LIGHTS, CAMERA, AND RIVER ACTION: Six Hollywood Movies Featuring Action-Packed Whitewater Scenes

Flim makers have had a fascination with using rivers as a location throughout cinematic history. They have woven timeless stories around these waterways that have both enthralled us and haunted us. How can we ever forget such movie classics as The Bridge of the River Kwai, Cape Fear, Apocalypse Now, and A River Runs Through It?
These flowing streams not only serve as daunting obstacles in the struggle between man and nature, but also as stunning backdrops. They showcase our leading star's perilous journey through rough and churning waters on a voyage that will lead them to either triumph or transformation.
Humphrey Bogart, who won his only Oscar for his role in The African Queen, uttered one my favorite river movies lines: "I don't blame you for being scared - not one bit. Nobody with good sense ain't scared of white water".
But we're glad to be onboard this trip. We have enthusiastically embraced the river, just as Katharine Hepburn's character did when she replied: "I never dreamed that any mere physical experience could be so stimulating!"
So as the 91st Academy Awards are quickly approaching, here is a list of my favorites, involving some action-packed whitewater scenes and of course plenty of river time.

The African Queen (1951)
Arguably one of the greatest river movies of all time, as Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn, take on the jungle, the rapids, and the German Navy in this classic movie adventure.

Filmed on the Ruiki River, in the heart of the Belgian Congo at Murchison Falls near Lake Victoria in Uganda, just making this movie was a monumental test of endurance for the cast and crew. They endured sickness, spartan living conditions, and even had brushes with wild animals and poisonous snakes while on location.
The African Queen deck was tight and too small to shoot on, given the size of the bulky Technicolor cameras. While on the river, most of the filming had to be done on a sprawling raft mock-up in order to shoot the close-ups. The cumbersome raft (built over three large canoes) would get stuck on submerged logs, while cameras and lights would get caught in the overhanging foliage of the jungle.

"The hysteria of each shot was a nightmare”, wrote Hepburn in her 1987 memoir The Making of The African Queen. “The engine on the Queen would stop. Or one of the propellers would be fouled up by the dragging rope. Or we would be attacked by hornets.”
The scenes considered too dangerous to shoot on the river were shot in studio water tanks in Isleworth Studios, Middlesex.
And in the days before CGI, the dramatic sequence of the African Queen going over a waterfall and through rapids was actually an eight-foot model boat shot through a telephoto lens. Flim makers layered their footage, incorporating the location sequences with the miniature boat careening over a waterfall.


The River of No Return (1954)
Riding the wave of the success of The African Queen, moviegoers returned to theaters to journey downriver again, but this time with blonde bombshell Marilyn Monroe rocking the boat.
While trying to start a new life together with his son after being released from prison, Robert Mitchum works his farm along the river, only to have Monroe and her low-life gambler fiance wash up along its shores.

On the run, the gambler knocks out Mitchum, steals his horse and rifle, and leaves the three stranded and surrounded by hostile Indians, with only one escape.
"The Indians call it the River of No Return,"  Mitchum's character says as they head into a series of treacherous rapids.  "From here on, you'll find out why."
Including the raft trip down the river, the film is an action-packed western with mountain lions, gunfights, and Indian attacks, but Monroe is still given time to serenade us with four songs, including the movie's willowy title tune.
Flimed in British Columbia on the Bow River, the production was plagued with problems, with the insistence from the director that the cast would perform many of their own stunts. In one incident, Monroe's hip waders filled with water, dragging her under and nearly drowning her after slipping on a rock in the river. Mitchum and others jumped to her rescue, but her ankle was injured as a result.
Another mishap occurred when Monroe and Mitchum's raft became broached on the rocks in the middle of the river, nearly capsizing before some quick thinking stuntmen saved the day and pulled them off the rocks.
It was much safer but not much drier for them while filming the remaining scenes indoors in Los Angeles. Onboard a hydraulic platform in front of a giant screen, Monroe and Mitchum clung to rafting props, while men stood to the sides and splashed them with buckets of water.

Deliverance (1972)

Even people who have never seen the film have encountered Deliverance's legacy, especially those who are connected to the canoe and kayak community. From bumper stickers and T-shirt reading, ‘Paddle faster, I hear banjos,’ to the hearing the iconic movie line "squeal like a pig,” the will film will forever as cause us to "squirm with angst."

