Marilyn Monroe Costume Fitting For River Of No Return – 1953

Marilyn Monroe is seen here with an unidentified assistant dresser, squeezing into an corset for the film River Of No Return. 

Directed by Otto Preminger and Jean Negulesco, the film’s co-stars are Robert Mitchum and Rory Calhoun. It is a beautiful film to look at: a technicolor western with much of the footage shot on location in Alberta, Canada and Idaho in the summer of 1953.

River Of No Return ended up being  a box office hit. The story however is subpar. Monroe considered it to be the worst movie she ever appeared in. Monroe said of River Of No Return, “I think I deserve better than a grade-Z cowboy movie in which the acting finished second to the scenery and the CinemaScope process.”

Most classic movie fans would disagree. River Of No Return is not that bad. And Monroe delivers a fine and natural performance despite the weak story. Compared to the abysmally, unfunny romance-comedy Let’s Make Love (1960), River Of No Return is a masterpiece.