River of No Return (1954 Otto Preminger)

Scared of cutting in CinemaScope, Preminger keeps things in long takes, which is good. Mitchum (usually line perfect) would have had no problem with that but Marilyn - well, you wonder. She was yet again under the grip of her acting coach Natasha Lytess, who made her over-articulate, and who upset the boy Tommy Rettig, saying now was the time he'd start losing his talent, after which he had trouble with lines. The fact that Monroe and Preminger weren't talking didn't help matters.

Filmed in Canada by Joe LaShelle, music by Cyril Mockridge, edited by Louis Loeffler. Both Mitchum and Monroe perform 'River of No Return' (Lionel Newman / Ken Darby), she nicely sings other numbers too. Writer Frank Fenton, Louis Lantz. 20th Century Fox. With Rory Calhoun, Murvyn Vye, Douglas Spencer.

The end result is most enjoyable.

Mitchum & co bravely navigate green screen whilst having water chucked at them

Mitchum found Marilyn sweet but sad and confused, and learned that her frequent lateness and unpredictability were the result of particularly prolonged and painful periods. (Source: Lee Server 'Baby I Don't Care'.)