River of No Return

Set against the majestic beauty of the great Northwest, Matt Calder (Robert Mitchum) is a rugged widower with a questionable past who decides it's time to start a new life with his young son, Mark (Tommy Rettig). But their peaceful existence is sabotaged when Matt is robbed and pistol-whipped by cold-blooded gambler Harry Weston (Rory Calhoun). Unexpectedly, Weston's fiancée, Kay (Marilyn Monroe) postpones her wedding so she can nurse Matt back to heath. In his pursuit to exact revenge at any cost, Matt takes Kay and Mark on a treacherous ride down a roaring river, where they're at the mercy of wild animals and a lawless frontier.

The dew of new stardom was still visible on Marilyn Monroe when she ventured up to Canada to shoot this 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, Marilyn, fresh and vital, had a costar to match her magnetism but not humor her sometimes-scattered approach to acting: Robert Mitchum, as a homesteader with a dark past. He's 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 sling 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" various meanings. --Robert Horton