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Title: River of No Return (1954)
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| Complete credited 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 | |
Matt Calder, who lives on a remote farm with his young son Mark, helps two unexpected visitors who lose control of their raft on the nearby river. Harry Weston is a gambler by profession and he is racing to the nearest town to register a mining claim he has won in a poker game. His attractive wife Kay, a former saloon hall girl, is with him. When Calder refuses to let Weston have his only rifle and horse, he simply takes them leaving his wife behind. Unable to defend themselves against a likely Indian attack, Calder, his son and Kay Weston begin the treacherous journey down the river on the raft Weston left behind. Written by garykmcd
Otto Preminger's "River of No Return" is set in Northwest Canada, in savage Indian territory, in the gold rush days... The plot is weak but the scenery is spectacular and the action of the river dramatically powerful... Otto Preminger knew how to create tension and threat in the grandeur and menace of the Canadian Rockies
The film opens in the 1875 with widower Matt Calder (Mitchum), coming to town, where his ten-year-old son Mark (Tommy Rettig) is waiting for him... He has served a term in prison for shooting a man in the back, even though he shot the man only to keep him from murdering a friend... Mark has now been sent to join his father, who has bought a farm for them...
Mark has made the acquaintance of Kay (Marilyn Monroe), a saloon singer, while waiting for his father.... Calder thanks Kay for her kindness to his boy, and father and son depart for their farm...
One day, Calder sees Kay and gambler Harry Weston (Rory Calhoun) in trouble on a raft in the river near his home... He helps them ashore and learns that Watson is in a hurry to get to town to register a gold claim... So eager is he that he steals his rescuer's only horse, and leaving his girl behind as well, rides away...
The predicament of those left is deepened by the fact that Indians are on a rampage and are due to attack the farm at any moment... The only way left to get to town is by a wild river...
Photographed in Technicolor and CinemaScope, the film is designed to exploit the splendors of the mountains, trees and rapid rivers plus the magnetic pleasant figure of Marilyn who is the only charming woman surrounded by two handsome men and a charming kid...
Marilyn sings 4 numbers in the film: "One Silver Dollar," "I'm Gonna File My Claim," "Down in the Meadow," and "The River of No Return." The little boy, Tommy Rettig, played another big-scale Western, Delmer Daves' "The Last Wagon," with Richard Widmark, Felicia Farr, and Susan Kohner...