The plot may be weak even if the action is only decently played out. But what really makes this film, is the landscape. Breathtaking shots of Mount Hood, some taken from near Timberline lodge, others on the White River on the east flank, fed by the White River Glacier. Those of the stern-wheeler trudging up the Columbia River past what is now Rooster Rock State Park, but in those days was just a sandy spot below Crown Point, perched high on the surrounding cliffs. Occasionally where the action takes place at high altitude on Mount Hood, a panorama so vast as to take in most of Oregon in a single frame. Even if you have lived in the area your whole life, the photography will grab you every time you watch Bend in the River.

In case the title doesn't quite make sense, think of life as the places in time and space where you made a turn, just as you would when traveling down a river and once again there is the bend you just passed, or the one you are about to encounter. The old timers saw life in these terms of metaphors, and they had a saying about "going to see the elephant", alluding to seeing something the likes of which no man could even imagine.