{"id":4774,"date":"2007-11-14T19:44:22","date_gmt":"2007-11-15T02:44:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=4774"},"modified":"2020-12-25T13:44:25","modified_gmt":"2020-12-25T20:44:25","slug":"wild-river-1960","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=4774","title":{"rendered":"Wild River (1960)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;We&#8217;ve got to get those Garths off that island &#8212; with no dispossessing, no marshals, no shotguns, and no incidents that might get into the papers.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/Wild-River-Poster-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/Wild-River-Poster-1-201x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"201\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-59473\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/Wild-River-Poster-1-201x300.jpg 201w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/Wild-River-Poster-1-86x128.jpg 86w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/Wild-River-Poster-1-181x270.jpg 181w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/Wild-River-Poster-1.jpg 580w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 201px) 100vw, 201px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nIn the 1930s, a representative of the Tennessee Valley Authority (Montgomery Clift) arrives at a small island with the task of convincing its owner (Jo Van Fleet) to sell her property. He immediately encounters resistance, yet finds himself falling in love with Van Fleet&#8217;s widowed granddaughter (Lee Remick).\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Cross-Class Relationship<\/li>\n<li>Deep South<\/li>\n<li>Depression Era<\/li>\n<li>Elia Kazan Films<\/li>\n<li>Historical Drama<\/li>\n<li>Lee Remick Films<\/li>\n<li>Montgomery Clift Films<\/li>\n<li>Strong Females<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nThis powerful historical drama about the clash between public necessity and private autonomy remains one of Elia Kazan&#8217;s finest films. The story opens with a real-life newscast depicting the devastation wrought on poor Tennessee farmers after the Mississippi River has once again flooded the area, thus establishing Clift&#8217;s TVA-sponsored presence as a necessary evil &#8212; yet it&#8217;s impossible not to side at least partially with crotchety Ella Garth (Van Fleet), whose entire identity is wrapped up in the island her family has owned for years. While it&#8217;s clear that Garth will somehow &#8212; eventually &#8212; be &#8220;convinced&#8221; to move, the story of how this happens remains compelling until the end.<\/p>\n<p><em>Wild River<\/em> is most memorable, however, for its remarkable performances &#8212; primarily by 46-year-old Van Fleet (her make-up artist deserves ample praise as well) and 25-year-old Lee Remick, who has never looked more stunning or been more affecting. This was purportedly Remick&#8217;s personal favorite of all the films she made, and it&#8217;s easy to see why: she invests her character with a lifetime of loss and hope, turning what is clearly a convenient &#8220;plot device&#8221; romance into a believable dimension of the story. Other supporting actors &#8212; and Clift himself &#8212; are fine as well, but it&#8217;s Van Fleet and Remick who really make this powerful film must-see viewing. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Jo Van Fleet as Ella Garth<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/wild-river-van-fleet.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/wild-river-van-fleet.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4776\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Lee Remick as Carol<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/wild-river-remick.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/wild-river-remick.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4781\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Montgomery Clift as Chuck Glover<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/wild-river-clift.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/wild-river-clift.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4778\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Barbara Loden (Kazan&#8217;s wife) in a tiny but effective supporting role as Clift&#8217;s secretary<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/wild-river-loden.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/wild-river-loden.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4777\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>An honest, sensitive depiction of race relations in a bigoted southern town<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/wild-river-race-relations.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/wild-river-race-relations.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4780\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>A heartfelt story of greater good versus individual choice<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/wild-river-porch.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/wild-river-porch.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4783\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Van Fleet&#8217;s provocative explanation of why it&#8217;s impossible to force someone to sell something they love<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/wild-river-selling.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/wild-river-selling.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4782\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Fine location cinematography by Ellsworth Fredericks<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/wild-river-rain.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/wild-river-rain.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4779\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nYes, as one of Kazan&#8217;s finest films, and for Fleet and Remick&#8217;s performances. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Categories<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Important Director<\/li>\n<li>Noteworthy Performance(s)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/imdb.com\/title\/tt0054476\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1960\/05\/27\/archives\/kazan-film-is-drawn-from-two-novels.html\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.timeout.com\/movies\/wild-river-1\">Time Out Capsule Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;We&#8217;ve got to get those Garths off that island &#8212; with no dispossessing, no marshals, no shotguns, and no incidents that might get into the papers.&#8221; Synopsis: In the 1930s, a representative of the Tennessee Valley Authority (Montgomery Clift) arrives at a small island with the task of convincing its owner (Jo Van Fleet) to sell her property. He immediately encounters resistance, yet finds himself falling in love with Van Fleet&#8217;s widowed granddaughter (Lee Remick). Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=4774\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4774","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4774","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4774"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4774\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":59474,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4774\/revisions\/59474"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4774"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4774"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4774"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}