River of No Return (1954)

Star of the Month... Marilyn Monroe

"If you listen you can hear it call... wailaree... there is a river called the River of No Return..."

Directed by Otto Preminger, 'The River of No Return' is a 1954 western tale of romance and revenge starring Marilyn Monroe, Robert Mitchum, Rory Calhoun and Tommy Rettig. The film is semi-musical with 4 Marilyn songs.

Set in 1875, Monroe stars as Kay Weston, a saloon singer forced to choose between two men, farmer Matt Calder (played by Mitchum) and gambler Harry Weston (played by Calhoun). After Harry steals Matt's horse and rifle, Matt and Kay (with Matt's son Mark) take to what the Native American Indians call, "the river of no return".

On their travels we see Kay and Mark battle against the odds up against a deadly gorge, a mountain lion attack, a Native American Indian ambush, and the most turbulent and wild rapid waters you'll ever see on film.

Shot on location, enjoy breathtaking and spectacular footage of the wild rapids of the Canadian Rockies. Also enjoy Marilyn, stunning as always, and in this fim we are treated to a longer haired Marilyn. Interestingly Marilyn claimed this was her worst film - however I don't think it's quite that bad.

Musical program

With a musical score by Cyril J. Mockridge, the film features 4 songs by Lionel Newman and Ken Darby: "One Silver Dollar", "Down in the Meadow", "The River Of No Return" and the shows topping "I'm Gonna File My Claim". All four songs are performed by Monroe.

Song - "I'm Gonna File My Claim"

Song - "Down in the Meadow"

Song - "One Silver Dollar"

Song - "The River of No Return"

Did you know...

• Marilyn Monroe and director Otto Preminger did not get along, and by the end of the film were no longer on speaking terms

Closing remarks

I am personally not a big fan of westerns - in fact, it's my least favourite film genre, although I must say 'The River of No Return' is one of the most enjoyable westerns I've ever watched, and certainly one of the only westerns I can watch again and again.