The

US : 1954 : dir. : 20th Century Fox : min prod: Stanley Rubin : scr: Frank Fenton : dir.ph.: …..……….……………………………………………………………………………… ; ; ; Murvyn Vye; Douglas Spencer; Don Beddoe, Edmund Cobb, John Doucette, , Ralph Sanford, Will Wright

Ref: Pages Sources Stills Words Ω 8  M  Copy on VHS Last Viewed 5935 10.5 10 25 5,905  - -   No pre 1991

Marilyn Monroe in the Old West. Robert Mitchum drank a lot. Tommy Rettig didn’t. A sepia-tinted poster seems an odd way to promote a Technicolor film, but there it is.

People who drink fall over a lot. This is a proven fact. Source: indeterminate

Excerpt from The Moving Picture Boy entry Calhoun) and his companion Kay Weston on Nirumand, who starred the previous year in (Monroe). After Calder rescues them from Naderi's “DAWANDEH” (or “The Runner”): the wild river, Weston robs them, and leaves everyone to die. Calder goes after “He kept on running in Naderi's "AAB, him, but is a little puzzled as to why Kay BAAD, KHAK", a drama of drought set in the would remain so loyal to the liar and cheat, parched land of the Iranian-Afghan border. while his son, pulling a “COURTSHIP OF But the Iranian authorities, who had already EDDIE’S FATHER”, tries to get the man castigated "DAWANDEH" as a slur on their and woman together. country, and had failed to get Naderi to The movie is the equivalent of a apologise for it, now banned the showing of "road film", with Calder and Co. going up both films. Naderi was granted political asylum the river, stopping and starting, and in the USA, and Majid and his elder brother suffering threats from lions and Indians. Mansur Nirumand fled into Pakistan.” But this is no “NAKED SPUR” or “THE RIVER WILD”. It's amateurish, ultimately boring stuff. We know where it's all going, Binary Flix.com website review: and have to endure the ride with uninteresting, predictable people. The plot “Of moderate interest to Marilyn Monroe is mechanical… since Calder was once fans, or aficionados of the late Robert sent to prison for shooting a man in the Mitchum, or perhaps even director Otto back, we know that Calder will, in a “HIGH Preminger completists, this western with a NOON” moment, have to do the same at tired tale fills out the latest edition of Fox's the end of the film. Marilyn Monroe Diamond Collection. Part of the problem with the film is that it's The story (by Louis Lantz) is thin. Matt in colour. That's probably not a nice thing Calder (Mitchum) has just retrieved his to say when Fox has gone to a lot of son (Tommy Rettig) from a riotous western trouble to restore the film to its Technicolor town. But back in the woods, they are and CinemaScope splendour... but assailed by gambler Harry Weston (Rory Preminger, who was usually a master of framing was better in black and white, and DISC: B+ (As good a transfer as you here seems tired. The rear projection would want of this film) ” shots of the trio on the raft going down the – [email protected] river are ludicrous. On the other hand, Monroe was at the height of her beauty and voluptuousness, and the colour and The Cinema Laser website review: the screen size flatter her endlessly. Another problem is that it's not a very “ “RIVER OF NO RETURN” is one of my good western. In reality, it's a story that favourite Marilyn Monroe movies. Let’s just happens to be set in the west. face it, with the combined talents of Monroe, Robert Mitchum and Otto THE DISC: Preminger – how could this be anything Fox offers a superb transfer of the but great old-style motion picture widescreen film (2.55:1), enhanced for entertainment on the grand CinemaScope widescreen televisions, and proves it with scale. “RIVER OF NO RETURN” fuses a restoration demonstration as one of the elements of the western and adventure supplements. Sound is a good DD 4.0, genres into an entertaining little package with DD 2.0 Surround in French, with that allows Monroe to perform two musical English and Spanish subtitles, and close numbers. “RIVER OF NO RETURN” also captioning. Among the other supplements makes the most of its Canadian locations, are the theatrical trailer in a squeezed full by utilising the CinemaScope frame to frame, and trailers for other Diamond capture some incredible vistas. collection films: “LETS MAKE LOVE”, “MONKEY BUSINESS”, “DON’T BOTHER Set in the Northwest Territory during the TO KNOCK”, “NIAGARA”, The Diamond gold rush, “RIVER OF NO