The dew of new stardom was still visible on Marilyn Monroe when she ventured up to Canada to shoot River of New Return (1954), a sturdily entertaining CinemaScope Western. Although director Otto Preminger later claimed little interest in the picture, he couldn’t help but bring his even-handed visual style to the widescreen process. The location shooting (in Alberta) is eye-filling, and that river really does look alarming. Best of all, a fresh and vital Marilyn had a costar to match her magnetism but not humour her sometimes scattered approach to acting. Robert Mitchum, as a homesteader with a dark past, is weighty enough to stand next to MM’s bright flame without giving any ground; they should have worked together again. Since Marilyn plays a saloon singer, she gets to croon some tunes in her inimitable style, with as much glamour as the gold rush-era trappings will allow, giving “I’m Going to File My Claim” previously unexplored shades of meaning. —Robert Horton, Amazon.com
THE REAL MARILYN. What can i say? from the moment the film opens and you see The Canadian mountains in colour you know you are in for a treat.Marilyn is amazing, she looks beautiful and i have got to say she looks good in jeans.The four songs she sings ‘River Of No Return’,’I’m Gonna File My Claim’,’Down In The Meadow’and ‘A Fine Romance’show Marilyns vocals off to great effect. She comes across as a real star and you cant help but be drawn into the film from start to finish. The river scenes are amazing and to think Marilyn was actually on the raft in the roughest places. If you want to see a Marilyn Monroe film watch this one you wont be disapointed.
Marilyn Monroe in a Musical Adventure. ” The River of no Return”(54) was filmed in glorious Technicolor and cinemascope. It unashamedly exploits the natural splendors of mountains, trees, rivers and especially that great force of nature Marilyn Monroe. It is set in the days of the gold rush in the Canadian North West. It was filmed in the beautiful Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada which helped the impressive cinematography tremendously.Marilyn Monroe stars as a saloon girl who can sing very nicely indeed. So much so that this film can be considered a musical adventure. Her opening song “One Silver Dollar” is especially enjoyable. She is involved with a gambler/drifter played by Rory Calhoun in perhaps his best screen role. He is extremely good in this raffish role, and tends to steal the limelight from the better known stars. Mitchum rescues the pair from drowning and looks after them. Later Calhoun in a most ungracious act knocks Mitchum over the head and steals his horse and rifle. This leaves Mitchum, his son and Marilyn in something of a fix as the Indians are on the warpath. They use a raft to take after Calhoun down the river. On the way Mitchum quite sensibly lusts after Monroe. What red blooded male wouldn’t? Of course he meets up with Calhoun again for a less than friendly chat.Both Otto Preminger the director and Marilyn Monroe were forced to make this film against their wishes due to contractual obligations. They both had deep reservations about the script. But despite this the film was a box office hit. Monroe and Preminger fell out during filming and Mitchum took over the communication role. Mitchum as usual exudes his sleepy brand of masculinity in the film whilst Monroe takes femininity to Mt Everest heights. Her saloon girl dress is certainly an eye opener for the male viewer. The film has many good moments like the excellent songs and gorgeous cinematography. The rear screen projection and long shots during the river scenes are a bit false at times. The Indians also seemed to have a strange death wish at times, throwing themselves into the rapids in pursuit of the trio. But maybe that is understandable with Marilyn on board. It was also quite amusing to see Monroe playing her guitar and using the wrong chords to match the song. But these are small blemishes that can be partly attributed to the age the film was made in. It is also noteworthy that Mitchum amazingly sings the title song, and that you will not require ear muffs during his rendition.Overall this film is very entertaining. It is by no means a classic Western but it is extremely watchable for many reasons already mentioned. The time watching it went very quickly which is always a good sign. Recommended viewing