The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

Go in cold, and you're likely to emerge with your blood boiling. This has to be seen to be believed.

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

This may have been Marilyn Monroe's least favorite film she starred in, but it's my favorite of her films I've seen. I think that's because, like Gable's "Call of the Wild", and "The Tall Men", there is a single man, who finds a beautiful woman(married or not) out in the middle of a wilderness, and spends the rest of the film trying to convince her that their chance adventure together was for a cosmic purpose..... It begins with Robert Mitchum, as Matt Caldor, returning to the area of northern Idaho where he was before he spent 6 years in a penitentiary for shooting a man who was about to shoot his friend. As it happened, he had to shoot the man in the back, something Matt's half grown son: Mark(Tommy Rettig) found repulsive. The great irony of the film is that near the end, Mark finds himself in the same situation, when Marilyn(Kay)'s former boyfriend (Rory Calhoun, as Harry Weston) is about to shoot Matt, who doesn't have a gun. Mark uses a store-displayed rifle(why would such a rifle be loaded??)......Matt was introduced to both Mark and Kate when he arrived at a mining camp near his homestead, after his 6 year absence. Kay was an entertainer for the rowdy miners, and had picked up Weston as a boyfriend. He won a gold mining claim in a gambling game, and wanted to register it at the far off town, down river. He foolishly decided to raft down the known dangerous river, rather than taking a horse trail. Kay went with him. They got into trouble, as they passed Matt's farm, and Matt had to rescue them. Kay sang a number of songs, some as she strummed on her guitar on the trail. The best song is the title song, sung several times, at the beginning, and near the end, when Kay sang her version in a saloon.. These can be heard at YouTube. All the songs were composed by the team of Lionel Newman and Ken Darby. In addition, the traditional "Red River Valley" was heard in the mining camp.......There are some legitimate gripes by others.. Yes, there were too many closeups of the struggles on the raft in the rapids that were obviously studio shots in front of a back projection screen. Instead of a romantic hug and hard kiss, we only get Matt's dramatic forced kiss and rape attempt. This didn't seem to shake up Kay too bad, and at the end, she submitted to Matt's carrying her out of the saloon, and onto his buckboard, with the implication that she would live with him on his farm, even with dangerous Indians around......Matt's original motivation for taking the dangerous river route was 2 fold.:1)To flee from the Indians ,who burned his house, and 2) To get even with Weston for stealing his rifle and horse and leaving him knocked senseless.. In part, he was accomplishing that by stealing his woman. Kay's original motivation for staying with Matt, rather than going with Weston, was that she figured the injured Matt would need some help for a while, and Weston promised to return after he filed his claim. When the 3 reached the claims town, they found Weston busy at his favorite occupation: gambling, suggesting he wasn't planning on returning. I've already told the rest....The outdoor shoots were done mostly in and around Canada's national parks in the Rockies. Apparently, there were also some shots on Idaho's Salmon River, which is sometimes described as 'The river of no return'. Despite it's shortcomings, I didn't lose my interest at any point. Marilyn is often seen in revealing tops, and Mitchum is hunky enough to keep the women interested. The story is relatively simple, with only a few significant characters.

RIVER OF NO RETURN is a fairly standard western adventure that features the pairing of movie tough guy Robert Mitchum and the iconic actress Marilyn Monroe. It's one of those river-themed movies which, like THE RIVER WILD, features the characters rafting down a sometimes turbulent river for much of the running time.It's an acceptable enough piece of fare, one which has dated somewhat but still works as a harmless time-waster. Rory Calhoun's bad guy is never quite as villainous or as imposing as he ought to be, but there's a nice twist ending and Mitchum's bravado keeps you watching. Monroe is quite gracious although she does spoil things by singing a little too much. The back projection effects don't look very good these days but there are some fun stunt scenes to enjoy.

In theory, I should have loved "River of No Return." Otto Preminger is one of my favorite directors; I love Mitchum, and Monroe is often good; there's cowboys, violence, excitement and attractive women playing instruments. It was like biting into a shiny apple, only to find the worm equivalent of Times Square.The premise is promising: an ex-convict (Robert Mitchum) rounds up his son--who he gave away before he went away--and heads off to a small piece of land to start anew as a farmer. The area is a hotspot for gold, but Mitchum doesn't care; he just wants to live quietly. But one thing leads to another, and Mitchum, his son and a dance hall singer (Marilyn Monroe) end up on a raft, going down rapids to get revenge on a man who stole Mitchum's gun and horse.First thing's first, the film is gorgeous--shot in Cinemascope. The opening shot of the movie is a big "look I've got," as the camera pans around Mitchum, showing acres and acres of grassy, mountainous land. Likewise, Cinemascope is a naturally companion when shooting a river--where a large chunk of the film takes place. But the cinematography is so good, it makes the jumps to green screen incredibly jarring. Not to mention, the rafting sequences--the film's big set-pieces--aren't exciting in the least, as time after time, it's just a raft moving forward and two people pushing levers back and forth.There's a lot of little things I love about this movie. The relationship between the three main characters--Mitchum, his son, Monroe--is deep and full of potential. This only exemplifies the weakness of the screenplay, as these characters are given nothing to do or say after being set-up in an auspicious manner. That said, there are several story beats that rang true with me, but not enough to add up to anything special. There's even one single moment--very brief--where the film made me remember why I love movies. That's worth something.Despite the natural pleasure of watching a western starring Robert Mitchum and Marilyn Monroe, directed by the great Otto Preminger, the film is less than the sum of its parts. It almost made me sad, as there's a great movie in there somewhere.

I was really disappointed, i was expecting more from this film.The beautiful scenery is the only thing positive i can say about this movie.I didn't enjoy the film due to its racist content!It wasn't enough that Americans destroyed their land and murdered their race they make Indians appear hostile,villains and without manners.That's why it was hard for me to sympathize any of the protagonist(Matt,Kay etc.). Marilyn is pretty as always and sings lovely but that alone cant make the film better.It has bad special effects(especially on the river). About the story not much is going on, there is not much action.In general i would only suggest it because Marilyn Monroe and Robert Mitchum are the protagonists and you're a fan.I really enjoyed though the scene in the beginning where Padre (the priest) says:"i came here as a missioner to the Indians but the white men need me more"