River Lady (1948)

Powerful

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

Yo, there's no way for me to review this film without saying, take your *insert ethnicity + "ass" here* to see this film,like now. You have to see it in order to know what you're really messing with.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Movies about the logging industry have always been very exciting to me because they take the usual western themes and move them up north. The sight of these huge trees being chopped down is both sad and thrilling, a necessary evil because they provide humanity with shelter and paper, providing thousands of jobs and give new trees a chance to grow. The vision of them falling as somebody yells "Timber!" is thrilling, and curiosity makes me wonder how they manage to get them to fall in the right direction as to not hit other trees or land on either the loggers themselves or other wild animals who happen to be there. From 1938's "Valley of the Giants", its 1951 remake "The Big Trees" and 1942's "The Forest Rangers" (which had a memorable scene of the three leads literally trying not to roll of turning logs), these films are cinematically gorgeous. Every one includes different elements, but usually, it focuses on the good guys versus somebody who is trying to take over the company or sabotage the work they are already doing.In this case, the bad guy is Dan Duryea, the head of a syndicate out to take on the little guy who in this case is Rod Cameron. Once again, Rod is involved with the beautiful singer Yvonne de Carlo, and together they must fight to keep the scheming Duryea from taking over the company. Their involvement is threatened by the love of society girl Helena Carter and Cameron's determination to get in good with her father. This beautifully filmed color adventure takes place way up north on the Mississippi where De Carlo runs a gambling show boat ("The River Lady") and is just as tough as the men surrounding her. There's the usual eccentric supporting characters, including the delightfully comical Florence Bates, but fortunately, it is missing the gratuitous grizzled old sidekick that more often than not simply just are not funny.De Carlo as usual is beautiful, and unlike some of her other Universal films, actually gets to use her own voice while singing. Rod Cameron is a strong hero and Duryea a great villain as always. However, the film is at its best when it shows what goes on behind the scenes in the logging industry, especially in the conclusion where a log jam keeps the good guys from nearly beating Duryea and his cartel. It's interesting to note that in this modern world of ours, many industries change, but when you're dealing with nature, obviously technology can't take over certain businesses.

Yvonne de Carlo did her share of mediocre westerns, but not this time. Here she is prettier than usual, also more subdued. The film takes place in a community of lumbermen who cut enormous trees. They also move them down the river. Also in the river there is the "River Lady" a boat where they gamble, managed by Sequin (Yvonne). Beauvais (Dan Duryea) is her partner in planning mischievous deals. But the great performance comes from Helena Carter (Stephanie), she is unforgettable as the woman who is not corresponded in her love for Dan Corrigan (Rod Cameron). A rare western, ignored in most anthologies efficiently directed by George Sherman in glorious Technicolor.

Originally planning to buy a DVD of the wonderful Film Noir/proto-Giallo title The Screaming Mimi on its own,I got caught by surprise,when the DVD seller told me,that due to postage cost,I would have to order a minimum of 2 titles.Searching around the sellers list of available titles,I was delighted to spot a movie starring an actress who I've been reading a lot of praise for from fellow IMDb'ers called Yvonne De Carlo,which led to me happily getting ready to visit the 'River Lady' for the first time..The plot:Returning to a small logging village,the crew on a gambling ship called the River Lady reveal that they are planning to buy out all of the small time log distributors,so that they can become the dominating force.Standing in the way of the plan is local businessman H.L. Morrison,who is desperate to not lose his business to the River Lady's leading crew members Sequin and Bauvais.Seeing Morrison's business as an easy target,Sequin cuts a secret deal which leads to her boyfriend Dan Corrigan getting a job at Morrison's company.As they start to make plans on taking over Morrison's business,Sequin and Bauvais begin to fear that Corrigan will stop the small time businesses from running down stream.View on the film:For their excellent adaptation of Houston Branch and Frank Waters novel,writers D.D. Beauchamp and William Bowers use the woodland village setting to give the movie a strong folk atmosphere,with the writers making the residences of the River Lady be the high gambling and drinking kind,compared to the down to earth and humble village residences.Thanks to making each set of residences be different from each other,the writers place a nice 'big guy v little guy' at the heart of the title,with the writers also wonderfully showing each of the villagers' being tempted by the wild life style of the River Lady.Directed with a real elegance by George Sherman,the beautiful Yvonne De Carlo gives a wonderfully frosty performance as Sequin,with De Carlo showing Sequin to have her eyes on the prize,and nothing else which could cause Sequin to lose her seat at the River Lady's gambling tables.Joining De Carlo,Dan Duryea gives a delightful boo-hiss performance as Beauvais,whilst a stern Rod Cameron shows that Corrigan will do everything possible to stop the river from flowing into Beauvais and Sequin's hands.

The "love quartet" aspect of "River Lady" (rich, power-driven Yvonne De Carlo and precocious Helena Carter love rugged tree logger Rod Cameron, crooked businessman Dan Duryea loves Yvonne) is slight and banal, though Helena Carter glows in one of her first roles, and this must be one of the very few instances where (SPOILER!) Yvonne De Carlo doesn't get her man! More interesting is the "business" aspect of the film: the independent loggers fighting collectively against the syndicate that wants to monopolize the market (and drive their wages down). Also interesting are the scenes of the actual process of tree-cutting and log-transporting streaming down the river. A compliment I can pay to this movie is that it looks like it could have been made in the 1950s, but the actual production date is 1948. **1/2 out of 4.