the intrepid adventurers, and something other than the subject of one of Marilyn Monroe's saloon songs. It struck me as somewhat allegorical that the act of saving his father's life in the same manner that sent Matt Caulder to jail, would now serve as the flash point in his life that young Mark could never retreat from, a certain departure from innocence to which he could never return.

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7 /10

Marilyn Monroe's Finest Role?

The greed of a reckless gambler who has won a mining claim in a poker game forces three people, a farmer named Matt Calder (Robert Mitchum), his son and the gambler's wife, Kay (Marilyn Monroe), into an adventure down the river and through the wilderness from which they may never return.

Robert Mitchum never fails, but Marilyn Monroe I have always found to be overrated. She is not as attractive as she is made out to be, and her acting typically revolved around her being a "dumb blonde" character. This was thankfully a rare exception -- in this film, I learned that Monroe can act (but still not sing, and was dubbed).

Monroe and director Otto Preminger were allegedly pressured into making this film by the studio because of their contracts. This might lead you to think they did not put their hearts in it. And maybe they did not, but it still comes across as a better than average western... why has no one heard of it?

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4 /10

this river runs through "The African Queen"

The movie that Marilyn Monroe considered her worst comes across as a rehash of "The African Queen". While Monroe does put all her effort into the role of a woman who accompanies a widower and his son down a dangerous river in the northwestern US, the movie itself is very dated. The scenery is some of the most impressive ever put on film, that can't carry the movie. The whole thing is basically the average idealized image of the old west. These sorts of movies are what made the spaghetti westerns so great with the latter's gritty look at the old west.

Notwithstanding, Marilyn Monroe looks really fine (as can be expected). But that's all.

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5 /10

River of No Return

Warning: Spoilers

I would like to see as many films starring the famous leading actress from Gentleman Prefer Blondes, The Seven Year Itch and Some Like It Hot as possible, and I spotted this one in another different genre, I was most intrigued, from director Otto Preminger (Laura, Carmen Jones, Anatomy of a Murder). Basically widower Matt Calder (Robert Mitchum) has recently return home and to his young son Mark Calder (Tommy Rettig) after serving time in prison for killing another man defending another. Mark has been looked after by dance hall and saloon singer Kay Weston (Marilyn Monroe), and his father promises him that as virtual strangers he will do everything possible to bond at the homestead, with hunting, fishing and farming. Kay's fiancé Harry (Rory Calhoun) plans to get to Council City and file the deed to a gold mine he won in a poker game, but they get in trouble going down the rough river on a raft, and they are rescued by the father and son duo, only to have their gun and horse stolen by Harry and let him get away. Indians are roaming the premises, so the three of them continue down the river on the raft, and stopping to rest Matt questions why Kay wants to marry a man who threatens a child, and her defence is that he is worse having killed a man, and overhearing this discussion Mark finally learns the truth about his father's past. The three of them again continue down the river, and she slowly becomes grateful towards the father figure as he looks after them with bravery and tenderness, against such challenges as a lion attack, prospectors Dave Colby (Murvyn Vye) and Sam Benson (Douglas Spencer) who want Harry's gold, and more Indians. Matt, Kay and Mark manage to get through more rapids and arrive in Council City, meeting back up with Harry, and after a struggle Kay's fiancé is shot and killed by Mark, and in the end Matt and Mark take Kay with them back to their farm. Also starring Don Beddoe as Ben - Council City Storekeeper and Paul Newlan as Prospector. Monroe is absolutely beautiful here, especially as this is the first time I saw her with long blonde hair, and her singing is good too, and Mitchum does alright mumbling and being cool all the way through, the bits between them are alright, I think the best bits are probably on the raft and against Indians and a lion, at least they make the film reasonably exciting, a not bad western. Worth watching!

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2 /10

Embarrassingly Bad

Who doesn't love Marilyn Monroe? Not me, and not too many people, especially fans of classic movies. Most of us think of lot of her and enjoy watching her performances. I say these things because she sings three or four songs in here in the first 30-40 minutes and it is painful to hear. It's horrible. There is no other word for it. It sets the tone for this disappointing film.

