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River of No Return
Fox // Unrated // May 14, 2002
List Price: $19.98 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
A threatening bully on the wrong side of the law. A father and son dealing with their relationship while forced to face the dangers of the elements on a ride against time. Set against the backdrop of white-water rapids, The River of No Return reads remarkably like the 40-years-later The River Wild; and I wouldn't be surprised at all if the latter movie had drawn inspiration from the 1954 Marilyn Monroe film. In any case, there's a lot of inherent drama in the landscape of the northwestern United States, with its rugged mountains, raging rivers, and vibrant skies.
As The River of No Return opens, we're introduced to a set of likeable characters: Matt Calder (Robert Mitchum), a prospective farmer setting off on a new life with his young son (Tommy Rettig) in the rugged Old West, and Kay (Marilyn Monroe), a saloon singer with a dream of getting out and living the good life. When Kay's fiancé Harry (Rory Calhoun) comes up with a gold claim, it seems like the perfect ticket out for both of them, but things end up getting complicated for everybody, particularly when the eponymous River of No Return and angry Native Americans are added to the mix.
The first half of the film is certainly its most entertaining part, as it sets up an entertaining situation and moves along quickly. The plot does stall out a bit in the middle of the film, as the romance between Kay and Matt is given center stage. Some very forced "relationship-building" scenes and several dialogues full of trite philosophy take the steam out of the adventure-story plot, leaving the movie to wind itself up without the energy of the opening scenes.
The River of No Return is clearly the product of a different social context than modern films. For one thing, the Indians are presented as pure "bad guys," and it's with absolutely no self-consciousness that Mitchum proclaims that he will defend "his" land from the attempts of the Indians to drive him off it. The virtues of protecting one's home, and the rightness of killing those who would take it from you, are loudly extolled, but no one in the story appears to notice that the Indians are trying to defend their homes and land from the marauding white men who (like Mitchum) are stealing it right and left. With a modern perspective on the situation, I was half-expecting the "Indian situation" to be more fully developed as a plot point, but in fact, they're just faceless bad guys who get the plot moving along.
There's also a certain creative tension hovering around Monroe's character. As a modern female viewer, I found Kay to be an interesting and engaging character: independent, assertive, and active, certainly no gilded lily for the men to do with as they will. Monroe in fact brings a considerable amount of verve into this characterization, and we can really believe in Kay as a woman who would decide to follow her own sense of what's right and wrong, and who would be willing to risk everything for a chance at a better life. But it seems that the scriptwriter and director didn't quite understand how to handle this character. Kay is subjected to a forced (in every sense of the word) "love scene" that made my hair stand on end; and to top it off, the ending hammers a square peg (the independent Kay) into the round hole of 1950s expectations of female aspirations.
Taken as a whole, The River of No Return is light, fluffy fun that just about manages to sustain itself over its running time; at 95 minutes, it even feels a bit long, but after stalling out a bit in the middle, it does manage to wrap things up reasonably quickly at the end. Monroe's singing pieces are very well done and are one of the most enjoyable and memorable parts of the film; they stand out a bit as vestiges of an era of musicals, adding a bit of nostalgic charm to the film as well.
Video
After more than forty years, any film will show plenty of wear and tear, and Fox's presentation of The River of No Return does a reasonable job of restoring this film to good condition. It looks like Monroe fans in particular should pay attention to Fox's "Diamond Collection" of her films; at least in the case of The River of No Return, the disc's restoration comparison shows that the DVD transfer is significantly better than the earlier laser disc transfer.
The DVD is anamorphically enhanced, though I was surprised to note that the 2.35:1 aspect ratio is apparently a trimmed version of the original 2.55:1 theatrical aspect ratio. It's still quite a respectably wide widescreen image, ideal for showing off the mountain scenery that forms the backdrop for the film.
Some parts of the image have benefited more from the restoration than others. Close-ups and stationary scenes are sharp and have reasonably natural-looking colors (though they are never particularly bright), while other shots, particularly those involving the actors in front of a matte image, have significant edge enhancement and more drab, muted colors. A digital cleanup has removed all traces of print flaws or speckles, and contrast looks good overall.
Audio
The River of No Return's Dolby 4.0 soundtrack gets the job done, though it doesn't present a particularly full surround experience; environmental effects like the rushing water of the rapids are fairly ordinary-sounding. Probably the most important element is that it presents Monroe's voice clearly and without distortion, so her singing pieces come across quite well.
Extras
The special features section of the DVD contains trailers for The River of No Return, four other Monroe films, and the Diamond Collection from Fox; it also includes a stills gallery and a brief but interesting comparison of the laser-disc and DVD transfers of the film.
Menus are nice and simple, with a themed background image and straightforward selections.
