''River Lady'' is a 1948 American

lumberjack Lumberjacks are mostly North American workers in the logging industry who perform the initial harvesting and transport of trees for ultimate processing into forest products. The term usually refers to loggers in the era (before 1945 in the Unite ...

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

film directed by

George Sherman George Sherman (July 14, 1908 – March 15, 1991) was an American film director and producer of low-budget Western films. One obituary said his "credits rival in number those of anyone in the entertainment industry." Biography George Sherma ...

and starring

Yvonne De Carlo Margaret Yvonne Middleton (September 1, 1922January 8, 2007), known professionally as Yvonne De Carlo, was a Canadian-American actress, dancer and singer. She became a Hollywood film star in the 1940s and 1950s, made several recordings, and late ...

and

Dan Duryea Dan Duryea ( , January 23, 1907 – June 7, 1968) was an American actor in film, stage, and television. Known for portraying a vast range of character roles as a villain, he nonetheless had a long career in a wide variety of leading and second ...

. It was filmed on the

Universal Studios Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

Backlot.

Plot

In the 1870s, in a logging town on the Mississippi River, a conflict exists between the people of a mill town and the lumberjacks who work downriver. Romance and deceit are catalyzed by the arrival of the gambling riverboat, ''River Lady'', owned by a beautiful woman called Sequin. Bauvais, a representative of the local lumber syndicate and Sequin's business partner, is trying to convince H.L. Morrison, the mill owner, to sell his business. Morrison refuses, and Sequin eventually buys part of the struggling business in order to provide a reputable job for her boyfriend, Dan Corrigan, a lumberjack. Dan eventually takes the job and he and Sequin become engaged. But, when Dan discovers that Sequin manipulated Morrison into giving him the job, he gets drunk and marries Stephanie, Morrison's daughter. Sparks fly between Morrison's business and Sequin's syndicate instigated by a vengeful Dan. In the following battle, Bauvais is killed and Dan is shot. After the battle, Sequin visits a healing Dan and asks to get back together (Dan and Stephanie are separated). Dan tells Sequin he has actually fallen in love with his wife and wants to stay with her. On her way out of town forever, Sequin tells Stephanie that Dan wants her thereby reuniting the couple.

Cast

as Sequin *

as Beauvais * Rod Cameron as Dan Corrigan * Helena Carter as Stephanie Morrison *

Lloyd Gough Lloyd Gough (born Michael Gough; September 21, 1907 – July 23, 1984) was an American theater, film, and television actor. Life and career Born Michael Gough in New York City, he was a noted character actor. Married to actress-turned-activi ...

as Mike Riley *

Florence Bates Florence Bates ( Rabe; April 15, 1888 - January 31, 1954), was an American film and stage character actress who often played grande dame characters in supporting roles. Life and career Bates was the second child born to Jewish immigrant pare ...

as Ma Dunnegan *

John McIntire John Herrick McIntire (June 27, 1907 – January 30, 1991) was an American character actor who appeared in 65 theatrical films and many television series. McIntire is well known for having replaced Ward Bond, upon Bond's sudden death in Novem ...

as H.L. Morrison * Jack Lambert as Swede * Esther Somers as Mrs. Morrison *

Anita Turner Anita Turner is a British script editor and television producer. From 2008 to 2009, Turner was the series producer of the British television soap opera ''Emmerdale''. She left the role after it was reported that her leadership on the soap had r ...

as Esther *

Edmund Cobb Edmund Fessenden Cobb (June 23, 1892 – August 15, 1974) was an American actor who appeared in more than 620 films between 1912 and 1966. Biography Cobb was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the son of William Henry Cobb and Eddie (Edmundi ...

as Rider *

Dewey Robinson Dewey Robinson (August 17, 1898 – December 11, 1950) was an American film character actor who appeared in more than 250 films made between 1931 and 1952. Career Dewey Robinson was born in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1898, and made his B ...