Add some incredibly stupid dialog given to Robert Mitchum to speak and you have - speaking of embarrassing - an embarrassing movie to watch. Despite Monroe, Mitchum, Rory Calhoun and Tommy Rettig (of Disney fame), this is Grade B material all the way.

The raft scenes in here were so hokey they take away from the adventure part of the movie. You almost laugh out loud because it looks so fake.

I had high hopes for this film but it didn't take too long for them to be dashed. Don't let Marilyn's big name lure you into renting this film.....it's a bummer.

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Journeys End In Lovers Meeting.

Warning: Spoilers

Rather a fun adventure movie, with Mitchum, Monroe, and Mitchum's young son forced to travel down a scenic mountain river to Council City, where Mitchum is after revenge against the man who left him to die. The odyssey is packed with action and danger, what with the rapids and the generic Indians attacking at every turn, not to mention the evil mountain men they meet, the hungry mountain lion, and the treacherous gambler who is Mitchum's target. If it's less tense and artful than, say, "The African Queen" or "Deliverance," it's more lively than "Huckleberry Finn." Marilyn Monroe is conspicuous because she's pretty sexy and gives a good performance. I couldn't count the number of times her blouse came off due to dunking in icy water or ripping by men who were less than gentlemen. Monroe is a saloon singer, a tough broad but don't worry. She has a heart of gold. She pronounces the "t" in every word that contains one -- like "wait" and "wanted" -- as if reading aloud a spelling test for school children. I could never make up my mind about her acting ability. Sometimes her speech sounds artificial, sometimes deliberately stylized, rarely natural. It's a conundrum.

Mitchum is hefty and is awash in intuition about "the Indians." "When they paint their faces, they're after you." "Don't worry, they won't attack after the sun goes down." "They're just making sure we're gone." Usually, when the Western hero comes up with insights like this, it's because he's been raised by "the Indians." For Mitchum, it's just a gift. There's no particular reason "the Indians" are always ready to kill him. It's a less perspicuous impulse. Maybe they had some crazy idea that since they were here first, Mitchum had no business carving a farm out of their hunting grounds.

The film has its silly moments. Soaked by the rapids, Monroe must peel off her wet clothes -- women are always peeling off their wet clothes in these movies and I kind of like it -- then wrap her nude body in a woolen blanket and have Mitchum give her a vigorous rubdown, skipping only the area between her patella and her sternoclavicular notch. Mitchum, believing her to be nothing more than a saloon singer, treats her pale, tender limbs like pieces of pemmican.

Mostly, you'll probably notice the scenery. Aside from some too-obvious studio stages, the movie was shot in Banff and Jasper National Parks in the heart of the Canadian Rocky Mountains. In life, the place is an assault on the senses. The mountains themselves rise abruptly out of the high plains of Alberta like row after row of gigantic shattered teeth. There is no place quite like it. The streams are full of perch and northern pike but be sure you get the license.

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6 /10

Mitchum and Monroe shine in this enjoyable movie shot in Canadian location

Ex-farmer Robert Mitchum recently released from jail, rescues Rory Calhoun and Marilyn Monroe from dangerous , wild raft. But Calhoun gives back the favour by stealing his horse . Mitchum , his little boy son and Monroe are abandoned and pursued by the hostile Indians. Forcing them have to face a raging river, in order to survive and suffering a lot of risks and dangers.

This marvellous Western packs thrills, agreeable performances , a love story, family drama and gorgeous outdoors shot on location in Canadian landscapes . This one deals with a reckless , roaring and perilous adventure of the Great Northwest Gold Rush days . Spectacular scenes proceeded during desperate rapid rafting on a wild river journey , however with excessive transparency when the protagonists appear through foreground and close-up frames .