RETURN” tells Collection in general, and a stills gallery. the story of farmer Matt Calder (Mitchum), who is awaiting the arrival of his young SUMMARY son Mark (Tommy Rettig), whom he hasn’t seen in years. Picking up the boy in a The volatile chemistry of Robert Mitchum boomtown, Matt finds his son in the care and Marilyn Monroe ignites the screen of a beautiful saloon singer Kay Weston when they are thrown together by fate (Monroe), to whom the motherless boy during the wild days of California Gold has become instantly attached. After Rush. Marilyn stars as a dancehall singer heading back to their home, Matt and with a heart of gold who is aided by Mark cross paths with Kay again, when reluctant Mitchum in her futile search for she and her fiancé Harry Weston (Rory the husband that abandoned her. Otto Calhoun) are rafting down the dangerous Preminger's heart-stopping river rafting river that flows past Matt’s farm. sequences and panoramic vistas come to breath-taking life in this sweeping As it turns out, Weston is taking Kay on adventure. this ill-advised journey in order to file a claim on a gold strike that he won in a card DISC INFORMATION game. When Matt warns Weston about the dangers of travelling down this particular Features: river by raft, the gambler thanks Matt by - Photo Gallery knocking him out and stealing both his - Theatrical Trailers horse and gun. Unwilling to leave the man - Restoration Featurette that her fiancé injured, Kay stays behind to Video Format: care for Matt and his son. However, when Anamorphic Widescreen 2.55:1 hostile Indians attack his farm, Matt is Languages: forced to climb on board the raft with Mark - English: Dolby Digital 4.0 and Kay, fleeing down the river of no - French: Dolby Digital Surround return. Subtitles: English, Spanish # Sides: 1 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment # Discs: 1 has made “RIVER OF NO RETURN” Layers: Dual available on DVD in a wide screen DVD Released On: 5/14/2002 presentation that has been enhanced for Total Running Time: 91 min. 16:9 displays. “RIVER OF NO RETURN” MOVIE: C (Average '50s colour fare) is an early CinemaScope movie that should have an aspect ratio of 2.55:1. and set up features, as well as a few However, the transfer comes up a bit extras. As with the other titles in Fox’s short, around 2.35:1, cropping a small Marilyn Monroe series, “RIVER OF NO amount of information from the extreme RETURN” includes a comparison of how edges of the frame. Other than the aspect the movie looked in previous video ratio being off, the transfer of “RIVER OF incarnations and how it looks now with NO RETURN” is quite pleasing – making both film and video restoration. Theatrical this DVD a significant improvement on trailers for “DON’T BOTHER TO KNOCK”, every home version of the movie ever “MONKEY BUSINESS”, “NIAGARA”, released or broadcast. “RIVER OF NO RETURN” and “LETS MAKE LOVE” have also been provided on The image on the DVD is sharper and the DVD. A still gallery closes out the better defined than I have ever seen. Of DVD’s extras. ” course, the clarity of the transfer brings out the significant deficiencies in the film rear screen projection and optical effects work. Digitally Obsessed.com website review: Colours are a little inconsistent, but most of the time they give a good idea what an “ "I ransacked the town and there isn't a original IB Technicolor print of “RIVER OF horse to be had for the crown jewels. But I NO RETURN” might have looked like. got another idea. We can buy a raft and go Blacks appear accurate, contrast is pretty to Council City on the river. You got any smooth and the level of shadow detail is money?" – Matt Weston (Rory Calhoun) more than respectable for a film from 1954. The restored film element used for Run Time: 01h:30m:51s the transfer appears free from age related Release Date: May 14, 2002 blemishes, but there is a noticeable UPC: 024543035206 amount of film grain throughout most of Genre: western the presentation. The cleanly authored DVD doesn’t display any noticeable signs Set in Northwest Canadian Indian of digital compression artefacts. Territory, “RIVER OF NO RETURN” is an adventure tale of the gold rush days. “RIVER OF NO RETURN” is presented Photographed in Technicolor and with a Dolby Digital 4.0 soundtrack that is CinemaScope, the film was designed to representative of the film’s original sound exploit