as Bouncer *

Eddy Waller Edward Carlingford Waller (June 14, 1889 – August 20, 1977) was an American stage, film and television actor. Early years Born in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, he was a son of the Rev. Thomas M. Waller, a Presbyterian minister, and Anna Tay ...

as Hewitt *

Milton Kibbee Milton Kibbee (January 27, 1896 – April 17, 1970) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 360 films between 1933 and 1953. He was the brother of actor Guy Kibbee and his daughter was actress Lois Kibbee. He died in Simi Valle ...

as Limpy * Billy Wayne as Dealer

Production

The film was based on a novel by Houston Branch and

Frank Waters Frank Waters (July 25, 1902 – June 3, 1995) was an American writer. He is known for his novels and historical works about the American Southwest. The Frank Waters Foundation, founded in his name, strives to foster literary and artistic achie ...

. Film rights were bought by Universal in March 1941 for a reported $50,000 plus 10 cents for every copy sold over 70,000. The sale was done even before the novel had been written, simply on the strength of its synopsis. The rights were purchased for the

Frank Lloyd Frank William George Lloyd (2 February 1886 – 10 August 1960) was a British-born American film director, actor, scriptwriter, and producer. He was among the founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and was its president ...

production unit at Universal, and the film was not able to be made until three months after publication of the novel. Lloyd wanted to make it with

Loretta Young Loretta Young (born Gretchen Young; January 6, 1913 – August 12, 2000) was an American actress. Starting as a child, she had a long and varied career in film from 1917 to 1953. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in the fil ...

. The novel was published in 1942, the ''New York Times'' calling it a "first rate story with no apparent marks of collaboration on it." When Lloyd left the studio, Universal kept rights to the novel. In 1946 the project was re-activated when it was assigned to producing-writing team of Michael Fessier and Ernest Pagano. They said the stars would be Yvonne de Carlo and Rod Cameron, who had just appeared in Fessier-Pagano's ''

Frontier Gal ''Frontier Gal'' is a 1945 American Western film directed by Charles Lamont and starring Yvonne De Carlo and Rod Cameron. Plot Johnny Hart heads for Red Gulch, looking for the mystery man who murdered his partner. He quickly meets Lorena Dumo ...

'' (1945). ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'' reported that Ann Blyth was originally cast in ''River Lady'', probably as "Stephanie Morrison", Helena Carter's character. DeCarlo and Duryea had previously appeared together in the

Universal Universal is the adjective for universe. Universal may also refer to: Companies * NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of NBCUniversal ** Universal TV, a ...

film '' Black Bart'', also directed by Sherman. According to

press materials, the boat used in ''River Lady'' was originally built in 1929 for the silent version of ''

Show Boat ''Show Boat'' is a musical with music by Jerome Kern and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. It is based on Edna Ferber's best-selling 1926 novel of the same name. The musical follows the lives of the performers, stagehands and dock worke ...

''. Filming started April 1947. Shot in Technicolor the film was one of Universal's most expensive productions of the year. Although set in 1870s Minnesota, the film mentions

dynamite Dynamite is an explosive made of nitroglycerin, sorbents (such as powdered shells or clay), and Stabilizer (chemistry), stabilizers. It was invented by the Swedish people, Swedish chemist and engineer Alfred Nobel in Geesthacht, Northern Germa ...

several times, and one character is shown using it. Dynamite was not invented until 1867.

Reception

''Filmink'' magazine thought the best thing about the movie was Carter who played her part "with a twinkle in her eye, lively, full of spark and clearly intelligent… a good girl who wouldn’t mind being "bad" for the right guy. She was no shy, retiring violent – she goes after Cameron actively, in part because it's a rebellious act and she's clearly sexually attracted to him – but she's no dummy either." Universal announced they would team Duryea and de Carlo in a third film, ''Christmas Eve at Pilot Butte'' but it was never made.

References

External links

* *
''River Lady''
at BFI {{DEFAULTSORT:River Lady 1948 Western (genre) films 1948 films Films directed by George Sherman Films set in forests Films about lumberjacks American Western (genre) films Films scored by Paul Sawtell 1940s American films