Final thoughts
This was my first Marilyn Monroe film, and it left me with the impression that Monroe had an excellent singing voice and reasonable acting ability. In the case of The River of No Return, it strikes me that the film itself was pretty clearly a vehicle for Monroe, rather than a well-thought-out film in its own right. It's light, fluffy fun; worth watching, and worth picking up if you're already a Monroe fan.
As The River of No Return opens, we're introduced to a set of likeable characters: Matt Calder (Robert Mitchum), a prospective farmer setting off on a new life with his young son (Tommy Rettig) in the rugged Old West, and Kay (Marilyn Monroe), a saloon singer with a dream of getting out and living the good life. When Kay's fiancé Harry (Rory Calhoun) comes up with a gold claim, it seems like the perfect ticket out for both of them, but things end up getting complicated for everybody, particularly when the eponymous River of No Return and angry Native Americans are added to the mix.
The first half of the film is certainly its most entertaining part, as it sets up an entertaining situation and moves along quickly. The plot does stall out a bit in the middle of the film, as the romance between Kay and Matt is given center stage. Some very forced "relationship-building" scenes and several dialogues full of trite philosophy take the steam out of the adventure-story plot, leaving the movie to wind itself up without the energy of the opening scenes.
The River of No Return is clearly the product of a different social context than modern films. For one thing, the Indians are presented as pure "bad guys," and it's with absolutely no self-consciousness that Mitchum proclaims that he will defend "his" land from the attempts of the Indians to drive him off it. The virtues of protecting one's home, and the rightness of killing those who would take it from you, are loudly extolled, but no one in the story appears to notice that the Indians are trying to defend their homes and land from the marauding white men who (like Mitchum) are stealing it right and left. With a modern perspective on the situation, I was half-expecting the "Indian situation" to be more fully developed as a plot point, but in fact, they're just faceless bad guys who get the plot moving along.
There's also a certain creative tension hovering around Monroe's character. As a modern female viewer, I found Kay to be an interesting and engaging character: independent, assertive, and active, certainly no gilded lily for the men to do with as they will. Monroe in fact brings a considerable amount of verve into this characterization, and we can really believe in Kay as a woman who would decide to follow her own sense of what's right and wrong, and who would be willing to risk everything for a chance at a better life. But it seems that the scriptwriter and director didn't quite understand how to handle this character. Kay is subjected to a forced (in every sense of the word) "love scene" that made my hair stand on end; and to top it off, the ending hammers a square peg (the independent Kay) into the round hole of 1950s expectations of female aspirations.
Taken as a whole, The River of No Return is light, fluffy fun that just about manages to sustain itself over its running time; at 95 minutes, it even feels a bit long, but after stalling out a bit in the middle, it does manage to wrap things up reasonably quickly at the end. Monroe's singing pieces are very well done and are one of the most enjoyable and memorable parts of the film; they stand out a bit as vestiges of an era of musicals, adding a bit of nostalgic charm to the film as well.
Video
After more than forty years, any film will show plenty of wear and tear, and Fox's presentation of The River of No Return does a reasonable job of restoring this film to good condition. It looks like Monroe fans in particular should pay attention to Fox's "Diamond Collection" of her films; at least in the case of The River of No Return, the disc's restoration comparison shows that the DVD transfer is significantly better than the earlier laser disc transfer.
The DVD is anamorphically enhanced, though I was surprised to note that the 2.35:1 aspect ratio is apparently a trimmed version of the original 2.55:1 theatrical aspect ratio. It's still quite a respectably wide widescreen image, ideal for showing off the mountain scenery that forms the backdrop for the film.
Some parts of the image have benefited more from the restoration than others. Close-ups and stationary scenes are sharp and have reasonably natural-looking colors (though they are never particularly bright), while other shots, particularly those involving the actors in front of a matte image, have significant edge enhancement and more drab, muted colors. A digital cleanup has removed all traces of print flaws or speckles, and contrast looks good overall.
Audio
The River of No Return's Dolby 4.0 soundtrack gets the job done, though it doesn't present a particularly full surround experience; environmental effects like the rushing water of the rapids are fairly ordinary-sounding. Probably the most important element is that it presents Monroe's voice clearly and without distortion, so her singing pieces come across quite well.
Extras
The special features section of the DVD contains trailers for The River of No Return, four other Monroe films, and the Diamond Collection from Fox; it also includes a stills gallery and a brief but interesting comparison of the laser-disc and DVD transfers of the film.
Menus are nice and simple, with a themed background image and straightforward selections.
Final thoughts
This was my first Marilyn Monroe film, and it left me with the impression that Monroe had an excellent singing voice and reasonable acting ability. In the case of The River of No Return, it strikes me that the film itself was pretty clearly a vehicle for Monroe, rather than a well-thought-out film in its own right. It's light, fluffy fun; worth watching, and worth picking up if you're already a Monroe fan.
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