the splendours of the mountains, mix. This is that big, wide, exaggerated trees, rapid rivers and Marilyn Monroe, fifties stereo, designed for the cavernous who was riding the crest of several movie palaces of yore and to complement successful films. It is really the people that super wide CinemaScope framing. There make it memorable, rather than the fairly is plenty of directional information in the routine story or flawed production of the forward soundstage, including directional film. dialogue that follows the actors on screen positions. The surround channels are dead Directed by the eccentric Otto Preminger, silent a lot of the time, except for a few River occupies a lesser rung in his career climatic sequences on the river and to add ladder. Having distinguished himself with musical fill to passages of Lionel the 1944 thriller “LAURA” (starring Gene Newman’s score. Fidelity is pretty good on Tierney, and garnering an Oscar these nearly fifty-year-old stereo tracks, so nomination for Best Director), in the '50s you will want to add more than a bit of Preminger produced and directed such amplification. Background hiss and films as the controversial “THE MOON IS surface noise have been minimized to a BLUE”, the all-black musicals “CARMEN great extent on the track, making for a JONES” and “PORGY AND BESS”, the fairly clean aural presentation. Dialogue is chilling drama “THE MAN WITH THE always crisp and completely GOLDEN ARM” starring Frank Sinatra, understandable. An English Dolby and the Bernard Shaw version of Joan of Surround and French stereo track are also Arc, “SAINT JOAN”. provided on the DVD, as are English and Spanish subtitles. Later, he would take on more ambitious projects, like the well-regarded courtroom The basic interactive menus provide melodrama “” access to the standard scene selection in 1959, “EXODUS” in 1960, and “ADVISE AND CONSENT” from 1962. Legendary suppose). Although her scenes before back story has him as a dictatorial director leaving the mining camp show a Marilyn who insisted that his stars in River do their as attractive as she would ever be, she own stunts, although the poorly realised generally flounders in the last two-thirds of rear-screen projection and long river shots the film. make this rumour suspect. Mitchum once joked that he had three The story has Matt Calder (Robert expressions and they all feature, looking in Mitchum) arriving in a rough-and-tumble a particular direction. The actor, lionised mining camp to pick up his son Mark for the economy of his acting, is (Tommy Rettig), who has come to live with particularly stingy with his technique in this his estranged father following the death of outing – he gets by on one disinterested his mother. The boy has met up with a expression for this whole film! – and just singer, Kay Weston (Marilyn Monroe), who fails to achieve a level of believability in his has been helping him as he has wandered role. In 1945, Mitchum had been Lt. the camp looking for his father. Finally Walker in “THE STORY OF G.I. JOE”, and finding each other, the father and son received an Oscar nomination as Best head out to Calder's farm to begin new life Supporting Actor. He had previously together. worked with Preminger on “ANGEL FACE” in 1952 with Jean Simmons. The situation is quickly upset by the arrival of Kay and her gambler husband, Harry After a decade at RKO, he moved to 20th Weston (Rory Calhoun), on a raft. They Century Fox, and starred in “WHITE are attempting to ride the river to Council WITCH DOCTOR”, opposite Susan City and file a claim on a gold mine that Hayward, in the year prior to River. was won in a card game under dubious Mitchum was to achieve a new level of circumstances. Deciding that stealing stardom a year later when he took on the Calder's horse and rifle is a better bet for role as a psychotic religious fanatic who making the trip quickly, Weston does just plots to murder two children in “NIGHT OF that by knocking Calder out after getting THE HUNTER”. He also turned in an the drop on him. awesome performance as a vicious criminal in “CAPE FEAR” opposite Kay stays with the injured Calder and his Gregory Peck in 1962. Interestingly, boy when Weston leaves them Mitchum sang the title song for “RIVER OF defenceless. The local Indians arrive, bent NO RETURN”. on driving the settlers out, and they are forced to flee the farm on the