Many Rivers to Cross (1955)

Robert Taylor is Bushrod Gentry, a Kentucky trapper who seems to turn the head of every gal he meets.

But he’s the love-’em-and-leave-’em type. In fact, he’s got his own personal love-’em-and-leave-’em speech.

Then he meets Mary Stuart Cherne (Eleanor Parker), who takes one good look at him, decides she’s going to marry him and proves impossible to shake.

Before he knows it, the reluctant Bushrod finds himself hitched to that gal, and she isn’t about to let his wandering ways keep them apart.

The fact that she’s pretty good with a rifle and a whip doesn’t hurt.

This is one woman who can take care of herself, at least most of the time.

Robert Taylor as Bushrod Gentry, the trapper determined not to be trapped into settling down in Many Rivers to Cross (1955)

Eleanor Parker as Mary Stuart Cherne, finding a wounded Bushrod Gentry to take home and care for in Many Rivers to Cross (1955)

Review:

A comedy of a Western romance that strikes more right notes than wrong ones and features a fun final showdown between Bushrod, Mary and four Indians done Three Stooges style.

Taylor made a whole host of Westerns in the 1950s, but this marked his only comedy Western. Parker, thrice nominated for Oscars, starred in two other Westerns, the more serious “Escape from Fort Bravo” (1953) and “The King and Four Queens” (1956).

As for the rest of this film’s cast, Victor McLaglen plays Mary’s dad. Alan Hale Jr. is a suiter who’s sweet on her — and does a hilarious peacock dance prior to a fistfight with Bushrod.

And James Arness plays a married trapper Bushrod meets during his travels. It’s his worries about a sick child and the child’s recovery that teaches Bushrod how special having a family can be.

Victor McLaglen as Cadmus Cherne, Mary’s dad, showing off the British uniform he took off an officer in the Revolutionary War in Many Rivers to Cross (1955)

Ralph Moody as Shandak, the aging Indian who lives with the Cherne and watches over Mary Stuart in Many Rivers to Cross (1955)

Directed by:
Roy Rowland

Cast:
Robert Taylor … Bushrod Gentry
Eleanor Parker … Mary Stuart Cherne
Victor McLaglen … Cadmus Cherne
Jeff Richards … Fremont
Russ Tamblyn … Shields
James Arness … Esau Hamilton
Alan Hale Jr. … Luke Radford
Ralph Moody … Sandak
John Hudson … Hugh
Rhys Williams … Lige Blake
Josephine Hutchinson … Mrs. Cherne
Sig Ruman … Spectacle man
Rosemary DeCamp … Lucy Hamilton
Russell Johnson …Banks
Abel Fernandez … Slangoh

Runtime: 94 min.

Mary Stuart’s brothers Shields (Russ Tamblyn) and Fremon (Jeff Richards), wondering why she’s bringing home a man instead of game in Many Rivers to Cross (1955)

Josephine Hutchinson as Ma Cherne, attempting to read a doctor’s eye chart in Many Rivers to Cross (1955)

Memorable lines:

Luke Radford, challenging Bushrod: “I’m gonna pull your face right off your skull and throw it to the crows and the jaybirds. Now come on out, so I can break you in half and throw away the pieces.”

Bushrod Gentry to Mary Stuart: “Meeting up with you is like declaring war on France, or some other big country.”

Bushrod Gentry, about the last Indian standing: “I tell you what — if he thought I was dead, he might come in here after you. Probably want you alive to take home with him. Serve him right, too.”

Eleanor Parker as Mary Stuart Cherne, listening to Bushrod Gentry talk about his fondness for the frontier in Many Rivers to Cross (1955)

James Arness as Esau Hamilton, unsure how to help a critically sick baby daughter in Many Rivers to Cross (1955)

Rosemary DeCamp as Lucy Hamilton, fretting over her sick daughter in Many Rivers to Cross (1955)

Victor McLaglen as Cadmus Cherne, in a shooting match with rival Lige Blake (Rhys Williams, left) in Many Rivers to Cross (1955)

Alan Hale Jr. as Luke Radford, trying to romance a stubborn Mary Stuart Cherne (Eleanor Parker) in Many Rivers to Cross (1955)

Robert Taylor as Bushrod Gentry, angry over being tricked into marriage with Mary Stuart Cherne (Eleanor Parker) in Many Rivers to Cross (1955)