Wild River

Released by: Eureka (Masters of Cinema)
Released on: February 23, 2015
Director: Elia Kazan
Cast: Montgomery Clift, Lee Remick, Jo Van Fleet, Albert Salmi, J.C. Flippen, Frank Overton, Bruce Dern, Pat Hingle
Year: 1960

The Movie:

In the early 1930s, the world was hit by a global economic depression so severe that it came to be known as the Great Depression. In the United States, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt embarked on an ambitious nationwide campaign—known as the New Deal—aimed at putting Americans back to work. With the help of Congress, he instituted a number of programs that grew the size of government while also creating jobs. In 1933 he established the Public Works Administration under the auspices of the National Industrial Recovery Act. The purpose was to create jobs by updating the nation's crumbling infrastructure, which meant hiring private businesses to build new roads, dams, and government buildings. The year 1933 also saw the establishment of the Tennessee Valley Authority, which oversaw the creation of dams to control the flow of the Tennessee River and to generate electricity for communities along the river.

It is against the backdrop of the early days of the TVA that Wild River is set. Somewhat unique in the annals of cinematic history, the film is based not on a single literary source but two: Dunbar's Cove by Borden Deal and Mud on the Stars by William Bradford Huie. The novels' plots—one dealt with aging landowners battling big government, the other with a family intent on preventing the destruction of its property at the hands of the government—were combined into a single story. Originally conceived by director Elia Kazan as an homage to the work of the Roosevelt administration, he later came to sympathize with the aging matriarch. Yet, the finished film betrays a remarkably balanced view of the film's protagonists, both of whom exist on opposite sides of a single issue.

The elderly Ella Garth and her family refuses to leave her property on an island located in the middle of the Tennessee River, which is about to be flooded when a much-needed dam is built. Generations of Garths have lived there, and Ella's late husband is buried on the property. Local officials are unable to convince Ella to sell and move, so they send for TVA representative Chuck Glover. At first he is no more successful than they were, but he and Ella's granddaughter, the widowed Carol Garth Baldwin, fall in love. Chuck's inability to commit frustrates Carol, and matters are further complicated when Chuck chooses to pay black employees of the TVA the same wages as whites.

Though Kazan's sympathies may have lain with the families forced out of their homes at the hands of an ever-growing government bureaucracy, his film nonetheless remains an even-minded examination of the pros and cons of such situations. Ella makes a valid (if metaphorical) point when she attempts to force a black man to sell her his dog, yet Chuck's assertion that unpredictable flooding along the river system must be prevented to save lives and millions of dollars in property damage is a reasonable one. The script by Tony Award-winning Paul Osborn offers no easy answers to the problems it offers, with the resulting film a thoughtful meditation on the pros and cons of government action/inaction. Its victims aren't faceless, but neither are those who stand to benefit, as the opening attests: Kazan begins his film with real-life documentary footage of a father discussing the loss of his children in a flood. It may set a somber tone, but it grounds the story in the demonstrably real world of the Depression, a time when nature was just as unforgiving as the economy. And it's that very nature the TVA hopes to tame.

Despite the film's emphasis on political machinations for the greater good, its real backbone is its love story. And while Montgomery Clift is excellent as the subdued Chuck, it's the film's female actors who should earn top accolades. A young Lee Remick as the dour but love-obsessed Carol is heartbreaking to watch; from the moment Carol is introduced to the last frame in which she appears, the audience identifies with and cheers her on, hoping against hope that love wins out. Remick had debuted in Kazan's A Face in the Crowd in 1957 and made a splash in The Long, Hot Summer (1958) and Otto Preminger's Anatomy of a Murder (1959), and she would later be nominated for the Best Actress Academy Award for her role in Days of Wine and Roses (1962). But never before nor after Wild River did she offer such an affecting performance as she did as Carol.

Jo Van Fleet is likewise terrific. Only 46 years old at the time of filming, Van Fleet endured sitting in the make-up artist's chair for five hours each morning. The end result was that she's thoroughly convincing as the much-older and melancholic Ella Garth, who wants nothing more than to die on her family property, near the grave of her husband. While she had been popular on Broadway for years, Van Fleet made her film debut in 1955 in Kazan's East of Eden, which had also been written by Osborn. She often played women much older than herself, and she was a staple on television, appearing in such shows as Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Thriller, and The Wild, Wild West. In Wild River, she is the perfect foil for Clift's Chuck, though neither is the antagonist. (That role is given to the hoodlums who want to drive Chuck out of Tennessee for fear he'll spur the local blacks to seek equal pay for equal work.)

Wild River is an excellent film. Though largely forgotten today, particularly in comparison to Kazan's better-known work, it is without a doubt a powerhouse, offering superb direction, great performances, a masterful screenplay, and gorgeous cinematography. Because of its historical significance, it was selected by the National Film Registry for preservation by the Library of Congress in 2002. And now, given a wide release on Blu-ray by major studios on opposite sides of the pond, hopefully it will find a greater audience.

Video/Audio/Extras:

Eureka has brought Wild River to Region B Blu-ray in its original theatrical aspect ratio of 2.35:1. The film is presented with an MPEG-4 AVC encode in 1080p on a 50GB disc. To say the image is sharp would be an understatement: It looks fantastic! Detail is distinct while colors are vibrant. Skin and clothing textures reveal an almost-excessive fine detail, which is reflected in the running waters of the Tennessee River and the foliage surrounding it. Some reviewers have complained that the film is a bit soft in spots, but such moments are few and far between. Neither is there any of the usual print issues: no damage in the form of scratches, fade, or speckling. The film is as clean as a whistle, with a warm color palette that lies somewhere between natural and surreal. Grain is present but never oppressive, and there's no crush to speak of. Black and gray levels are deep and varied. It's hard to image that the film could ever have looked better, even projected on the big screen from an original 35mm print shortly after its initial release.

The soundtrack is presented in LPCM Mono. While it isn't as directional as Fox's Region A release (which is in Dolby Digital 2.0), it is still a pleasing experience. Dialogue is always audible, and the score is robust enough. There are also subtitles for the deaf and hearing impaired.

Extras include the film's original theatrical trailer, which runs approximately three minutes in length, and a stills gallery featuring 64 behind-the-scenes photographs and promotional stills. There's also an audio commentary featuring film historians Glenn Kenny and Farran Smith Nehme, recorded specifically for Eureka's release. The two historians play well together, taking turns discussing the film's background and participants.

An insert booklet is separated into two distinct articles: “The General Heading of Progress: Wild River” by Adrian Martin, which was written specifically for Masters of Cinema; and “Elia Kazan on Wild River,” taken from an interview Kazan did for Film and Filming's March 1962 issue. The booklet also contains many b/w and color stills and is 32 pages in length.

The Final Word:

Eureka's presentation of a near-perfect film is near-perfect itself. The film is sharp as a thumbtack and sounds good to boot. While extras are limited, they are informative, particularly the audio commentary and the accompanying booklet. For those who have never seen Wild River, now is the time to check it out. It has never looked better.

Click on the images below for full sized Blu-ray screen caps!