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River of No Return

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This review refers to "The Diamond Collection" DVD(20th cent fox) of "The River of No Return".......

Think maternal instincts can't be sexy? Snuggle up to this romantic adventure, and let Marilyn Monroe sing you a lullaby in "The River of No Return" and decide for yourself! Also starring Robert Mitchum and Rory Calhoun as the men in her life, it's the perfect rainy afternoon flick.

After the death of his wife, Matt Calder(Mitchum) is starting life anew with his young son Mark(Tommy Rettig). He has a little cabin in the beautiful mountains of the Northwest and is going to teach Mark to become a man. But there's trouble amiss.... Harry Weston(Calhoun),a merciless gambler, beats and robs Calder of his gun and his horse, leaving him injured and defenseless against an impending Indian attack. Weston's fiancee(Monroe), the gorgeous saloon singer with a heart, stays on to nurse Calder back to health and look after the boy. But..there's no time to hang around, the Indians are getting closer and the three take off on a raft down river to escape the Indians and to find Weston.

The adventure begins as they fight off the Indians,and the elements, try to keep from starving, learn each other's secrets and find love.The dazzling cinematography capturing the river, the mountains, and the wooded areas is second only to Marilyn's beauty.You'll be taken in by the story and the scenery in this wonderful film directed by Otto Preminger. Monroe, Mitchum and Calhoun will cast their spells on you.

You'll be amazed by the restoration and outstanding transfer to the DVD 20th Cent Fox has made of this nearly 50 year old film. The Anamorphic Widescreen(2.55:1) picture takes in every bit of the beauty of the Northwest wilderness. The technicolor is bright and doesn't look in the least washed out.The audio in 4.0 Dolby Surround is wonderful, you'll think Marilyn and her guitar are right there in the room singing to you! The DVD "extras" include a comparison of the restoration with the original and a still galley with lots of photos. It may be viewed in French(Stereo) and has subtitles in English and Spanish. It's a great edition to any Classic Film collection.

Fall in love again.......Laurie

more of marilyn:Marilyn Monroe: Diamond Collection

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.

Okay, Marilyn Monroe does not look like the authentic 1880s saloon girl..... but who cares, she is marvelous in this western. Robert Mitchum is also superb in this gorgeous restoration on DVD.

It should be noted that to Marilyns credit, she DID most of her own stunts, and she was also seriously injured during the shoot in the Canadian Rockies. Most actresses would never do their own stunts in a movie like this. Running the rapids on a flat wooden raft... but she did, and she looked like she knew what she was doing as well! Of course, we see her in 3 Travilla gowns that are breathtakingly all Marilyn.

I love this movie... it has scenery, music, Robert and Marilyn, a bad guy, and pre-Lassie Tommy Retig, who is great in his role as well. This is grand entertainment and a quality restoration.

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.

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.

Robert Mitchum plays a practical, no-nonsense farmer recently reunited with his young son, Tommy Rettig. They rescue a young couple (Marilyn Monroe and Rory Calhoun) going on a raft down a river by their homestead, and that's where the trouble begins. Calhoun is out to make a gold claim, and he'll do anything, including stealing Mitchum's horse and gun, leaving Mitchum, Rettig, and even Monroe behind to face the Indians without any defence. So they must take to the raft to survive, and that's where the adventure begins. I liked this film a lot. Mitchum is his usual laconinc self, but it works really well with this character. Monroe gets to act in this film, and she does so very well, playing a saloon singer that wants to defend her man, despite what he has done to all of them. Young Rettig is good too, not cloying and irritating like so many child actors can be. The scenery is beautiful, the title song very effective, and although the direction of Otto Preminger isn't very fluid and sometimes the movie lumbers from one scene to another, the performances and relationships among the characters make up for it. Viewers will enjoy the trip down the River of No Return.

This is the first Marilyn Monroe movie I saw in which she played a sophisticated character - a salon singer who gave her every penny for her untrustworthy boyfriend to file claim on a potential goldmine. And she played it well and sang beautifully.

The fact that the movie was shot in the picturesque Canada certainly helped. The roaring river and the rocky cliffs did not pale even when compared with River Wild (Meryl Streep) made decades later. Robert Mitchum and Marilyn Monroe were a perfect couple. Two lonely souls in the west who deserved a better life.

For the superb cineamatography, the theme song (sang by Monroe during the movie and again at the end in a western cowboy style) and the leading characters, this is a movie to see.

The movie: This is an entertaining movie. Although there are some minor flaws and improbabilities in the script, the film is an exciting blend of action and drama, as Marilyn tries to convince a vengeance-driven Mitchum to spare her boyfriend's life. Marilyn has 4 or 5 songs in the movie, and shows some real talent. This does not detract from the realism of the story, either, because her character plays songs for a living. The ending leaves something to be desired, however, because it never answers a question that the film has set up about Mitchum's character. Still, the movie is fun to watch, and the two leads keep things interesting.

The DVD: This is the perfect DVD to use with a home theater. It has surround sound (the best I've encountered), and a whopping 2.55:1 widescreen transfer. (In case you didn't know, that means that the widescreen picture is 2.55 times wider than it is high.) The film has panoramic shots of some genuinely breathtaking locations. Perhaps the DVD's biggest fault is the way that the restoration inexplicably CUTS OUT whenever there is a fade-out or fade-in! You'll be watching a scene, and then suddenly, without warning, the restoration will blink out, leaving you with a washed-out-looking unrestored image. Then the picture will fade out, and you will see a fade-in on a new unrestored scene. About 1 or 2 seconds after this fade-in, the screen will blink, and the picture will look pretty good again. This is awkward, and interrupts the flow of the movie. I can't believe that the manufacturer is unable to fix those brief segments.

Overall, this is a fun piece of 1950s Americana. "River of No Return" is far better than 90 percent of the new movies being made today, and I recommend it.

This film is superb as far as most Marylin films go. Mitchum does a great job in it as well, probably one of my favorite films featuring Robert Mitchum. Right next to Cape Fear. Monroe and Mitchum has a definitive chemistry on screen that I believe is none like in any other of her films. Mitchum provides that satiric rugged form that is essential to Mrs. Monroe's part in this film. Rory Calhoun needs not be left out. Calhoun is an integral mediary between to two stars who's character is just enough to keep you guessing. Mitchums and Calhouns relationship is far from mistakable in this film. It is by far one of my favorite Marylin films.

This is one of those movies that I never tire of...I can't even count the times I've seen it. The first time I saw it, I felt a rush of emotions. The first one was embarassment @ the way Marilyn over-enunciated her words in it, but I understand that was @ the prompting of her acting coach. I was much younger then & a huge Marilyn fan, nonetheless. The song she sang to Tommy Rettig "Down In The Meadow" should be covered by Alison Krauss...it is so sweet & beautiful & I loved the tender way she related to him...it made me reflect on the tragedy of her never having her own children. The scene where Robert Mitchum warms her up when she was sick was "WHOA!" Everybody can call it chemistry...it was hot. & her performance of "Who's Gonna File My Claim?" made me want to perform the song the same way...she just knew the way it should be done. Another favorite scene was when the Indians (as we so unapologetically called them in the olden un-PC days) attacked them on the raft. Throughout the music hit just the right note of fatalistic mystery...after all, this was the River of No Return & even tho I know how it ends now, I still find the music exactly right. There are other memorable scenes...in fact, nearly every scene is a revelation of some truth we should all believe. If anybody ever wants to see why Marilyn Monroe was such a big deal & Robert Mitchum a huge box office draw, this is the movie to show them. The only down side to seeing this movie is that I never quite felt the same about Rory Calhoun after seeing it.