raft. Tommy Rettig plays the young boy who has come west to join his father. Another This is somewhat of a musical adventure mostly unbelievable, if inoffensive perfor- as Marilyn's character is a saloon singer in mance, there seems to be an attempt to a mining camp and, unfortunately, looks capture some of the magic that made impossibly sweet and beautiful to be what “SHANE” such a big success the previous was basically a travelling prostitute. She year for Paramount. But the chemistry sings four songs in the film very between Rettig and his adult co-stars is pleasantly, including: “One Silver Dollar”, barely existent; he would enjoy much “I'm Gonna File My Claim” (particularly better success when he went on to star as scintillating), “Down in the Meadow” and “”'s in four years on the “The River of No Return”. Her television series. Rettig's troubles growing performance is acceptable but not up were legendary tabloid fodder and in particularly believable. In a period Western later life, he overcame his difficulties as a and a story line that requires her to do "child star"1 and became a successful such "adventuresome" physical work, she software developer. very much seems a fish out of water. The one believable performance in the film This one is destined to remain a short clip is by western movie journeyman, Rory in retrospectives of her career between Calhoun, as the gambler husband to “HOW TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE” and “THE SEVEN-YEAR ITCH”; one has to 1 wonder what the powers-that-be at Fox The quotation marks are strangely insulting. Rettig were thinking (other than cashing in, I was a child star (if a minor one) – in the same sense Monroe was an actress (if a minor one). Monroe's singer. He at least provokes Not much in the way of extras for this disc. some feelings from the viewer in his dirty The Still Gallery has a couple of pretty dealing obsession with the big score. good pictures and a few really lousy ones. Reported to have been discovered by Alan There is a Restoration Comparison that Ladd and signed to Fox, Calhoun later shows the excellent work done in restoring achieved fame in the TV Series “The the quality of this film. Texan” and in the latter years of his Extras Grade: C career, he appeared in two of the Angel revenge movies as a character called Kit Final Comments Carson. Not the best film by any one involved, “RIVER OF NO RETURN” is even less There are many fatal flaws in “RIVER OF than the sum of its parts. Still, it is a NO RETURN” that make it a lesser effort Monroe film, it is directed by Preminger by all involved. Still, the film is reasonably and it has Robert Mitchum; so it remains enjoyable and would certainly make for an interesting curiosity of a studio era that decent children's entertainment.2 The is thankfully long gone by.” suspense is not too intense, nor is the – Jesse Shanks violence too graphic and younger viewers would most likely not notice that the rafting scenes often look just terrible, with the DVD Corner.net website review: actors cringing in expectation of the next bucket of cold water being thrown on them “This second set of Marilyn discs from Fox by a stagehand. is a mixture of films that Marilyn made for Rating for Style: C+ Fox from 1952-1960. In these films, Rating for Substance: C Marilyn plays a variety of roles. In some of the films, Marilyn really only has The image transfer is quite remarkable in supporting roles, such as in “MONKEY many instances and some of the scenes BUSINESS”. Still, this collection also look fantastic. Particularly impressive shows how versatile an actress she was, scenes are Marilyn singing in the gambling although she never seemed to think that tent and the awesome vistas of the about herself. . The widescreen adds much to the movie and makes it more Each disc has been restored somewhat – interesting with a chance to observe more on that later. A demo of the Preminger's experiments with the still restoration is included as an extra on each relatively new medium of Cinemascope. disc. A short stills gallery is also included Unfortunately, the rafting sequences on each disc. Below is a brief description benefited from the blurry, scratchy of each film and comments about the versions and here look even less realistic. picture and soundtrack on each disc. Some other special effects come off less well. “RIVER OF NO