Overview
A young man's commitment to progress clashes with a community's deep-rooted traditions and love.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- None
- serious
- melancholic
- intimate
- classic film evening
- historical drama night
What critics said
Critics broadly regard the film as an important, authentic, and humane drama about national socioeconomic progress, rural displacement, and the people caught between enforcement and resistance.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Chuck Glover's dam project directly threatens Ella Garth's island home and brings institutional modernization into conflict with local attachment.
The eviction of elderly landowner Ella Garth is the plot's central social and moral conflict.
The production was filmed around Tennessee locations, using the wooded countryside and river landscape to create local authenticity.
Chuck's relationship with Carol develops while he administers a project opposed by her family and neighbors.
Films like Wild River, and why
The Grapes of Wrath
shared themes of modernization, displacement, class conflict, and intimate human drama in a rural American setting
Places in the Heart
shared concern with social transformation, contested land, and restrained romantic feeling within an American historical drama
The Last Picture Show
shared rural realism, generational conflict, and emotionally serious treatment of changing American communities
Movie Details
- Director
- Elia Kazan
- Release Date
- 1960-05-26
- Runtime
- 110 min
- Rating
- 7.2 / 10 (108)
Cast
- Montgomery Clift
- Lee Remick
- Jo Van Fleet
- Albert Salmi
- Jay C. Flippen
- James Westerfield
- Bruce Dern
- Barbara Loden
- Frank Overton
- Malcolm Atterbury
Where to watch in United States
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Wild River about?
- A TVA administrator's dam project pits the demands of modernization against a Tennessee community's homes, prejudices, and loyalties.
- What is Wild River like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Wild River as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is Wild River violent?
- No — Ember's analysis finds no violence in Wild River.
- What did critics think of Wild River?
- Critics broadly regard the film as an important, authentic, and humane drama about national socioeconomic progress, rural displacement, and the people caught between enforcement and resistance.
- Which films are like Wild River?
- Films with a similar feel include The Grapes of Wrath, Places in the Heart, and The Last Picture Show.
- How long is Wild River?
- Wild River runs 110 minutes.
- Where can I watch Wild River?
- In United States, Wild River is available to rent or buy from Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home.