It's a Heart of Darkness-like voyage into the rural backwoods of the south, as four suburban Atlanta men take a weekend canoe trip down the fictional Cahulawassee River in the Georgia Mountain's wilderness. Burt Reynolds' character calls it the “the last wild, untamed, unpolluted, unf*cked-up river in the South." But time is ticking. In a short time the river, the rapids, and even the town will be flooded over with the imminent construction of a dam.
After a bumpy ride through rapids, the light-hearted adventure turns to horror when they encounter a pair of dangerous mountain men. Separated from the others, John Voight's character was tied to a tree and could only watch helplessly as his canoe partner Ned Beatty is violently raped by one of the men. That attack sets off a chilling sequence of events, including a disastrous turn through whitewater that challenges the canoeist's moral codes as they fight to survive.
Flimed on Northern Georgia's Chattooga River, the actors who performed their own stunts spent two weeks learning to canoe the rapids.
"We rehearsed for quite a long period," director John Boorman, told The Guardian in a 2017 interview, "Because we had to get the actors up to scratch in archery and canoeing. I had already been down the Chattooga, a ferocious river, to make sure it was safe."
In the scene where the canoe broke in two (five were actually destroyed during filming), Boorman coordinated a release of water from the upstream Tallulah Falls dam.

"I got them to close all the sluice gates upstream, so only a trickle came down," Boorman recalled in the interview, "That let us build rails on the riverbed, so we could mount the canoe on them, and trigger the breakup later. When we came to shoot, I was down at the bottom of the cataract on the phone to the dam. But I got impatient and got them to open all the gates. We just about survived the avalanche of water."
While Boorman was down below, tough-guy Reynolds (who nixed using a dummy in the shot because the stunt coordinator thought it looked too phony), requested to have the scene re-shot with himself going over the falls instead.
"I dream sometimes of the water coming," years later Reynolds told the Hollywood Reporter, "I looked around and there was a tidal wave coming at me. I went over the falls and the first thing that happened I hit a rock and cracked my tailbone, and to this day it hurts. Then I went down to the water below and it was a whirlpool. I couldn’t get out and a guy there said if you get caught, just go to the bottom. You can get out but you can't swim against it. So I went down to the bottom. What he didn’t tell me was it was going to shoot me up like a torpedo. So I went out."
Years before the phrase "wardrobe malfunction" would become popular, Reynolds would have one while caught in the force of that churning whirlpool.
"They said later that they saw this 30-year-old guy in costume go over the waterfall and then about fifteen minutes later they saw this nude man come out," Reynolds recalled in the interview, "It had torn everything—my boots and everything off."
For more about the movie see Canoe and Kayak Magazine article Summer of Deliverance.

River Wild (1994)

We don't think of Meryl Streep as an action star, but when she says "We're are risking death a number of times on this trip", we know we're in for a wild ride. called the Gauntlet. "It's off the scale," Streep's character says. "One man was killed, and another one paralyzed for life. The Rangers no longer allow anyone to try it."
She stars as a suburban mom and former white-water rafter who, while trying to save her marriage, battles wits with an evil Kevin Bacon and runs a dangerous stretch of river
Many of the movie's whitewater scenes were filmed on Montana's Kootenai River, while other scenes were shot on the Middle Fork of the Flathead River, the Colorado River in Utah, and Oregon's Rogue River.
While most of the dangerous river scenes did require expert stunt doubles, Streep did several of her own stunts in the film on some milder river sections, but even those had some peril when the star was swept off the raft into the river.
''Actually, I was really very quiet and not scared, which is not at all how I thought I'd react under these circumstances", Streep told the New York Times in 1994. ''I remember sinking down to the bottom with this powerful and freezing water pulling me in deeper."
Wearing a PFD, she was rescued by a hired kayaker after the river pushed her 500 yards downstream.

The White Mile (1994)
Like The Titanic and A Perfect Storm, we have no doubts about the fate of the rafters. But it's hard to look away as we watch their misguided steps that lead to disaster. In the end, five men are killed, setting up moral crises within their corporate world when the surviving relatives file a liability suit against the firm.