Furthermore, it contains some violent scenes such as an attempt of rape by Mitchum over Monroe, very strong by that time. Casting is frankly outstanding. Robert Mitchum, Western actor usual (Bandido , 5 card stud , The wrath of God, El Dorado) at his best , he's excellent with his usual facade of indifference and lazy acting , though here he provides depth role as an ex-convict with bitter past . Awesome Marilyn Monroe , at her golden peak, as a Saloon girl playing splendidly beautiful songs and musical numbers , reflecting her sexual iconography . Marilyn is sultry, exciting and flaming as never before. Classic melody , including sensitive musical leitmotif by Cryl J. Mockridge and Leigh Harlan . Colorful , evocative cinematography in brilliant Technicolor by Joseph LaShelle , though best advantage in big screen and Cinemascope. The motion picture was well directed by Otto Preminger , his only Western , but he was a Noir cinema expert (Fallen Angel , Laura , Angel face , Whirlpool). The film will appeal to Robert Mitchum and Marilyn Monroe fans. Rating : 6.5/10. Better than average.

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6 /10

Monroe meets Mitchum--and Otto Preminger!

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 ****

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As they say, 'A Torrid Love Story.'

Warning: Spoilers

Not a particularly good movie, it is interesting to see marilyn Monroe as a frontier woman, and as a singer. She was in her mid-20s when this movie was filmed. The DVD, from the public library, has a great restored widescreen image in Cinemascope and Technicolor. The following remarks are for my recollection, please do not read, may contain SPOILERS.

The movie opens with Robert Mitchem riding his horse into a 'tent city' at the water's edge in the Pacific Northwest, hordes of prospectors looking for gold claims. But he was just looking for his 10-year-old son after (we find out much later) just getting out of prison for killing a man. Monroe is a singer in the tent saloon, and her man is played by Rory Calhoon, a gambler and grifter who wins another's claim by gambling. All Mitchem wants to do is stake his claim to some land, and with his son, horse, axe, and rifle, farm the land and keep the Indians at bay.

He rescues Calhoon and Monroe by tying down their runaway raft on 'the river of no return.' Dastardly Calhoon fights Mitchem and steals his horse and gun, Monroe stays behind to care for the injured man, the Indians come, Mitchem, Monroe, and boy are forced to flee with the raft. After a few wilderness trials, they get to the city, find Calhoon, who tries to shoot Mitchem, but instead is shot by the boy. Monroe and Mitchem end up together.

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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!

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6 /10

nothing special or too subversive, just a standard programmer-Western with two magnetic stars

Otto Preminger and Marilyn Monroe (not sure about Robert Mitchum) didn't want to make River of No Return. I imagine it was because they saw through, or just read, the script: a very basic story about a man and his son, who he hasn't seen in years, the hot little number of a saloon singer and their running from the singer's boyfriend who is out for blood (and/or money and cattle) plus some doings with Indians out on the mountains. Nothing is offensive or too wrong with the material, but there's nothing that sparks it as very special either. It was made in large part to cash in on the new technology of the 2:35 aspect ratio (or CINESCOPE as it was called them), with wide vistas of the rivers and mountains and bright colors almost always, even in the dark.

So why see it if it's somewhat dated (somewhat in that there is one semi-sensual scene where Mitchum warms up Monroe's back and legs in a scene that amusingly goes on for too long until it becomes self-consciously done), and the dialog is only okay, and the ending is predictable? Because sometimes the action and suspense is decent, and the two stars, naturally, Mitchum and Monroe. The former is formidable as a former convict who just wants to go straight and have his son by his side as a widower, and the latter is... Marilyn Monroe, silly. She has a grin sometimes like she knows how silly it is, but mostly she plays it straight and is amiable and kind of sexy in her blue jeans and blonde hair - almost out of place but not quite in 19th century Western garb. The chemistry between the two stars works too, and helps alleviate some of the slack compositions Premigerc comes up with.

Nothing to rush to see, unless you're big fans of the stars or director, or of big widescreen fox westerns made for pennies. But on those terms, it's not bad.

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9 /10

One of Marilyn's bests!

