Wild River (1960)

A TVA bureaucrat comes to the river to do what none of his predecessors have been able to do - evict a stubborn octogenarian from her island before the rising waters engulf her.

Director:

Elia Kazan

Writers:

Paul Osborn (screenplay), William Bradford Huie (based on novels by)

Stars:

Montgomery Clift, Lee Remick, Jo Van Fleet

2 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Montgomery Clift	...	Chuck Glover
Lee Remick	...	Carol Garth Baldwin
Jo Van Fleet	...	Ella Garth
Albert Salmi	...	Hank Bailey
Jay C. Flippen	...	Hamilton Garth (as J.C. Flippen)
James Westerfield	...	Cal Garth
Barbara Loden	...	Betty Jackson
Frank Overton	...	Walter Clark
Malcolm Atterbury	...	Sy Moore

Storyline

A young field administrator for the TVA comes to rural Tennessee to oversee the building of a dam on the Tennessee River. He encounters opposition from the local people, in particular a farmer who objects to his employment (with pay) of local black laborers. Much of the plot revolves around the eviction of an elderly woman from her home on an island in the River, and the young man's love affair with that woman's widowed granddaughter.

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Plot Keywords:

national film registry | southern gothic | river | tennessee | island | 

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Taglines:

As surely as the river rises, it had to happen...

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Genres:

Drama | History | Romance

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

May 1960 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Woman and the Wild River

Filming Locations:

Cleveland, Tennessee, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System) 4-Track Stereo

Color:

Black and White (archive footage) Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Working titles included "Mud on the Stars", "Time and Tide", "The Swift Season" and "As the River Rises".

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Goofs

At the very end of the movie, as Chuck and his new family are departing the movie story's location and are flying over and looking down on the now newly flooded island that had been his new wife's old home. This flooded island would actually have to be on the reservoir side of the damn when they closed the dam's flood gates that would cause the reservoir's waters to rise. However, in the very next shot their plane is shown approaching the damn from over the un-flooded river side. The reservoir where the flooded old home island they were just looking down on would in reality have to be on the other side of the damn they are now shown to be flying toward and over.

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Quotes

Carol Garth Baldwin: You're gettin' awful human, aren't yuh, Chuck?
Chuck Glover: I was always human, wasn't I.

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Connections

Featured in The 71st Annual Academy Awards (1999)

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Soundtracks

You Are My Lucky Star
(uncrdeited) (1935)
Music by Nacio Herb Brown
Lyrics by Arthur Freed
Heard during radio broadcast

User Reviews

A masterpiece of American cinema.

I found this little gem to be an exquisite piece of ensemble work by some of the best screen actors to ever to be in front of a lens. Elia Kazan impeccable direction and a performance by Jo Van Fleet that could be a learning tool for some of these putrid so-called actress that now are being lauded as the neo-contemporary actress's of the day. When you see a film of this artistic magnitude you can easily understand the dumbing down process of the American cinematic media. Not one of the so-called stars of today could measure up to Lee Remicks complex and sensitive portrayal of Carol in Wild River. Montgomery Clift an actors actor , there will never be another. A master of controlled raw emotion and body language. Gone are the days indeed when this kind of movie production will return. Not special effects or remake after loathsome remake or some equally obnoxious star or starlet will match this cinematic jewel.