The River (1984)

Director:

Mark Rydell

Writers:

Robert Dillon (story)
Robert Dillon (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

19 December 1984 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

He showed her his strength, his courage, his incredible will. She showed him her love. [Theatrical Australia]

Plot:

Farming family battles severe storms, a bank threatening to reposses their farm, and other hard times in a battle to save and hold on to their farm.

Plot Keywords:

Farm | Melodrama | Husband Wife Relationship | Accident | Auction

Awards:

Nominated for 4 Oscars. Another 2 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Mel Gibson	...	Tom Garvey
Sissy Spacek	...	Mae Garvey
Shane Bailey	...	Lewis Garvey
Becky Jo Lynch	...	Beth Garvey
Scott Glenn	...	Joe Wade
Don Hood	...	Senator Neiswinder
Don Hood	...	Senator Neiswinder
Billy Green Bush	...	Harve Stanley
James Tolkan	...	Howard Simpson
Bob W. Douglas	...	Hal Richardson
Andy Stahl	...	Dave Birkin
Lisa Sloan	...	Judy Birkin
Larry D. Ferrell	...	Rod Tessley
Susie Toomey	...	Sally Tessley
Kelly Toomey	...	Lisa Tessley
Frank Hoyt Taylor	...	Zemke (as Frank Taylor)
Ivan Green	...	Smoot
Desmond Couch	...	Wilderfoot
Charles G. Riddle	...	Youngdall
Jim Antonio	...	Dan Gaumer
Samuel Scott Osborne	...	Billy Gaumer
Amy Rydell	...	Betty Gaumer
David Hart	...	Harley
Barry Primus	...	Roy
Mark Erickson	...	Baines
Jack Starrett	...	Swick
Charles Robinson	...	Truck
Dean Whitworth	...	Doctor
Chuck Hanson	...	Fat Man (as Charles S. Hanson)
Ira M. Quillen II	...	TV Weatherman
Matt Bearson	...	First Employee
Timothy Shadden	...	Second Employee
Elizabeth Lane	...	Secretary
Gary Gershaw	...	Drifter

Directed by
Mark Rydell

Writing credits
Robert Dillon		(story)
Robert Dillon		(screenplay) and
Julian Barry		(screenplay)

Produced by
Robert Cortes	....	producer
Edward Lewis	....	producer

Original Music by
John Williams

Cinematography by
Vilmos Zsigmond

Film Editing by
Sidney Levin

Casting by
Lynn Stalmaster

Production Design by
Charles Rosen

Art Direction by
Norman Newberry

Set Decoration by
Jane Bogart

Costume Design by
Joe I. Tompkins

Makeup Department
Pete Altobelli	....	assistant makeup artist
Lynn Del Kail	....	hair stylist
Brenda Todd	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Terry Carr	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Matt Bearson	....	dga trainee
Christopher Wilkinson	....	second unit director (as Chris Wilkinson)
Robert Yannetti	....	second assistant director
Tena Psyche Yatroussis	....	second assistant director
Jerry Ziesmer	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Jimmy Day	....	carpenter foreman
Tim Donelan	....	swing gang
David F. Klassen	....	set designer
Donald Krafft	....	lead man
Sherman Labby	....	production illustrator
William Maldonado	....	construction coordinator
Mitch Mitchell	....	greensman
Leonard Monfredo	....	painter foreman
Nick Navarro	....	set designer (as Nicanor Navarro)
Bob Nohles	....	carpenter foreman
William Ladd Skinner	....	set designer
John Slatsky	....	drapery
Sonny Van Hecke	....	assistant property master
Robert J. Visciglia Sr.	....	property master
John Alvin	....	poster artist (uncredited)
Peg McClellan	....	illustrator (uncredited)
James Passanante	....	stand-by painter (uncredited)

