River of No Return

Rating:
Summary: Marilyn Monroe and the Canadian Rockies!
Review: .
While this is certainly far from Marilyn Monroe's best performance, it is nonetheless an interesting film to watch.

Amazingly, the somewhat artificial beauty of Marilyn Monroe shown floating on a raft down the "river of no return" with a backdrop of the Canadian Rockies can capture one's imagination and make you forget what a truly awful film this is.

Marilyn steals your attention in every scene, and the sheer beauty of her presence more than makes up for the ridiculousness of the plot.

MM sings a couple of numbers in her dance-hall girl phase of the film, most notably, "I'm Gonna File My Claim", about a gold-digger during the gold rush days.

Any Marilyn fan would have to see this movie just for Marilyn's sake. Anyone else can probably skip it.

MMMmmmarvelous Marilyn!

Rating:
Summary: Marilyns greatest dramatic love story now on WideScreen DVD!
Review: From 1952 - 1954 MM (Marilyn Monroe) acted in three serious dramatic movies; 1952 - "Don't Bother to Knock - she played a crazy madwoman babysitter, 1953 - "Niagara" - a husband murdering adulterous (her greatest dramatic role ever) and 1954 - "River Of No Return" - a saloon singer who finds true love in the Pacific NorthWest (her Greatest dramatic love story)!!

In 1954 MM was voted Photoplay magazines favorite female actress (Todays equivalent is "Peoples Magazines). MM was reaching her prime and everyone loved Marilyn. Unfortunately many critics and fans would not accept Marilyn's dramatic talents and only loved her in comedies.

Well ladies and Gentlemen now MM's three greatest dramatic roles are now available in the Diamond Collection II.

The "River Of No Return" was one of the first CinemaScope, Technicolor, with stereophonic sound. Now this has been digitally transferred to DVD with Anamorphic WideScreen (enhanced for 16x9 tvs), masterfull digital color and digital sound. The picture 7 sound quality of this DVD is outstanding.

This movies has it all; a dynamic adventure story, Outstanding Actors Marilyn Monroe - magical and beautiful. Robert Mitchum - the perfect match for Marilyn (their film chemistry is real). Tommy Rettig (later to play Jeff on the tv show "Lassie) as Mitchums son. Rory Calhoun as the perfect bad guy gambler louse boyfriend of Marilyn. Director Otto Preminger performs his visual magic of this very picturesque out door adventure.

Summary: Beaten & robbed Mitchum, his son & bad guy saloon girlfriend (Marilyn)are left behind to die in Indian country by bad guy (Calhoun). Their only escape is down the "River Of No Return" on a raft. This perilous journey has hero (Mitchum), son (Rettig) & herione (Monroe) fighting Indians, Trappers, mountain lions and the rapid rich river. Mitchum's only focus is to get Calhoun.

Marilyn acts beautifully with fresh believable performance as the frontier saloon girl. Mitchum is the perfect leading man (Marilyns best romantic leading man). It is truly to bad people haven't - until now on DVD - been able to see MM as a very talented dramatic actress. Now for the first time we can on this digital DVD.

Extras include: Trailer, Restoration comparisons & film gallery.

Sit back and enjoy MM's acting versatility, beauty and cinema magic. This is Marilyns greatest love story. Enjoy.

Rating:
Summary: 2 Great Stars
Review: I am not a huge Monroe fan, but She and Robert Mitchum are fun in this movie. It's a very good show.

Rating:
Summary: 2 Great Stars
Review: I am not a huge Monroe fan, but She and Robert Mitchum are fun in this movie. It's a very good show.

Rating:
Summary: Some of MARILYN'S best acting!! And MITCHUM's superb!
Review: Marilyn doesn't play a dolly-girl in this film. She plays a very human female who has seen hardships and goes through many in the film, and takes it like a toughened woman. I've never seen her quite like this in any of her other films. I love all of her films, but this is a stand-out and unique. I wouldn't rate it as one of her best films, but she IS super in it. It's a Level 2 Marilyn film, not quite up there with How to Marry a Millionaire and The Seven Year Itch, but still pretty darn good!
Robert Mitchum is, as always, superb, and there is a good chemistry between the two. A definite must on DVD for any Marilyn fan. If only somewhat interested get the VHS, but Marilyn fans and Western fans will want the Widescreen DVD.

Rating:
Summary: Some of MARILYN'S best acting!! And MITCHUM's superb!
Review: Marilyn doesn't play a dolly-girl in this film. She plays a very human female who has seen hardships and goes through many in the film, and takes it like a toughened woman. I've never seen her quite like this in any of her other films. I love all of her films, but this is a stand-out and unique. I wouldn't rate it as one of her best films, but she IS super in it. It's a Level 2 Marilyn film, not quite up there with How to Marry a Millionaire and The Seven Year Itch, but still pretty darn good!
Robert Mitchum is, as always, superb, and there is a good chemistry between the two. A definite must on DVD for any Marilyn fan. If only somewhat interested get the VHS, but Marilyn fans and Western fans will want the Widescreen DVD.

Rating:
Summary: I'm gonna file my claim on Marilyn!
Review: Marilyn is so beautiful in this movie. While the movie itself is not her best, she is just so amazingly gorgeous in it. Like the scenery itself. The story isn't very good, but to see Marilyn perform "One Silver Dollar" "I'm gonna file my claim" and "river of no return" and a sweet "down in the meadow" it's worth buying! she does act decently in this but it's hardly her top acting. The little boy is very good too.

Rating:
Summary: Sometimes it's peaceful, sometimes wild and free
Review: Marilyn Monroe described this movie as a grade-Z cowboy movie where the acting finished third to the scenery and Cinemascope. Okay, the Canadian Rockies and the rapids were utilized to its best for 1950's film-making, and MM's second film in Cinemascope must have made quite an impression in the theatres for the new aspect ratio.