Loosely based on a true story, the movie depicts an advertising agency taking 11 executives rafting on Canada's Chilko River. On a Class V section of the river known as the White Mile, the rafters suffer catastrophe after their raft capsizes, tossing them all into the raging current.
A not-so-nice Alan Alda stars as a hard-charging and unrepentant advertising executive who bullies not only his colleagues and clients into the male-bonding trip, but also the raft guide by piling too many men into the raft.
During filming, however, California's South Fork of the American River (standing in for the Chilko River) dished out more than a few licks on Alda.
In a 1994 interview with St Louis Post-Dispatch, Alda tells how he and co-star Robert Loggia were struggling to stay afloat in the rapids while shooting one of the extremely edgy and authentic whitewater sequences above a big drop in the river.
"We didn't go over, but we came close enough I remember thinking to myself," recalled Alda "When the hell are they going to come out here with one of those kayaks?' Everybody thought the scene was going great and they weren't going to interrupt it. We had gone twice as far they said we would before they stopped us. And we were heading for the waterfall!"

Without A Paddle (2004)
While Deliverance and The White Mile made us all cringe, the trio in Without A Paddle can only make us smile at their awkward ineptness on the wild river.

When asked if he had done any paddling before, Dax Shepard's character boasts with confidence. When pressed by the outfitter, "So... are you a Class... 4,5?", Shepard's character gloats, "Why don't you try to put those numbers together. Yeah. I shot a Class 45, and haven't lost a man yet."

In search of legendary skyjacker D.B. Cooper's loot in the Oregon wilderness, the three childhood buddies encounter a bear, a pair of sexy treehuggers, a couple of bumbling but well-armed pot farmers and, with a nod to Deliverance, even wild-bearded Burt Reynolds.
Shot in New Zealand, the producers use sections of the Waikato River and Wellington’s Hutt River for the boating scenes and South Auckland’s Hunua Falls for our hapless canoeist's trip over the falls. The actors performed many of their own stunts, including paddling their canoe through some hurtling rapids.
"We capsized that boat more times than I care to relate to you," actor Seth Green told The Morning Call in 2004 interview.

And some of my other favorites include
Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown
Whitewater Summer
The River Why
Rooster Cogburn and The Lady
A River Runs Through It
Black Robe

For more about river movies checkout Canoe and Kayak Magazine article Between the Frames.

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THE PINEAPPLE EXPRESS

The usual placid waters of Lake Natoma bolster a fast current now with releases coming down from Folsom Dam.

A Pacific storm system known as the “Pineapple Express” blasted California earlier this week dumping waves of water and snow across the west coast region raising risks of flooding and mudslides.
Drawing its name from a weather phenomenon that periodically heads east in long and narrow bands of water vapor formed over an ocean adjacent to the Hawaiian Islands this past weather system was one of season's strongest in series of storms this winter.

“The (Pineapple) Express is no joke,” Bob Oravec, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland told Reuters. "We're talking 3 to 5 inches of rain in San Francisco and coastal areas."
Those torrential rains beginning last Tuesday shattered daily precipitation records in Sacramento and led to flash-flood watches across the region. Water releases from Nimbus and Folsom dams increased as the storm moved through the region.
While at Lake Tahoe a winter storm warning from the National Weather Service in Reno remained in effect for much of the week as some ski resorts on Thursday morning did report over a foot of fresh snow.

The snow is great news for those heading to the Lake Tahoe slopes. The latest in winter storms have increased snow depth at area ski resorts to above-average levels delighting would-be skiers looking for fresh powder. While whitewater kayakers like world-class kayaker Carson Lindsay know that the higher snow means the bigger the water come springtime.
"I’m not only looking forward to some bigger flows in the rivers this spring during the peak runoff but also longer and more sustained flows into the summer as the snow melts!" said Lindsay, "My friends and I have our eyes on some epic whitewater missions and adventures this spring.