Sound Department
Lee Alexander	....	sound recordist: second unit
Nick Alphin	....	sound re-recording mixer
Ed Bannon	....	foley recordist
Duke Brown	....	sound apprentice
Neil Burrow	....	sound editor
Joseph Geisinger	....	cable person
Hector C. Gika	....	sound assistant
Stephen Katz	....	sound recordist: second unit
Greg Orloff	....	foley recordist
Richard Portman	....	supervising re-recording mixer
Rod Rogers	....	sound assistant
David M. Ronne	....	production sound mixer
Kay Rose	....	supervising sound editor
Jerry Rosenthal	....	sound editor
Joan Rowe	....	foley artist
T.E. Sadler	....	foley recordist (as Tim Sadler)
Victoria Rose Sampson	....	sound editor
Jack Schrader	....	sound editor
John B. Schuyler	....	boom operator
Larry Singer	....	adr editor
Stephanie D. Singer	....	sound apprentice
Chester Slomka	....	sound editor
Robert Thirlwell	....	sound re-recording mixer
John Roesch	....	foley artist (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Guy Faria	....	special effects
Thomas Love	....	special effects
Stan Parks	....	special effects supervisor
Ken Pepiot	....	special effects supervisor
David Simmons	....	special effects
Paul Stewart	....	special effects

Visual Effects by
Syd Dutton	....	matte artist
Bill Taylor	....	matte photographer

Stunts
Rick Avery	....	stunts
Clay Boss	....	stunts
Jophery C. Brown	....	stunts
Blair Burrows	....	stunts
Mike De Luna	....	stunts
Tom Elliott	....	stunts
Richard Epper	....	stunts
Harper Flaherty	....	stunts
Alan Gibbs	....	stunt coordinator
Alan Gibbs	....	stunts
Will Harper	....	stunts
Johnny Hock	....	stunts
Paula Marie Moody	....	stunts
Bennie Moore	....	stunts
Mark Orrison	....	stunts
Branscombe Richmond	....	stunts
Mario Roberts	....	stunts
Spike Silver	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Norman Ash	....	electrician
William D. Barber	....	assistant camera (as Bill Barber)
Michael Barrett	....	electrician
John J. Connor	....	additional photographer: second unit (as John Jennings Connor)
John J. Connor	....	camera operator
Dick Deats	....	key grip
Jessie Deats	....	grip
Michael Gershman	....	camera operator
Gregg Guellow	....	best boy grip
Robert Heine	....	assistant camera
Ray Kinzer	....	key grip: second unit
Jack Kirk	....	gaffer: second unit
Peter Kuttner	....	assistant camera: second unit
J. Michael McClary	....	assistant camera
Michael McGowan	....	camera operator
Fred L. McLane	....	assistant camera
Rexford L. Metz	....	additional photographer: second unit
Tony Moran	....	grip
Ken Nishino	....	assistant camera
Brent Poe	....	electrician
Steven Poster	....	director of photography: second unit (as Steven B. Poster)
Dutch Presley	....	best boy electric
Troy Rushing	....	electrician
Hank Sheppherd	....	grip
James M. Sheppherd	....	dolly grip
Philip Sloan	....	best boy electric (as Phil Sloane)
Stuart A. Spohn	....	gaffer
Pat Thompson	....	electrician
Joseph D. Urbanczyk	....	cinematography intern: AFI
Ted Varnadoe	....	best boy electric
D. Michael Wheeler	....	assistant camera
Harry Wittis	....	generator operator
Randy Woodside	....	best boy electric
James Zenk	....	still photographer
John J. Connor	....	director of photography: second unit (uncredited)

Casting Department
Barbara Harris	....	voice casting
Jody Hummer	....	extras casting
Barry Primus	....	casting consultant
Shirley Fulton Crumley	....	location casting (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Darryl M. Athons	....	costumer
Greg Hall	....	costumer
Peni Mandel	....	costumer
Hugo Peña	....	costumer
Pamela Wise	....	costumer

Editorial Department
Beau Barthel	....	assistant film editor
Donah Bassett	....	negative cutter
Robert Frazen	....	assistant film editor
Aubrey Head	....	color timer
Karen Kory	....	apprentice film editor
Stephen R. Myers	....	apprentice film editor
Rick Sparr	....	associate film editor

Music Department
Thomas A. Carlson	....	assistant music editor
Sandy DeCrescent	....	orchestra manager
Warren Luening	....	musician: trumpet solo
Herbert W. Spencer	....	orchestrator
Tommy Tedesco	....	musician: guitar solo
James Walker	....	musician: flute solo
Dan Wallin	....	music recording mixer
Kenneth Wannberg	....	music editor
Tom Boyd	....	musician: oboe soloist (uncredited)

