Producing "The River" turned out to be McEldowney's only foray into filmmaking, and according to the DVD, he eventually became a commercial real estate developer in Beverly Hills. But I have to think McEldowney must have done something right in producing the movie because watching its smooth flow, I would never guess that the film company endured daunting weather, religious and caste conflicts, a riot on the set, and censorship problems. The DVD contains a long audio interview with McEldowney recorded in 2000—so lengthy it's divided into five segments.
The DVD comes packaged with a slick 16-page booklet that includes two scholarly essays I found worth reading. One contains background and analysis by Ian Christie, a professor of film and media history at Birkbeck College, University of London. The other is about the making of the movie and is by Alexander Sesonske, Professor Emeritus of Film Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Below I've listed all the details for the Criterion Collection DVD containing "The River."
DVD Details:
Release Date: March 1, 2005
Full-Screen (1.33:1), Color
Feature Film Run Time: 1 Hour 39 Minutes
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
English Dolby Digital 1.0
English Captions for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
Intro to the Film by Jean Renoir (8 min.)
Documentary: "Rumer Godden: An Indian Affair" (58 min.)
Video Interview With Martin Scorsese (13 min.)
Audio Interview With Producer Ken McEldowney
About Ken McEldowney (text)
Stills Gallery
Original Theatrical Trailer
16-Page Booklet Containing 2 Scholarly Essays
Return to Beginning of DVD Review