Warning: Spoilers

Would you believe, there are really some movie fans who don't like River of No Return? I'll admit the additional footage written by Darryl F. Zanuck and polished by Frank Fenton and then directed by Jean Negulesco, is a bit of a pain. It's both clichéd and unnecessary—especially all that tedious stuff in the cave where Zanuch and Fentron contrive to have Marilyn remove her wet clothing and wrap herself in a Mother Hubbard blanket. The movie would be much pacier and deliver a much greater impact without this interruption. On the other hand, all the Otto Preminger material is marvelous, right from the very start through to the stunning conclusion. Although Preminger himself regarded the assignment as one of his lesser directorial efforts, the thorough professionalism of his work, with its imaginative staging in fluid takes, its powerful visuals enhanced by splendid work from the players, plus the emotionally charged editing cut to the beat of Lionel Newman's haunting music score, has ensured the movie continues to rate highly with viewers over sixty years later. Marilyn Monroe contributes a wholly convincing, memorable and sympathetic performance. She is cleverly matched every inch of the way by Bob Mitchum who just seems so effortlessly in character, we are not surprised to read that Marilyn found it difficult to keep up with him. Mitch has the uncanny ability to dominate a scene even if he stands in the background, but Preminger and company have astutely compensated for this by handing Marilyn four songs. Two additional factors that keep our eyes riveted to the screen, are the boy, winningly played by Tommy Rettig, who brings the two principals together, and the "other man", played with an appropriately nasty bravado by Rory Calhoun (in a rare, unsympathetic role) who does his utmost to keep them apart.

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River of No Return-Up A Lazy River **1/2

Warning: Spoilers

Average western which again proved that Marilyn Monroe could not act. Here, she attempted to strum on a guitar, as a dance hall queen in love with gold prospector Rory Calhoun. Coming off his successful airplane pilot two years before in the smash-hit, "With A Song in My Heart," Calhoun, as the evil person here, comes off rather calmly.

Robert Mitchum, as the jailed man, who picks up his son in a camp where Monroe is singing and Tommy Rettig, of television's "Lassie Fame," steal the film here.

Rettig learns that his father was jailed when he shot someone in the back. Ironically, he will learn that cruel lesson once again at picture's end. Exploring the relationship that develops while rafting with Mitchum and Monroe forms the basis of the film. It's only partially successful at best.

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Spotty Adventure Film

Great Canadian scenery, but episodic storyline, at best. To escape marauding Indians, farmer Mitchum, son Rettig, and barroom showgirl Monroe escape down a roaring river on a raft, encountering a number of perils along the way. With this kind of adventurous premise, the movie should overflow with suspense, but it doesn't.

What the result shows is that legendary director Preminger was much more at home with drawingroom intrigue, e.g. Laura (1944), than with outdoor adventure. Here he films a spotty screenplay in unengaged fashion, adding nothing to the action. In short, events in the movie unfold without pulling us in. Then too, many of the river process shots are clumsily blended with the live shots, a constant reminder that this really is a movie.

Mitchum's excellent in a tailor made role. He looks fully at home as a macho man in the Canadian wilderness. For Monroe, however, this is her only starring role in an adventure film and it's understandable. She looks decidedly uncomfortable, except when doing her showgirl act, which is when the engaging side of her personality really comes out. Nonetheless, the movie exploits her tangible assets with frequent dips in and out of the water, in provocative fashion. All in all, however, I see why this film is infrequently mentioned in her list of cinematic highlights.

Anyway, unless you have a yen for grand Canadian vistas or Marilyn's buxom appeal, my advice is to skip it.

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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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One of Monroe's most natural and appealing performances...

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.

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5 /10

Waterlogged Western Get Monroe and Mitchum Wet Together

Warning: Spoilers

Don't look for anything scandalous in this straightforward outdoors adventure. This river rafting epic with Robert Mitchum and Marilyn Monroe captures more beautiful scenery that it conjures up memorable violence. Mitchum is a farmer tilling land for wheat in the middle of nowhere. He has just gotten out of prison for shooting a man in the back. What difference does it make, he argues, where you shoot a man if he is a polecat? Eventually, he has to explain his disappearance to his nine-year old son Mark Calder (Tommy Rettig) who joins him at a mining camp. Mitchum rides into town, finds his son, and they head back to his farm. Meanwhile, Monroe is a saloon girl strumming a guitar. She has been helping little Mark since he arrived and was abandoned by a guy named Martin. As it turns out, Monroe is in love with a no-good skunk named Weston (Rory Calhoun) who swindled a frontierman's out of a mining claim. Now, Weston is trying to get to Council City to record his claim before the legal owner make it there. He borrows Mitchum's horse and rifle and leaves him with a knot on his head. Mitchum, Monroe, and the kid commandeer the raft and flow down river. Yes, there is the inevitable showdown between Mitchum and Calhoun, but the surprise is in who shoots Weston to keep him from killing Mitchum.

