RIVER OF NO RETURN

PLOT SUMMARY

Matt Calder is a farmer working to clear trees on his homestead. Shortly he saddles his horse and rides down to a mining camp1, a journey that takes two or three days. There he searches for his young son Mark, whom he's asked a friend to bring to the tent city. It seems Matt has been away for quite a while, during which time his wife died. He finds ten-year-old Mark in the care of Kay Weston, a dance-hall girl, because the man who brought him there caught gold fever and lit out for the hills.

Kay's fiancé is Harry Weston, a gambler who's just won a gold claim himself in a poker game. Now he must get to Council City to file the claim, travelling through indian country. He has no horse, and nobody will sell him one. But he persuades Kay to give him the little money she's saved up; it's enough to buy a raft, on which he and Kay soon set off downriver to file that claim.

Calder, a man of few words, intends to leave town with Mark at once. But he relents and allows the boy to say his farewell to Kay. As they head back to the farm on Matt's horse, he promises the boy he'll teach him to hunt and fish. "And shoot?" asks Mark. Yes, agrees his father, that too. They've barely begun this when Mark spots the raft nearly foundering in the swift currents. Telling Mark to bring the horse, Matt runs to the shore with a rope and manages to get it to Harry. With the horse's help, they pull the raft to safety. After Matt makes it clear that Harry and Kay have no chance to survive the river's rapids, Harry offers to buy Matt's horse and rifle so he can make the trip overland. Matt refuses; he'd be as good as dead without them. So Harry repays Matt by stealing the rifle and horse, They fight; Matt is injured. Kay insists on staying with him and the boy, telling Harry he'll get to Council City twice as fast without her. Harry is convinced; he sets out.

Matt, being a tough guy, recovers quickly. But he has no choice now; without a rifle, he cannot fight the indians he sees constantly watching from the high ridges. Even as he, Kay, and Mark are boarding the raft, they make their attack. But the swift river carries the raft out of range of their arrows. It is an arduous passage, during which they must forage for food and face down a puma and hostile prospectors. They gradually grow closer, and learn some of each other's secrets — including the reason Matt was away so long.

Finally, after surviving indian raids and hazardous rapids, they reach Council City. This may be the most perilous passage of all, for Matt is determined to face Harry and get justice, while Kay is still set on marrying him.

Capsule review: It is the byplay between Mitchum and Monroe that lifts River of No Return above the level of standard formulaic western entertainment. That, plus credible performances by the other actors, gorgeous Canadian scenery, and some well-executed plot twists.