Nonureva Really Surprised!

GurlyIamBeach Instant Favorite.

StyleSk8r At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Loui Blair It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

JohnHowardReid In addition to "7th Heaven" (1927), Frank Borzage also directed Charles Farrell in the 1929 part-talkie, "The River". Alas, none of the talking sequences survive. The opening and end reels are also missing, so what we have today is an erotic love story between Farrell and the super-sensuous Mary Duncan (star of "City Girl") in which the noirish elements always threaten to take center stage. The characters – naïve, weird, self-indulgent, traitorous – are all assembled, the background in all its super-extensive man-made squalor and stark, natural beauty is expertly drawn; but the original idyllic introduction and the power of the climax can now only be assumed. (The surviving footage is available on a 6/10 Fox DVD as a bonus with "7th Heaven". It's a nice bonus, but it also makes us sad that the rest of the movie is gone forever).

clanciai This film was a revelation to me of Frank Borzage's true capacities of a very different and more original kind than the later professional films of his that made him world famous, especially the ones with Janet Gaynor. This is a wildly romantic epic of the wilderness in spectacular settings, which in part could have been Frank Borzage's own background and origin. The scenery is fantastic around the river in the mountains with its primitive community, and the story is perfect for that almost surrealistic environment. Charles Farrell is still young here, he hasn't met Janet Gaynor yet, and is the helpless prey of Mary Duncan as an experienced lady with a brutal past without enough sex. Charles fights her temptations, on one occasion he cuts down four trees in succession with just an axe to vent his boiled-up energy and frustration, while she amusedly looks on only the more certain of having him hooked.It's an amazing film in spite of being mutilated, the beginning and finale are missing, but from the added stills you still get the whole story, which ought to have been a wonder of cinematic art if not among Borzage's very best - who knows, but at least you can hope for that it will turn up somewhere - 80% percent of all American silents were lost, while only a fifth have come down to us - so far.But what really lifts the film to impressing heights is the tremendous music, pushing on all the way in sustained tension and perfectly matched to the loaded drama, and it was the music that caught my interest in even this mutilated film of poor technical quality. The music is as fascinating as the drama and the film and its romantic settings, and these different elements add to each other to enhance the vitality and volcanic life of the film. Yes, there is some Rimsky-Korsakov in it, but there is nothing wrong with Rimsky-Korsakov, and the mood of his brief interplay is perfectly suited to that particular moment of intimate intriguing intensity, like all the highly dramatic music to all the rest of the film. This would have been a tenner if it had been complete.

CitizenCaine Frank Borzage was known for directing romantic, sentimental films throughout his career. The River is an usual testosterone-filled romance with boyish Charles Farrell trying to romance woman of the world Mary Duncan. Duncan initially rejects Farrell, but grows more fond of him as time goes by (unwilling to admit it to herself until it's almost too late, literally). In the way of romance is an ex-con named Marsdon. The film has been reconstructed using the script along with stills in key spots where actual footage is lost; will the footage ever be found? Who can say? Farrell plays it rugged and Duncan plays the unusual (for the time) role of leading the romance ahead. Director Borzage uses the motif of firewood to stir the embers of romance. Without the missing scenes, the film possibly becomes more erotic than intended. The regretful Mary Duncan in one scene lies on top of Farrell to transfer her much needed body warmth to him. It's a certain indication that this is a Pre-Hays Code film. **1/2 of 4 stars.

mike n I saw this movie several years ago at the Harvard Film Archives. Apparently, the beginning and end of the movie are extinct, and all that remains is a long romantic sequence involving Farrell & Duncan. We couldn't tell how the romance started, or how it was supposed to end. It was nevertheless quite interesting, with an erotic charge similar to that in Borzage's "Man's Castle".