A young field administrator for the TVA comes to rural Tennessee to oversee the building of a dam on the Tennessee River. He encounters opposition from the local people, in particular a farmer who objects to his employment (with pay) of local black laborers. Much of the plot revolves around the eviction of an elderly woman from her home on an island in the River, and the young man's love affair with that woman's widowed granddaughter.... (Full plot summary below)
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A young field administrator for the TVA comes to rural Tennessee to oversee the building of a dam on the Tennessee River. He encounters opposition from the local people, in particular a farmer who objects to his employment (with pay) of local black laborers. Much of the plot revolves around the eviction of an elderly woman from her home on an island in the River, and the young man's love affair with that woman's widowed granddaughter.
Leave your thoughts about Wild River.
| The SkinnyPhilip ConcannonIt's an expansive work, distinguished by exceptional location photography, but, as ever, (Kazan's) focus is on complex interpersonal relationships. |
| Village VoiceJ. HobermanSympathetic to both sides, the movie pits tradition against progress, rugged individualism against the greater good. |
| VarietyVariety StaffIn studying a slice of national socio-economic progress in terms of people, it catches something timeless and essential in the human spirit and shapes it in the American image. |
| Time OutDavid FearKazan's films are better known for showcasing stratospheric Method-emoting over visual expressiveness, which makes Wild River's gorgeous imagery a shock... |
| Chicago ReaderDave KehrThis 1960 drama is probably Elia Kazan's finest and deepest film, a meditation on how the past both inhibits and enriches the present. |
| New York TimesA.H. WeilerBoth sections of the flavorful, vernacular-filled screen play have been given professional treatment. |
| User ReviewMike TElia Kazan uses color brilliantly in this film, giving it an autumnal tone and atmosphere that emphasizes its quiet sadness. Beautifully subdued and patiently paced, the movie's power settles in a few minutes after the closing credits have rolled. Montgomery Clift's performance is outstanding, and he shares great screen chemistry with Lee Remick. I was forced to watch this picture on Youtube, but its potency shone through despite the bad quality of the transfer. |
| User Reviewjay nWill the river stay wild or be tamed? You can ask the same of the old woman who lives on the island about to be flooded or the other characters in this heartfelt melodrama. It features wonderful, yet restrained performances, particularly by Clift. The love story between Clift's character, the TVA representative and local girl Carol Garth (Lee Remick)is as important to the story as the TVA's struggle to evict the inhabitants of one island. Furthermore, the TVA and Clift struggle to drag the town into the 20th century, including some degree of racial integration. Although much younger than these characters, having grown up in a similar town in TN, I found them and their town believeable. Wild River was filmed on location on the Hiawassee river near Charleston,TN. Finally,the cinematography is excellent. Elia Kazan and his crew did a superb job all around. Highly recommended. |
| User ReviewNorm dA terrific drama, multiple dramas - among those, how progress disrupts & tramples at times - that unfolds during the running time of this overlooked film. Somewhat in the tone of "Winter's Bone" but better in 1960 Cinemascope, this film should have received more notice & awards - including a Best Actress nomination for Lee Remick who is un'made-up luminous in a performance with many shades of subtlety & boldness. At about 1:30 is one of the most passionate love scenes in all of cinema where the lovers are fully clothed across the room from each other. Bravo. Will appeal to adult (50+) audiences especially - and film school students. It also will appeal to those with roots & memories in the region how these performances ring true. | ~ Norm de Guerre |
| User ReviewPanayiota KBeing aware of the work of Director Elia Kazan , i never really had this film on my radar. Thanks to Eureka Films and Martin Scorsese featuring the film in his Letter to Elia I decided to seek the film out and see if it ranked alongside the directors more celebrated works. The film opens with footage of the Tennessee river bursting its banks ,we then move to the main action as Montgomery Clift plays a man tasked by the government in moving a stubborn old lady and her family from an island which will be flooded when a large dam is built. The trouble is the lady in question has no desire to move and Clift causes more tension in the local town when he employs black workers alongside white workers to clear the land. Amid all the tension Clift falls for the matriarch grand daughter played by Lee Remick which only adds more fuel to the local bigots fire. Clift was always a haunted man after his 1956 car accident and here Kazan puts that to great use . You feel every emotion written across his face and his performance is one of the very best I have seen in a studio picture . Kazan makes great use of the cinemascope format in his location filming and again there is some guilt over what he did in in the red scare in the late 40s and 50s in Hollywood by giving the film a very prominent liberal tone. I really let this film sneak up on me and I am glad for once that I did as its one of the best film of the late studio period. |
