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03-13-2020 07:22 PM
3:15 p.m. Eastern-- "River of No Return". Marilyn Monroe, Robert Mitchum, Tommy Rettig, Rory Calhoun
Wildly picturesque adventure, in which widower-with-a-past MItchum, and motherless son Rettig, join forces with saloon hall girl Marilyn, to float pell mell down the "River of No Return", rapids and all.
I remember watching this on the Saturday night movies on TV with my Dad, and loving it! If you are familiar with the country around Banff, Alberta, you know the kind of almost other-worldly, spectacular Canadian Rockies backdrop that is the film's setting. Despite treachery from Marilyn's ex-beau (Calhoun) and sundry attacks and mishaps, the trio on the raft forge an interesting bond as they traverse the wilderness.
That sweet maternal warmth that Marilyn could express is very much present in this, in her scenes with Tommy Rettig. She looks as fab as the scenery does, and Mitchum is terse and charismatic as ever.
Behind the scenes, director Otto Preminger raged, and tangled with Marilyn's acting coach Natasha Lytess, but it matters not a whit to the finished product, I believe.
Enjoyable!
03-13-2020 07:48 PM
That's a good way to describe this movie oznell - "a wildly picturesque adventure" and the scenery is spectacular.
03-13-2020 07:51 PM
Yeah, isn't it, @cimeranrose -- the scenery is just shatteringly beautiful, and the actors are pleasant to look at too! Too bad splendid Rory Calhoun has to play such an unsympathetic character in this....
03-13-2020 07:58 PM
Good movie! Didn't realize it was filmed around Banff. The Canadian Rockies are probably the most spectacular natural setting I've ever seen.
03-13-2020 08:00 PM - edited 03-13-2020 08:15 PM
03-13-2020 08:19 PM
Yeah, @kaydee50 , it is supposed to be set somewhere in the American Northwest, but in actuality, Preminger and company headquartered in Banff and filmed all around there...
@stevieb, ha, thanks for posting. Love the symbolic throwing off of those gaudy "dance hall" shoes into the road as she rides off into the sunset with Mitchum and Rettig...
03-13-2020 09:27 PM
I know I have seen this movie but will watch it again as I need an escapism movie!!!!!
I remember Tommy Rettig in the TV series Lassie! Of course Mitchum is a class act and always put in a great performance. Marilyn was beautiful and despite personal problems and issues managed to give her all in her movies, Niagara and the Misfits were two of my favorites. I always enjoyed Rory Calhoun in his many Westerns when I was growing up. I;m sure the scenery will be beautiful and the action ongoing in this film.
Oznell, it is so sweet your memory of watching this movie with your dad. Movies like music bring us to certain times and places and memories of people in our lives.
03-14-2020 07:52 AM
Oh, you're spot on, it is the sweetest of memories, @spiderw . We would make popcorn ( "Jiffypop" preferred, ha-- how's that for retro?) and watch the Saturday night movie almost every week. Those precious times with your parents, if you're lucky enough to have them, just stay with you the rest of your life...
03-14-2020 10:36 AM
Robert Mitchum was a wonderful actor and d_mned good-looking, too. He caught my eye in What a Way to Go! and then I knew I was smitten by the time I saw Ryan's Daughter.
Can't forget Cape Fear and The Night of the Hunter. Mitchum handled comedy, drama, romance and horror and made it look easy.
Sometimes I'll see an actor in a role and I never see him quite the same way again. He's tainted by a particular performance.
Never had that issue with Mitchum.
And, of course, I've always had a soft spot for Marilyn.
03-14-2020 11:42 AM
True, @just bee -- too bad they didn't get to team up more. They each had their own sort of "renegade" quality, and were interesting together...
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