RETURN” – Colour – Image Transfer Grade: A- Anamorphic widescreen (2.55:1), 1954. Sound is Dolby English 4.0, 2.0, French The disc provides a 4.0 Dolby soundtrack Stereo. In this western action adventure, in English and French stereo. Both are Marilyn co-stars with tough guy farmer quite sufficient and a nice technical job is Robert Mitchum, Rory Calhoun, and a done is enhancing the original stereo to young Tommy Rettig (“Lassie”). Filmed on something that will sound pretty good in a location in the Pacific Northwest, the film home theatre. All the films in the Diamond has some rugged shots of rafting a river, Collection have shown nice efforts to and Marilyn singing and strumming a properly place characters' speaking guitar. Mitchum goes after Marilyn's positions in the stereo spectrum and this is fiancée (Calhoun), after he steals his no exception. horse and rifle, leaving his family Audio Transfer Grade: B+ defenceless against the Indians. Directed by Otto Preminger. Restoration tones down the Technicolor print, cleans it up but colour shifts remain during reel 2 Another insulting remark, but it conforms to the changes. Annoying. conventional idiotic premise that lower standards all round are perfectly acceptable in films for child audiences. Summary – if you are a Marilyn fan like Overall, Return seems like a pretty me, these movies are a must have set. average Western. Frankly, though I just Not on the same par as the original watched it four days ago, I find it hard to Diamond Collection but still worthy for remember much about it. The movie did purchase either individually or in the set. little wrong, but it also failed to provide any Extras are few and restoration could have sparks or energy. been better but it is still the best these films have ever looked on video. Some of that stems from the bland relationship between the leads. From Overall Grades-Picture B, Sound B, minute one, it seems inevitable that Kay Content B, Extras C ” will lose Weston and hook up with Calder. The only question revolves around the way in which this relationship will evolve. DVD Movie Guide website review: Like many movie couples, the two appear to be total opposites at the start, and they “When confronted with the sight of Marilyn bicker frequently. Of course, they slowly Monroe in the 1954 Western “RIVER OF start to develop respect for each other as NO RETURN”, I immediately flashed back we move toward their preordained pairing. to a different film: 1956’s “BUS STOP”. No, that flick wasn’t a Western, but it did I won’t quibble too much about the feature a cowboy, which led to my blandness of this concept, but the lack of connection. I didn’t like “BUS STOP”, so chemistry between Mitchum and Monroe despite the lack of any true similarities it seems problematic. They simply don’t shared with Return, I must admit I didn’t synch well together, so the inevitability of look forward to my screening of the latter. their relationship appears due to movie convention more than any form of As it happened, the two movies actually connection. had more in common than I expected, mainly due to Monroe’s role. In both flicks, Otherwise, “RIVER OF NO RETURN” she played barroom singers of potentially provides a competent and sporadically loose morals. A rugged cowboy then engaging Western but nothing more. comes along to rescue her and make her Nothing about it seems to elevate the an upstanding sort. genre or allow the actors to stand out from the crowd. Were it not for the presence of In Return, Monroe plays Kay, the wife of Monroe and Mitchum, I think this one sleazy gold prospector Harry Weston would have vanished from sight years (Rory Calhoun). She views him as a ticket ago.” – Colin Jacobson out of her seedy situation, and when he finds a big lode, they plan to stake his claim and live happily ever after. However, “ “RIVER OF NO RETURN” appears in an events transpire to send things off course, aspect ratio of approximately 2.55:1 on and then run into Matt Calder (Robert this single-sided, dual-layered DVD; the Mitchum), a farmer who recently got out of image has been enhanced for 16X9 prison. He killed a man to defend a friend, televisions. Through the five DVDs that and he now returns to be with his young make up the new Marilyn Monroe son Mark (Tommy Rettig). “Diamond Collection 2”, I saw erratic visuals. Without question, Return In desperate need of