The biggest winner however just might be California's water supply which has face uncertainty over the past decade. The snowpack, where the state gets one-third of its water supply, always plays a pivotal role as it slowly melts filling the state's reservoirs, rivers and streams. In wet years, the runoff begins in April and can continue to flow through into August. But in years with less snow accumulation, therefore less precipitation, the runoff can run out as early as May.
The latest statistics from the California Department of Water as of Wednesday, the snowpack in the Sierra Nevada has an astounding snow water equivalent of 136 percent of historical average for this time of year. That's a big jump from a month ago when the snowpack was at just 69 percent and huge from just last year when it was at only 18 percent of normal.

Californian boaters are cautiously optimistic those numbers will translate into longer high flows and even bigger summer rapids.
"I'm hopeful this year will be better than last. December was drier than normal, but January was above average, so we're off to a good start," said Shingle Springs, Ca., based photographer and paddler Martin Beebee, "I'm looking forward to having more time to run some of the rivers that are really dependent on the winter rain and snow, such as the North Fork American. The more rain and snow."
Lindsay agrees even though he says that typically with these bigger snow packs it makes access difficult in the higher elevations until much later.
"The weather quite a bit nicer and it helps spread out the season a bit more," said Lindsay, "Also, this will help fill the reservoirs so we can have guaranteed world-class commercial rafting 7 days a week."
Although hopeful, Beebee emphasized the uncertainty of the weather and a past history of droughts over several years.
"It's so hard to tell anymore what's going to happen," said Beebee, "Call me a pessimist, but it could just as easily stop raining and snowing after this next storm and leave us high and dry again. 2017 was really an anomaly in the last decade or so when we've mostly been dry"

Landmark Conservation Bill Protects Nearly 620 Miles of Wild and Scenic Rivers

In a landmark conservation bill, the US Senate earlier this week, passed legislation to protect nearly 620 miles of wild and scenic rivers across seven states from damming and other development. With bipartisan support, the bill is the biggest step forward for Wild and Scenic River designations in nearly a decade.
"The overwhelming local support for these protections are the reason why they are moving through Congress despite the gridlock that usually dominates Congress when it comes to natural resource issues." wrote David Moryc the Senior Director Wild and Scenic Rivers and Public Lands Policy for American Rivers on their website this week.

Some details on the rivers protected compiled by American Rivers:

• 256 miles of new designations the for tributaries for the Rogue River, the Molalla, and Elk Rivers in Oregon;
• 110 miles of the Wood-Pawcatuck Rivers in Rhode Island and Connecticut;
• 76 miles of Amargosa River, Deep Creek, Surprise Canyon and other desert streams in California;
• 63 miles of the Green River in Utah;
• 62 miles of the Farmington River and Salmon Brook in Connecticut;
• 52.8 miles of the Nashua, Squannacook and Nissitissit Rivers in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

Tour boat will change kayaking at Pictured Rocks

 

Courtesy of Moran Iron Works Inc.

Paddling at Lake Superior's Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore will get easier for some folks after Moran Iron Works Inc. announced the production of the first-ever kayak launching vessel, designed to take 72 passengers and 36 kayaks. The 64-foot-by-19-foot vessel will be used to take passengers and their kayaks around the Pictured Rocks for guided tours. The custom-designed kayak launch system will be tailored to allow passengers to launch their kayaks offshore once the boat is parked.
Tourism companies on big lakes such as Lake Tahoe will surely take note.

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OVER THE BOW; SOUTH FORK OF AMERICAN, VALENTINE'S DAY EDITION

Photo Courtesy of Julie Mitravich

 Unable to perceive the shape of you, I find you all around me. Your presence fills my eyes with your love. It humbles my heart, for you are everywhere. -- The Shape of Water

When we saw Julie Mitravich's wedding photo entitled, "Nothing like getting married in your Pyranha!" on Facebook this past summer, We knew, we wanted to share on Outside Adventure to Max in our Over the Bow series telling the story behind the image. We were hoping to share funny tidbits about being in long term relationships with a paddler, aka, too many boats in the garage, it doesn't matter that it's raining, every day a great day to paddle and the smell of wet neoprene that permeates from the back seat of their car.

But when we reached out to Mitravich, a former employee of Current Adventures Kayak School and Trips,  about sharing the story behind the picture, we received a distinctively different view. She shared her story of two people not only in love but also connected by a strong bond to a sport that brought them together.
We weren't surprised. As Ashley Woodring wrote in Blue Ridge Outdoors Magazine, "This kayaker species certainly has its idiosyncrasies, but what becomes evident very quickly is that they are also some of the most passionate people alive. They have reverent relationships with the natural places on our planet, and that passion for life and nature is only magnified in their relationships with people around them."