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4 /10

What a let-down

When Robert Mitchum and Susan Hayward, the powerful stars who should have been cast in A Streetcar Named Desire, were finally paired together in a movie, audiences were enormously let down. Just as with that couple, Hollywood ruined the screen pairing between Robert Mitchum and Marilyn Monroe. How is that possible? Audiences wanted to see them together! Audiences wanted to like these movies! River of No Return, if made with B-actors, would have been panned out of town. The only reason anyone remembers it all is because of the two lead actors, and the lack of romance in the story and the lack of tension is an incredible letdown.

First of all, there's a child in the story, which is always distracting from the grown-ups, which, in this particular movie, are the only people audiences want to look at. Tommy Rettig is Robert Mitchum's son, and while Bob has been in jail, Marilyn Monroe has been taking care of him. There's no huge reunion scene where Bob shows his appreciation for Marilyn holding down the fort, and there are no sparks flying between them. He's just been released from prison and Marilyn Monroe is right in front of him, and there's no tension? It doesn't make any sense, but neither does the rest of the movie. It's an outdoorsy adventure flick where the three of them try to survive in the forest near the titular river, but it's not believable for a second that Marilyn knows how to rough it in the woods. Her ridiculous wig doesn't help.

I absolutely love Otto Preminger's films; he's one of my favorite directors. I've seen all of Marilyn's movies and have read probably a dozen biographies. Bob is one of my favorite celebrity boyfriends. So, since I didn't like this movie, it must not be very good. I'm not trying to be unkind, but with those three involved, the movie could have been so much better.

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6 /10

On A Raft With Marilyn.

Otto Preminger directed this western that stars Robert Mitchum as Northwest wilderness rancher Matt Calder, who helps a man named Harry Weston(played by Rory Calhoun) who was in trouble, but after refusing to loan or sell his horse and rifle, beats Matt and simply steals them, fleeing to a nearby town to file a mining claim he won in a poker game. Enraged, and frightened by the prospect of being defenseless against encroaching Indians, he takes his son Mark(played by Tommy Rettig) and Harry's beautiful fiancée(played by Marilyn Monroe, whom Harry left behind!) down river on a raft to get even with Weston, and retrieve what belongs to him. Good cast and lush production make it watchable, even if the story is unremarkable and its outcome entirely predictable.

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6 /10

Worth it just for Marilyn Monroe and the scenery

Marilyn Monroe was one-of-a-kind. She was to women what, say, Elvis was to men. She's the quintessential example of feminine beauty and charm. Unlike many too-thin women today, Marilyn had the necessary curves that drive men wild. Speaking of which, she looks great in this movie throughout, whether in semi-tight jeans or saloon-dancer apparel. Robert Mitchum, of course, was no slouch either when it comes to being a model of masculine strength. And neither was Rory Calhoun, who played the great white hunter, Jonathan Kincaid, in that memorable episode of Gilligan's Island.

These three, especially Marilyn, are what make "River of No Return" (1954) worthwhile, along with the stunning location photography, shot in Banff and Jasper National Parks, Canada.

The plot revolves around the two stars and their attempt to travel a river on a big wooden raft so they can meet up with the gambler (Calhoun) who stole the Mitchum character's horse and rifle. His young son tags along for the ride.

Unfortunately there are some roll-your-eyes moments typical of old Westerns that might tempt modern viewers to tune out, like the Natives' utterly stupid attacks on the raft, but they're just there as a story device to create suspense anyway.

The script is generally weak since the story's not all that compelling, except for a chance meeting with hunters in the forest and the closing scenes at the town on the river, but -- like I said -- Marilyn and the scenery make up for it.

The film runs a short-but-sweet 91 minutes.

GRADE: B-

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