I chose to watch ‘River of No Return‘, a 70-year-old western film for a few reasons. First of all, because Marilyn Monroe, who has the opportunity to demonstrate her talent as an actress in addition to her physical beauty and singing skills. Her partner is Robert Mitchum, also a rising star in 1954, when the film was made. Finally, because the film direction is credited to Otto Preminger (who worked under contract with 20th Century Fox studios) and Jean Negulesco, a polivalent film-maker born in Craiova, Romania, who worked in France before moving to America, a name unjustly forgotten today by histories of cinema in the country where he was born and the countries where he worked. The film also experimented with the new widescreen and color film technology called CinemaScope, the latest in filmmaking and image projection techniques of the era.
The story takes place in 1875 in the American Northwest. Widower Matt Calder returns after years spent in prison for killing a thug who threatened the life of a friend. He retires to an isolated farm in the mountains with Mark, his 11-year-old son, from whom he had been separated for a long time. Their idyllic life is disturbed by the appearance of Kay and Harry, the bar singer who had been looking after Mark in the absence of his father and her crook husband. Harry attacks and robs Matt, taking his rifle and horse in order to get to Kansas City, where he plans to collect a card debt (possibly won by cheating). Matt, Mark and Kay will set off, unarmed, down the river in his pursuit.
The intention of producers and directors to extract the maximum from the visual possibilities offered by CinemaScope technology is evident. Most of the nature shots are spectacular and inspiring, and we can feel when these are combined with scenes shot in the studio. It is one of the first and most spectacular films of a subgenre that we could call ‘river films’, combined with two melodramas – one with a romantic triangle, the other depicting father-son relationships. The script of this seemingly conventional Western includes two scenes related to Matt’s relationships that would be delicate and questionable even in the context of screen morality today, or perhaps more so today than 70 years ago. The bond between Matt and his son develops in the shadow of the father’s guilt and the child’s understanding of what he has done. The relationship develops between Matt and Kay that also has its problematic sides. The presence of Marilyn Monroe is electrifying and the erotic tension also succeeds to ignite Robert Mitchum, an actor who (in my opinion) was not really great in expressing his feelings. Her character being a bar singer, we also get to hear her sing on four occasions, two of the songs being very good. Acting talent? She is not phenomenal, but she has spontaneity and naturalness which are remarkable, taking into account that the conflicts between Preminger and the private acting coach who accompanied Monroe to filming sessions during that period of her career have remained significant in history. The reasons why audiences were drawn to this film in 1954 remain much the same today.