So for our Valentine's Day message this year, we are sharing Mitravich's letter as she echoes that same love and passion for her husband, her friends and family and those wild places of the water.

For those who paddle, its a passion beyond simply enjoying the sport. We love to paddle- we always paddle on the weekends, sneak in paddles before and after work, our garages are filled with gear, our cars embody the essence of booties and polypro, and we watch kayaking videos whenever possible. Our friends do the same, and even better, our significant others do as well.

As Ken Kastorff from Endless River Adventures once told my husband "When you meet a girl kayaking on the Grand Canyon, you have already answered the first five questions." I was lucky enough to meet my husband on the Grand Canyon. For those who have been on the canyon, you understand the magic of the canyon.

It changes lives, some more than others, but you definitely never come out the same person. For me, the canyon has always been a treasured place, I believe it is one of the "thin spaces", the veil between heaven and earth.

On my first trip down, everything fell in place and I knew that I wanted to live on the river. After I dropped into Lava Falls and paddled into the eddy to celebrate with the dearest of friends, I had decided to quit my job and move up to Lotus, California. It is that powerful.

A few trips later, I met my husband. In the canyon, you see the real person, how they handle stress and situations, how they act with friends and strangers, how organized they are and how they help out around camp or on the water. Beyond that, the first five questions are answered. We may not all have the same questions but a good guess are that they kayak, they love the outdoors, they enjoy hiking, they have a thirst for adventure and that they can do it all over again for 15 days with the same smile.

People always ask if I knew he was the one or how do you know they are the one. The first part is easy, yes- I knew. The second part is harder to describe but after 15 days there are so many experiences both on and off the water, so many highs and lows, and within all those moments you simply know.

You know how someone handles those highs and lows, how they support you and yet can understand that you may need space. The time spent with each other is invaluable but they also appreciate time learning about others on the trip. It is not about you or the other person, it's about the entire experience that is enhanced by the characteristics of the other person.

Once I knew, there wasn't even a doubt in my mind and I never second-guessed my decision to leave Lotus and move to Virginia. When we were married this year, we did it twice. Once in front of our immediate family, at a place that was special to both of us but more importantly it was a place that signified home for him. A place that he loved, a place where he built his house that looks across the lake at its beauty.

Then we were married at Camp Lotus, back in Lotus, California amongst all of my dearest friends. It gave him the chance to see the place that will always be home for me. He finally learned about the Gorge and Barking Dog- my two absolute favorites. He met my friends and put a face to the story that probably started with "no s**t, there I was ..." 
 
We all paddled together and shared stories for one glorious week. The one thing that he will always remember is that up until a couple hours before the ceremony, we were surfing at Barking Dog.

More importantly that it wasn't even his idea, I had started the day saying- "The water is up (it was No Water Wednesday) and if we get our set up done by 1, we can surf for a few hours!"

Then we were married on the river by one of our best friends, Mary DeRiemer. 
It had a perfect start when few kayakers were behind us in the eddy practicing a roll, we all paused and watched, mumbled about his head coming up too quick, then after the second attempt we all cheered his success. 
Mary spoke about the importance of each individual in the marriage, never overshadowing the other person but a continued appreciation for who they are. At that same time, all of the paddling couples that were there looked at each other and smiled.

We all have our stories, each of them beautiful, weaving together another river, a river that it is sacred to all of us and brings us all together for the rest of our lives.  
                                                                                                     Julie Mitravich

Disclaimer - Photoshoot only, no whitewater involved, flat water only with safety team and equipment inside the boat.

Over the Bow is a feature from Outside Adventure to the Max, telling the story behind the image. If you have a great picture with a great story, we would love to see it. Submit it to us at nickayak@gmail.com

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PADDLING THE DELTA

Photos Courtesy of Kathy Bunton

By Outside Adventure to the Max Guest Blogger Kathy Bunton

What makes paddling the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, AKA the California Delta, so special?
I'll try my best to answer that question in hopes you'll take it upon yourself to come and experience it on your own or with myself on a guided tour.

