Released in February 1955, Roy Rowland’s Many Rivers to Cross blends the western with irreverent romantic comedy with limited but charming results. For 21st century viewers its negative portrayal of Native Americans and brownface performances form an understandable challenge, but good performances and a spritely energy do compensate somewhat for the moribund screenplay and underlying racism. It is also one of the more attractive westerns of its time, thanks to a Cinemascope ratio and colour photography.

The film is set in late 18th century Kentucky. A bachelor trapper named Bushrod Gentry (Robert Taylor) is forced to set out on the road when his rescuing a young local woman from Shawnee warriors has her demanding he marry her. Once out in the wilderness he is injured by the same group of warriors, and his rescuer – the strong-willed Mary Stuart Cherne (Eleanor Parker) – has amorous intentions of her own.

It is an old-fashioned screwball romp at the film’s heart: Bushrod and Mary bicker constantly, trading all manner of barbs and insults while she has him imprisoned in her family’s cabin until he agrees to marry her. It is a funny reversal of the set-up in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954), and while the comedy might creak a little on the page it is well delivered by Taylor and Parker. Their chemistry hits a peak during the film’s cave-set climax, with both actors sharing a gift for repartee and physical comedy.

Among the supporting cast are Victor McLaglen, labouring under a woeful Scottish accent as Mary’s father Cadmus, and Ralph Moody as Native American servant Sandak, whose tokenistic and superficial portrayal must have felt deeply inappropriate back in 1955. In the film’s third act Bushrod meets up with fellow trapper Esau Hamilton, played by James Arness. Seven months later Arness would star as US marshal Matt Dillon in the CBS television series Gunsmoke. The series would run for a then record-breaking 20 seasons, and Arness would play Dillon until his final appearance in a 1994 made-for-television film.

The post-revolutionary setting marks Many Rivers to Cross out as part of a small sub-genre of western set so early in the USA’s history. Cadmus even boasts of his military uniform from the conflict. The Kentucky setting is also relatively distinctive: for a western there is nothing in this film actually set in the west. It represents a much earlier frontier.

Is there enough comedy to overcome the shortfalls of the film? Probably not: while historical context can forgive a certain amount of the negative depictions, there is no pressing urge to forgive the weakness of the film in general. It is a case of good performances and humour providing highlights in a disappointing story, rather than actually making it better.

1955 West is a review project to watch as many western features from 1955 as possible, in order to gain a ‘snapshot’ view of the genre at its height. According to Letterboxd, there were 72 westerns released that year. You can see all of FictionMachine’s reviews of them to date by clicking here.