RIVER LADY is a rousing western with music. It's about a community populated by two different crowds of people. The first group is a bunch of lumberjacks led by independent-minded Rod Cameron. He and a pal (Lloyd Gough) have been chopping down trees with their buddies. It's payday, and they head into a nearby town to blow off some steam. Of course, a saloon owner (Florence Bates) knows these guys are rough and tumble, but likable.
The second group involves the more refined folks in town. They're led by mill owner John McIntire, whose business could use an infusion of capital. McIntire's daughter (Helena Carter) has lived a sheltered life, and she's just returned from a finishing school back east. She's intrigued by the rugged lumberjacks invading their community, especially Mr. Cameron who catches her eye.
Unfortunately for Miss Carter, the guy's heart seems to already be taken. Cameron is romantically involved with a riverboat queen named Sequin, who is played by the film's star Yvonne De Carlo. Miss DeCarlo has brought her boat with its marked cards and crooked roulette wheel up the Mississippi to provide some flashy entertainment. She intends to fleece the men of their hard-earned cash.
She also intends to turn Cameron into her husband. Part of this involves a plan to encourage him to do business with McIntire, as that will bring them both some much-needed respectability. She tells Cameron she wants to own the biggest house on the highest hill so she can look down on the snobs that avoid her on the street and act like she's the dirt under their feet. To further her social climbing ambitions she takes money that she makes from her shady riverboat enterprise to secretly invest in McIntire's mill.
Complicating matters is a wily syndicate boss (Dan Duryea) who has designs on DeCarlo and wants to remove Cameron from the equation. He will stop at nothing to get what he wants, and I do mean nothing. Mr. Duryea has a field day with this role.
Both Duryea and Cameron had worked with DeCarlo on previous Universal pictures. DeCarlo's breakthrough at the studio, SALOME WHERE SHE DANCED, was her first pairing with Cameron; they also made FRONTIER GAL together. And before production began on this film, she'd just finished BLACK BART with Duryea; they would also costar in CRISS CROSS. Duryea brings out the femme fatale in the actress; and Cameron brings out the softer side in her.
Universal lavished a lot of attention and expenditure on RIVER LADY. It is presented in sumptuous Technicolor, the costumes are exquisite, and there's plenty of on-location shooting with scenes that depict how timber makes its way to the mill. A spectacular sequence involves a huge logjam and dynamite.
The barge that Miss DeCarlo commandeers has been reused from SHOW BOAT (both the 1929 and 1936 versions). But it is not the main attraction of this film. The main attraction is the lady herself...Yvonne DeCarlo.
The second group involves the more refined folks in town. They're led by mill owner John McIntire, whose business could use an infusion of capital. McIntire's daughter (Helena Carter) has lived a sheltered life, and she's just returned from a finishing school back east. She's intrigued by the rugged lumberjacks invading their community, especially Mr. Cameron who catches her eye.
Unfortunately for Miss Carter, the guy's heart seems to already be taken. Cameron is romantically involved with a riverboat queen named Sequin, who is played by the film's star Yvonne De Carlo. Miss DeCarlo has brought her boat with its marked cards and crooked roulette wheel up the Mississippi to provide some flashy entertainment. She intends to fleece the men of their hard-earned cash.
She also intends to turn Cameron into her husband. Part of this involves a plan to encourage him to do business with McIntire, as that will bring them both some much-needed respectability. She tells Cameron she wants to own the biggest house on the highest hill so she can look down on the snobs that avoid her on the street and act like she's the dirt under their feet. To further her social climbing ambitions she takes money that she makes from her shady riverboat enterprise to secretly invest in McIntire's mill.
Complicating matters is a wily syndicate boss (Dan Duryea) who has designs on DeCarlo and wants to remove Cameron from the equation. He will stop at nothing to get what he wants, and I do mean nothing. Mr. Duryea has a field day with this role.
Both Duryea and Cameron had worked with DeCarlo on previous Universal pictures. DeCarlo's breakthrough at the studio, SALOME WHERE SHE DANCED, was her first pairing with Cameron; they also made FRONTIER GAL together. And before production began on this film, she'd just finished BLACK BART with Duryea; they would also costar in CRISS CROSS. Duryea brings out the femme fatale in the actress; and Cameron brings out the softer side in her.
Universal lavished a lot of attention and expenditure on RIVER LADY. It is presented in sumptuous Technicolor, the costumes are exquisite, and there's plenty of on-location shooting with scenes that depict how timber makes its way to the mill. A spectacular sequence involves a huge logjam and dynamite.
The barge that Miss DeCarlo commandeers has been reused from SHOW BOAT (both the 1929 and 1936 versions). But it is not the main attraction of this film. The main attraction is the lady herself...Yvonne DeCarlo.