I'll begin with a little background information. The California Delta is unique in that it is an inland inverted delta. What that means is that it's not your typical delta where a single source of water flows to or through a narrow opening and then fans out depositing sediment. Our California Delta is fed by many rivers and streams and encompasses an area from Sacramento to the north, Tracy to the South and Stockton to the east. All waters come together at the Carquinez Strait where it continues to the San Francisco Bay and out the Golden Gate to the Pacific Ocean.

The California Delta is the largest estuary on the west coast of the Americas. It encompasses an area of over 1100 square miles which include over 50 major islands and hundreds of smaller ones. There are endless paddling opportunities whether kayaking, paddleboarding or canoeing. One thing I love about the Delta is that every day it's different. You can paddle the same spot every day of the year and you'll experience a difference in how it looks and feels each day. You'll have diverse animal encounters whether it's viewing countless species of waterfowl or a chance meeting with a family of river otters, the Delta never disappoints.  Viewing wildlife from a kayak is a unique experience. You become part of the river as there is no way to get closer to the water unless you swim. Your soundless movement over the surface of the water allows you to get a glimpse of the wild as it truly is. It's an amazing experience to feel solace and tranquility while being surrounded by nearly 7 million people in the Bay Area.

With so many paddling options where do you start? Because I am completely biased, I'd suggest Antioch. With Antioch being a designated San Francisco Bay Water Trail site it makes launching a breeze with the kayak launches available at the Antioch Marina. If you don't have your own kayak you can always rent from Delta Kayak Adventures where I will offer suggestions and tips based on weather and tides for the best possible experience. You can search my blog here for trips I've posted on paddling from Antioch. I will continue to add trips as time goes on. Beginning your trip from an SF Bay Water Trail site is a great choice because that site has been determined to be human powered craft friendly.

There are currently 4 SF Bay Water Trail designated sites within the "legal" delta with more additions planned. They include Big Break Regional Shoreline in Oakley, the Antioch Marina, Pittburg Marina and Riverview Park in Pittsburg, though Riverview is more practical for kiteboarders. There are also 2 sites in Suisun, not considered to be a part of the legal delta but another beautiful area to explore. My hope is that someday the SF Bay Water Trail will link to the Great Delta Trail which is in its planning stages.

Another reason the California Delta is such a special place to paddle is that it can be paddled year round. With proper gear and attire, you can enjoy a cool winter paddle and view migratory birds visiting our area. When the summer winds pick up, you can surf the swells on the San Joaquin or find secluded islands and smaller sloughs to explore that are protected from the wind. In spring you can see hundreds of egrets and heron raising their young. Fall brings new winged visitors to our Delta and is my favorite time of year to paddle.

The Delta is an exceptional place to fish. Kayak fishing is another way to enjoy time on the water. You can fish for Salmon during the fall, black bass, striped bass, bluegill and crappie year round. If you want a sleigh ride you can try your luck at targeting sturgeon. The Delta is known as a world-class fishery with many tournaments and festivals throughout the year. Delta Kayak Adventures offers guided fishing tours or fishing kayak rentals throughout the region.

Delta Kayak Adventures is a Mom owned small business. My children are often at my side ensuring our client's safety on the water. We offer kayak and paddleboard rentals, guided tours, classes and use high-quality equipment to ensure a good time on the water. Our classes include an Intro to Kayaking or Paddleboarding 2-hour class to get the basics and safety down and to give you the chance to see if kayaking or paddleboarding is a sport you want to pursue. We also offer more in-depth sea kayaking classes that are a full day of learning and having fun on the water. Rescue classes are offered to ensure you can safely re-enter your kayak in real-world conditions. We offer private group tours throughout the Delta region and discounted trips for veterans and their family. Rentals are available from the Antioch Marina 7 days a week and you can choose to rent for an hour, half day or full day.

I invite you to come and explore the Delta with me. I'm sure you won't be disappointed.

Kathy Bunton is the owner and operator of Delta Kayak Adventures based in Antioch, California.  You can keep up with Bunton in her blog Kayaking in the California Delta.  

Outside Adventure to the Max is always looking for guest bloggers. Contact us at Nickayak@gmail.com, if you are interested.

 

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