River of No Return
Director: Otto Preminger
Year Released: 1954
Rating: 2.0
Fresh-out-of-jail Robert Mitchum, his young son and Marilyn Monroe raft down the 'dangerous' title river, chasing after a card shark who's trying to illegitimately claim a prosperous stake of land during the Gold Rush. Mitchum and Monroe are both fine as always - count me in with your "typical Mitchum fans" (glasses, dandruff, the works) - but the film lacks any real "charge" and fails to mask its many contrivances - oh, and when it doesn't have anything left to do with its heroes, it sends out the Native Americans to get them moving again. It bears noting that the ending is interesting in a way, with the son finally realizing what it's like to have to kill someone - in a less generic picture, this might really have stung.
