RIVER OF NO RETURN (1954) **1/2 If you want to see and hear Marilyn Monroe sing a lot, this one has some for you! I have to admit to thoroughly enjoying "One Silver Dollar." Robert Mitchum doesn't seem to mind much, and he has ol' Marilyn on a raft floatin' down river to the big city (population: about 100). There's more to it than that, at least the writers put a lot more into it, thought they did. I'm not saying that Marilyn trivializes the great life morals (and lack thereof!) involved, but between this-one of her better performances as a typecast gal with (lots of, and increasing exponentially) man problems-and Robert Mitchum's unexpressive guy.it's not that the characters aren't sympathetic, they just lack oompf. The exception, kind of, being Rory Calhoun, who's an unappealing but handsome stereotype gamblin' man. There's also a little boy, so the demographics are covered. I guess the Canadian wilds are the biggest star of all, but Otto Preminger establishes and maintains a pace keeping it clear of National Geographic and National Inquirer, but with strong elements of both. What was it about Marilyn that made everyone want to treat her like that? That they could, I guess. She seems a forgiving sort who not only never finds what she's looking for, but never discards anything that isn't it, either.
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