Rent River of No Return (1954)

Western Adventure. - River of No Return review by Steve

Wild western adventure set in the 19th century US gold rush but shot in the awe-inspiring Canadian Rockies. Maybe Otto Preminger wasn’t an obvious choice to direct all this boisterous, outdoorsy action and it hasn’t much of a reputation, but it’s an entertaining family film with a couple of points of interest.

It is among the early releases in Twentieth Century Fox’s widescreen CinemaScope process, plus Technicolor, which together make the big country scenery and intrepid stunts even more spectacular, as a homesteader and a showgirl chase a horse thief (her husband) downriver.

And there is the studio’s even bigger draw with Marilyn Monroe, who is magnetic while utterly incongruous in the austerity of the old west. Even during a gold rush. With Robert Mitchum as the hero, the hot combo boost the action with an overload of star charisma. Marilyn sings about half a dozen so-so ballads.

Rory Calhoun has little to do as the bad guy, though 13 year Tommy Rettig isn’t bad as Mitch’s adoring son- for a Hollywood kid. There are some life lessons learned, typical of a family adventure. Every few minutes there’s a cliffhanger. But what sticks is the magnificent Rocky mountains, and the eternal river.