transportation and presented the strongest flick of the five, as protection, Weston steals a horse and a it offered a consistently solid picture. gun from Calder. This leaves them unprotected against the local Indians, so For the most part, sharpness appeared they have to split to survive. Calder also very good. A few wide shots betrayed wants to go after Weston, so the some modest softness, but those threesome takes a chance and proceeds instances occurred infrequently. [sic] on a raft down a turbulent river. There Otherwise, the movie seemed nicely crisp they get to know each other and also learn and well defined. Jagged edges and moiré more about themselves and their effects caused no concerns, and unlike its behaviour. three “Diamond Collection 2” pre- decessors, Return suffered from no obvious edge enhancement. It also seemed almost shockingly free of flaws. A sounded less distinct than I’d expect, even few speckles and a smidgen of grain for this era. Music appeared reasonably appeared, but otherwise, this nearly 50- bright and vivid, though, and some Indian year-old flick looked wonderfully clean and drumming actually manifested fairly good fresh. depth. Effects were somewhat thin and lifeless, but they appeared clean and Colours seemed terrific. The movie used acceptably well defined considering the the lush and vibrant tones of Technicolor age of the film. I heard a little hiss at times to good advantage, as it consistently throughout the movie, but not to a presented a lovely palette. The colours tremendous degree. Ultimately, “RIVER looked bright and vivid throughout the film, OF NO RETURN” provided a listenable and they often were quite stunning to but unexceptional audio experience. behold. Black levels also appeared acceptably deep and dense, while shadow For the five DVDs that come as part of detail seemed clear and appropriately Fox’s “Diamond Collection 2”, we find very opaque. Overall, this was a very fine visual similar extras. All five include the same set presentation that lost only a few points due of trailers. We discover ads for River as to some minor softness. Otherwise, it well as “Diamond 2” mates “DON’T offered a great image. BOTHER TO KNOCK”, “MONKEY BUSINESS”, “NIAGARA” and “LETS While the Dolby Surround 4.0 soundtrack MAKE LOVE”. In addition, we get an ad of “RIVER OF NO RETURN” couldn’t hope for the original “Diamond Collection”. to live up to the excellent visuals, it still seemed fine for its age. The soundfield After that we locate a Still Gallery. This worked fairly well for the most part, with domain includes 20 images. Those consist only one periodic exception: speech. of publicity photos and shots from the set. Stereo films of this area [sic] often used None of these appear fascinating, but very hard placement of lines, which meant they’re moderately interesting. dialogue could appear strongly in one of the side speakers. That technique As with all of the discs in the original occurred during Return, which was fine “Diamond Collection”, River and the other except for some ill definition at times. Most “Diamond 2” release offer a Restoration lines came from fairly appropriate Comparison. This lets us see the changes domains, but at times the words emanated from older releases of the film and the from illogical positions. On occasion, the current one. I think these seem somewhat speech tended to bleed and float across self-serving and a little pointless, but it can the forward spectrum, which became a be interesting to note the improvements. moderate distraction. “RIVER OF NO RETURN” feels like one of However, Marilyn Monroe’s singing Marilyn Monroe’s more forgettable efforts. showed none of these problems, and the The movie provides a very average rest of the mix demonstrated good spread Western that suffers from few obvious and localization. Effects created a nice failings. It simply never manages to sense of atmosphere and ambience, and become anything terribly interesting or music offered a reasonable stereo provocative. On the other hand, the DVD presence. The surrounds also kicked in offers absolutely terrific picture quality with some light elements at times; for along with fairly good sound and the usual instance, river effects popped up from the roster of insubstantial extras . I didn’t like rear to help bolster the presentation. the movie enough to strongly recommend However, the track