The River (1951)
Beauty... Mystery... Delightful Humor...
Director: Jean Renoir · Writers: Rumer Godden, Jean Renoir
Director Jean Renoir’s entrancing first color feature—shot entirely on location in India—is a visual tour de force. Based on the novel by Rumer Godden, the film eloquently contrasts the growing pains of three young women with the immutability of the Bengal river around which their daily lives unfold. Enriched by Renoir’s subtle understanding and appreciation for India and its people, The River gracefully explores the fragile connections between transitory emotions and everlasting creation.
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Trailer
Director
Jean Renoir
Cast
Nora Swinburne
The Mother 
Esmond Knight
The Father 
Arthur Shields
Mr. John 
Suprova Mukerjee
Nan 
Thomas E. Breen
Capt. John
Patricia Walters
Harriet 
Radha Burnier
Melanie 
Adrienne Corri
Valerie 
June Tripp
Narrator (voice)
Nimai Barik
Kanu (uncredited)
Richard R. Foster
Bogey (uncredited)
Jane Harris
Muffie (uncredited) User Reviews (1)
I found there to be something of the beauty of one of novelist Rumor Godden's other novels - "Black Narcussus" (1947) in this gorgeously photographed tale of three young women growing up with the Ganges river providing a constant in their lives. Our story is narrated, in part, by "Harriet" (Patricia Walters) who lives an affluent life beside the river with her much younger sisters, brother and with her mother (Nora Swinburne) expecting number seven! The age difference means she spends much of her time with her two friends "Valerie" (Andrienne Corri) and "Melanie" (Radha). "Melanie" is of mixed-race, her father being British, her late mother a local - and so their's is a more complex dynamic fitting in with a society that was still pretty unforgiving of inter-racial transgressions. The three girls rub along well enough though, enjoying the simplicities of their privileged lives, until the…