It's 1875 in the wild Northwest. Matt Calder is reunited with his young son Mark in a saloon town and rather than go the usual route of prospecting, start a new life on a farm bordering the River of No Return. Their life is instantly disrupted by two events. One, gambler Harry Weston, who's one a gold claim under dubious circumstances, is eager to file the claim in Council City to prevent the loser from beating him to it. To that end, he steals Calder's horse and rifle, a capital offense in the codes of the West. Second, a group of Native Americans on the warpath descend on the farm. Both Calders and Kay, Weston's moll who stays behind to look after the injured Calder and his son, flee in time in the raft Weston and Kay arrived in.

From then on, it's a struggle to survive the rapids without any weapons, food, and constantly being drenched by that river whenever it's "wild and free." As Calder tells Kay, "The Indians call this the River of No Return. From here on, you'll find out why." He is so dead set on getting his hands on Weston, he'll risk anything, all the time looking after his two charges.

Conflicts arrive in many forms, the primary two are Kay's torn loyalties between Harry and Matt. She doesn't want Matt to kill Harry once the two meet up, and performs acts that range from desperate to being a seductive vamp, yet she realizes in their travails that he is thoughtful and unselfish, as demonstrated in the scene where he looks after her following her collapse from exhaustion. The other involves the circumstances where Matt had to leave young Mark in the saloon town for five years, and while it's justified, there is a certain amount of stigma in it.

Marilyn gets to sing four songs here, the acoustic guitar tune "One Silver Dollar" and the piano bar tune "I'm Gonna File My Claim", "Down In The Meadow", and one of the best songs she's ever sung, the title ballad. Her costumes aren't bad either, from the garish red dress she wears for the first song, the long green dress for the second tune, and the white blouse and anachronistic Levi's jeans she wears throughout the film. And this is the longest her hair has been in films, albeit it being a blonde wig, of course.

Despite the costumes, it's not a Western in the traditional sense of the word, but River Of No Return pales to others in the genre it's purported to be because it's more drama than action. Granted, this is not one of Marilyn's best films, nor is it that of Robert Mitchum's, Rory Calhoun's, or director Otto Preminger for that matter. Monroe would have to wait until The Seven Year Itch for her next biggest hit. However, both Mitchum and Monroe come off well despite the latter's dismissal of it.

Rating:
Summary: Sometimes it's peaceful, sometimes wild and free
Review: Marilyn Monroe described this movie as a grade-Z cowboy movie where the acting finished third to the scenery and Cinemascope. Okay, the Canadian Rockies and the rapids were utilized to its best for 1950's film-making, and MM's second film in Cinemascope must have made quite an impression in the theatres for the new aspect ratio.

It's 1875 in the wild Northwest. Matt Calder is reunited with his young son Mark in a saloon town and rather than go the usual route of prospecting, start a new life on a farm bordering the River of No Return. Their life is instantly disrupted by two events. One, gambler Harry Weston, who's one a gold claim under dubious circumstances, is eager to file the claim in Council City to prevent the loser from beating him to it. To that end, he steals Calder's horse and rifle, a capital offense in the codes of the West. Second, a group of Native Americans on the warpath descend on the farm. Both Calders and Kay, Weston's moll who stays behind to look after the injured Calder and his son, flee in time in the raft Weston and Kay arrived in.

From then on, it's a struggle to survive the rapids without any weapons, food, and constantly being drenched by that river whenever it's "wild and free." As Calder tells Kay, "The Indians call this the River of No Return. From here on, you'll find out why." He is so dead set on getting his hands on Weston, he'll risk anything, all the time looking after his two charges.

Conflicts arrive in many forms, the primary two are Kay's torn loyalties between Harry and Matt. She doesn't want Matt to kill Harry once the two meet up, and performs acts that range from desperate to being a seductive vamp, yet she realizes in their travails that he is thoughtful and unselfish, as demonstrated in the scene where he looks after her following her collapse from exhaustion. The other involves the circumstances where Matt had to leave young Mark in the saloon town for five years, and while it's justified, there is a certain amount of stigma in it.

Marilyn gets to sing four songs here, the acoustic guitar tune "One Silver Dollar" and the piano bar tune "I'm Gonna File My Claim", "Down In The Meadow", and one of the best songs she's ever sung, the title ballad. Her costumes aren't bad either, from the garish red dress she wears for the first song, the long green dress for the second tune, and the white blouse and anachronistic Levi's jeans she wears throughout the film. And this is the longest her hair has been in films, albeit it being a blonde wig, of course.

Despite the costumes, it's not a Western in the traditional sense of the word, but River Of No Return pales to others in the genre it's purported to be because it's more drama than action. Granted, this is not one of Marilyn's best films, nor is it that of Robert Mitchum's, Rory Calhoun's, or director Otto Preminger for that matter. Monroe would have to wait until The Seven Year Itch for her next biggest hit. However, both Mitchum and Monroe come off well despite the latter's dismissal of it.

Rating:
Summary: MONROE AND CANADA IN TECHNICOLOR
Review: Mitchum rescues Calhoun and Marilyn from a leaky raft; Calhoun returns the favour by stealing his horse and abandoning them (along with Mitchum's young son) to hostile Indians. This film isn't great by any stretch of the imagination, yet it presents the 27 year-old Monroe at her most beautiful. While the dialogue in this film leaves something to be desired, (Monroe herself was not pleased with having to do this film - she thought she deserved better material by 1954) the chemistry between Monroe and Mitchum is very evident and the gorgeous Canadian Rockies scenery is breathtaking in Technicolor.