remained fairly heavily it, but Monroe fans should give it a look, anchored in the front, as the surrounds especially since they’ll likely be very remained passive partners. pleased with the quality of the presentation. Audio quality showed its age but seemed decent. As with its “Diamond Collection 2” Note that “RIVER OF NO RETURN” can predecessors, speech offered the weakest be purchased on its own or as part of parts. At times the lines appeared thin and Fox’s Marilyn Monroe “Diamond Collection unnatural, as they demonstrated 2” set. The latter includes four other excessive reverberation. The dialogue movies: “DON’T BOTHER TO KNOCK”, remained intelligible, though; it just “MONKEY BUSINESS”, “NIAGARA”, and “LETS MAKE LOVE”. For dedicated fans “WAY OF GAUCHO” (52), “POWDER of Marilyn, the “Diamond Collection 2” RIVER” (53) and “APACHE TERRITORY” offers a nice bargain. It costs only $79.98 (58). Tommy Rettig, as you may know, list as opposed to a total of $99.90 for the played another big-scale western, “THE five films on their own. Granted, you’d LAST WAGON” (60) with Richard need to really love Marilyn to want that Widmark. ” much of her material, but if you fall into that category, it’s a great idea. ” Movies Unlimited website review:

Glamournet.com website review: “Gripping Gold Rush saga stars Marilyn Monroe as a saloon singer searching for “The Canadian wilderness is the backdrop her runaway husband with the aid of for Marilyn's second and final western (the widowed trail-hand Robert Mitchum. first was “A TICKET TO TOMAHAWK” in Spectacular rafting action sequences are 1950). She and Robert Mitchum did their not to be missed. Rory Calhoun, Tommy own stunts in this film, resulting in several Rettig co-star under Otto Preminger's mishaps that delayed production. direction.” Released May 1954. Directed by Otto Preminger. Twentieth Century-Fox. Technicolor CinemaScope. Tommy Rettig Indeterminate Western movies website review: (1941-1996), the child actor who played opposite Marilyn, was perhaps better “Matt Calder is a widower with a young known as on TV's first “Lassie” son. Their peace is shattered when Matt is series. ” robbed and beat senseless by Harry Weston, a no good gambler. Harry`s Robert Mitchum (Matt Calder) girlfriend stays behind to help care for Marilyn Monroe (Kay Weston) Matt. When he is well enough they start on Rory Calhoun (Harry Weston) a journey by raft which takes in one crisis Tommy Rettig (Mark Calder) after another. A brilliant film well worth a watch. The film was made in ’s Banff and Jasper National parks and the The History Of.co.uk website review: scenery is fantastic. Stars Robert Mitchum, Marilyn Monroe, Rory Calhoun ““RIVER OF NO RETURN” was set in and Tommy Rettig. ” Northwest Canada, in savage Indian Territory, in the goldrush days. The plot was weak but the scenery was spectacular Chez.com French website review – awaiting and the action of the river dramatically adequate translation (the auto-translate facility powerful. Otto Preminger knew how to on most browsers is all but worthless): create tension and threat in the grandeur and menace of the Canadian Rockies.. “Le Petit Tommy: Photographed in Technicolor and CinemaScope, the film was designed to Marilyn a rencontré le petit Tommy Rettig exploit the splendours of the mountains, en 1953,avant le tournage de “LA trees and rapid rivers plus the magnetic RIVIÈRE SANS RETOUR” lors de la pleasant figure of Marilyn Monroe. She première du film “THE 5000 FINGERS OF was the only charming woman surrounded Dr T.” dans lequel il jouait. "Mon curé m'a by two handsome men, Robert Mitchum dit que je ne devais pas parler à une and Rory Calhoun, and a little boy, Tommy femme telle que vous…" Rettig. Marilyn sang 4 numbers in the film: "One Silver Dollar", "I'm Gonna File My "Alors que Tommy devait tourner une Claim", "Down in the Meadow" and "The scène avec moi, raconte Marilyn, il s'est River of No Return". brusquement précipité vers sa mère sans dire un mot. J'en ai été très peinée. Le Robert Mitchum's major period of troisième jour, sa mère n'étant pas là, je popularity began in the mid-'50s with me suis approchée de lui et je lui ai “RIVER OF NO RETURN” and “NOT AS A demandé : "Tommy, puis-je te parler une STRANGER” (55). None of the Westerns minute ? Tu m'as évitée pendant trois made by Rory Calhoun is memorable: jours. Comme nous ne nous sommes