“High concept” films are not a novel phenomenon in Hollywood, and examples can be found in the relatively distant past. One such example is *River of No Return*, a 1954 western directed by Otto Preminger. The plot is set in the Northwestern United States in the mid‑1870s and follows the journey of Matt Calder (played by Robert Mitchum), a rugged frontiersman. It begins at a trading post where Calder, after years of…