Transportation Department
Bob Cornell	....	transportation co-captain
Chuck Hanson	....	transportation coordinator
Jim Johnson	....	transportation captain
Mike Robinson	....	driver: star trailer (uncredited)

Other crew
Julie Adams	....	dialect coach
Bruce Bahrenburg	....	unit publicist
Richard Dixon	....	production accountant
Gary Gershaw	....	production assistant
Susan Joy Harris	....	assistant: Mr. Cortes
Mable Lawson-McCrary	....	production assistant: second unit (as Mable Lawson McCrary)
Doralee Leon	....	assistant: Mr. Lewis
Larry Little	....	production assistant
Earl McClintock	....	location projectionist
Richard Meleckian	....	agricultural consultant
Patty Mitchell	....	production assistant
Zeljko Negovetic	....	animal trainer
Trish Niehaus	....	production secretary: Alabama
Betsy Norton	....	script supervisor
Joe O'Har	....	location manager
Barbara Pensiero	....	production secretary: Tennessee
Marty Pessin	....	assistant production accountant
Willie Radcliff	....	craft service
Stephanie Saunders	....	assistant: Mr. Rydell
David C. Thomas	....	location manager (as David Thomas)
Jeffrey White	....	production assistant
Joan Wolpert	....	production coordinator
Ron Bledsoe	....	assistant animal trainer (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Universal Pictures

Distributors

• Universal Pictures (1984) (USA) (theatrical)
• United International Pictures (UIP) (1985) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• United International Pictures (UIP) (1985) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Argentina Video Home (198?) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Cinéma International Corporation (CIC) (1996) (Sweden) (VHS)
• Home Video Hellas (HVH) (1988) (Greece) (VHS)
• LK-TEL (2001) (Argentina) (DVD)
• LK-TEL (2001) (Argentina) (VHS)
• MCA/Universal Home Video (1996) (USA) (VHS)
• Nordisk Film (2001) (Sweden) (DVD)
• Universal Pictures Nordic (2003) (Sweden) (DVD)
• Universal Studios Home Entertainment (2007) (USA) (DVD) (HD DVD)
• Universal Studios Home Video (DVD)

Other Companies

• Rogers & Cowan  publicity
• TAJ Soundworks  foley recording
• Tony's Food Service  catering
• Universal Title  titles and opticals

Also Known As:

Runtime:

122 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Argentina:13 | Chile:14 | Finland:K-12 | Norway:16 (1985) | Sweden:11 | UK:15 | USA:PG-13 | West Germany:12 | Australia:M | Iceland:L | Canada:PG (Ontario) | South Korea:15 | Peru:14 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Alabama, USA

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

Filmed in Gate City, Virginia, and Hawkins County (Church Hill, Surgoinsville and Rogersville) in Northeast Tennessee. Much of the movie was filmed on 440 acres of the Hawkins County land purchased by Universal Studios by the Holston River in Tennessee. It was cleared and turned into working farms in four weeks. The production used a real river regulated for flood scenes with a dam that was slated for repair. The dam was fixed and altered with the help of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Mae Garvey:Watch out, Tom! Beth, get in the truck! Tom! Are you hurt?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Castle of Fu-Manchu (#4.23)" (1992)

Soundtrack:

Rock-A-Billy

Beautifully photographed, but miscast and poorly-directed...

Mel Gibson is wholly unconvincing as a Southern farmer and family man trying to hold onto his river-ravaged land; even when covered in soot and wearing overalls, everything about the young, wiry Gibson breathes prosperity. Corporate shady Scott Glenn (in a sleepwalking performance) wants Gibson and wife Sissy Spacek off their land in order to build a dam and flood the valley (it'll mean more jobs), but Gibson refuses to sell out. Sub-plot with Mel taking factory work (after crossing a picket line) is presumably meant to give us a more complete portrait of the man, but it just makes the character seem hard-headed. Upon opening with a lovely series of nature shots courtesy cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond, director Mark Rydell immediately loses his footing with a sequence of contrived family action in a rainstorm (underlined by an awful John Williams score to heighten the drama, which has no pay-off). It's all downhill from there, with petulant, milky-skinned Gibson failing to match up with homespun Spacek, and two perky kids who keep playing to the camera. "The River" was released the same year as "Places in the Heart" and "Country", and was easily the weakest 'farm movie' in the lot. Glossy, superficial, and dull. *1/2 from ****