rat en train de se noyer. Mais mon intime jamais rencontrés avant ce film, je n'ai rien conviction est qu'elle rendait la monnaie pu faire qui t'ai blessé. Qu'est-ce qu'il y a de sa pièce à Preminger." ?" Il m'a regardée d'un air vraiment effrayé, puis m'a avoué : "C'est mon curé, "On a tourné cette scène cinq ou six fois". mon curé m'a dit que je ne devais pas parler à une femme telle que vous en Le plateau comporte un grand réservoir dehors du tournage"… J'ai eu l'impression représentant la rivière, avec dedans le de recevoir un formidable coup de pied radeau. D'énormes tuyaux déversent des dans l'estomac. Mais, la semaine trombes d'eau pour secouer le tout et suivante, lorsque Joe est venu me voir sur fouetter es trois acteurs que l'on filme en le plateau, Tommy s'est dit que, comme lui gros plan. Robert Mitchum se souvient : était génial, moi aussi je devais être OK." "Dans une des scènes tournées en studio, je devais me tenir debout sur le radeau Après Marilyn, “Lassie”. pendant qu'on projetait derrière l'image du torrent furieux. Et pendant ce temps les Dans les Rocheuses Canadiennes, gars des effets spéciaux devaient tirer des lorsque Marilyn ne tourne pas, elle flêches à pointes d'acier autour de moi et accompagne Joe DiMaggio à la pêche. Ils entre mes jambes. Elles se fichaient si emmènent avec eux le petit Tommy. profondèment dans le chêne du radeau L'année après le tournage de “LA qu'il fallait les enlever avec des tenailles. RIVIÈRE SANS RETOUR”, Tommy On a tourné cette scène cinq ou six fois devient le maître du chien “Lassie” dans avant que Preminger se déclare satisfait." la série télévisée. Le "bain de Marilyn" coupé au montage. Arrivé à l'âge adulte, la carrière de Tommy s'effondre. Né en 1941, celui qui donna le Cette scène ne vous dit rien ? Normal, elle temps d'un film une âme de maman à a été coupée au montage. On devait y voir Marilyn, s'éteint en 1996 à la suite d'une Marilyn prendre une douche dans une overdose de drogue. cascade et laver son chemisier à fleurs. Cette scène se serait située juste avant La scène du radeau. que Mitchum embrasse sauvagement Marilyn dans la forêt. La scène est réduite Pour les scènes difficiles sur le radeau, à une simple allusion : (voir Story Board, Marilyn est doublée par la cascadeuse chapitre : "Les chasseurs de prime".) On Dorothy Skelton. peut voir Marilyn qui revient de la cascade et rejoint le campement. Elle étend son Marilyn ne veut pas tourner ces scènes et chemisier sur la branche d'un arbre. s'enferme dans sa loge. Mitchum buvait trop ! "Preminger était un autocrate sur le plateau, raconte le producteur du film Malgré son visage d'ange, le beau Robert Stanley Rubin, mais Marilyn s'en est Mitchum est, à l'époque, un buveur de vengée. Elle retardait sans cesse le bonne réputation. Si bien que Preminger a travail. D'abord, elle détestait ces prises de nombreux heurts avec lui quand parce qu'elles étaient désagréables et l'acteur demande, par exemple, à des fatigantes. Ensuite, ses lenteurs calculées assistants d'aller lui chercher verre sur servaient à ennuyer Preminger, en le verre de Vodka, sa boisson préférée. A la poussant à dépasser les délais. Je me fin, dompté, Preminger, qui appréciait souviens d'un jour où il fallait faire beaucoup le talent de Mitchum, explique quelques prises pour les scènes tournées que celui-ci buvait trop mais qu'il dans le réservoir d'eau. Elle s'était recluse l'acceptait "parce que c'était lui !" ” dans sa loge et Preminger n'arrivait pas à l'en faire sortir. L'assistant non plus. J'ai dû parlementer avec elle pendant trois [no listing in "Halliwell's Film Guide", quarts d'heure, d'abord à la porte de la "Leonard Maltin's Movie and Video Guide loge, puis à l'intérieur. Elle disait qu'elle ne 2001", "Speelfilm Encyclopedie", "The voulait pas tourner ces plans parce qu'ils Critics’ Film Guide", "The Good Film and étaient physiquement désagréables à Video Guide", "Movies on TV and faire, qu'elle avait peur de ressembler à un Videocassette 1988-89", "Rating the Movies (1990)", "The Sunday Times Guide "Video Movie Guide 1993" or "The Virgin to Movies on Television", "The Time Out Film Guide"] Film Guide", "TV Times Film & Video Guide 1995", "Variety Movie Guide 1993",

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See also “BADKONAK-E SEFID” and “BASHU” - both recent Iranian films, and subject index under ARAB WORLD / MIDDLE EAST.