[He is the son of a Joseph and Mary Deeds - an unusual Christ-like reference.] When told the "good news" about his inheritance by duplicitous, crooked lawyer John Cedar, he barely flinches, uninterested and unemotionally affected by the money.Traven (a pen name for Berwick Traven Torsvan), an elusive and mysterious individual who showed up during the filming under an assumed name (as Hal Croves, Traven's representative and 'attorney'), and served as one of the film's technical advisors after claiming that he had been sent by the reclusive author.The action is narrated, in flashback, by an offscreen character, the local Catholic Father Peter Lonergan (Ward Bond), the priest of the parish who is also a devoted fisherman, as he clears his throat:Now, I'll begin at the beginnin'.Exhibiting traits of a real leader, Elias warned Gardner and Chris: "Look, in case anything happens to you, you get lost or separated, don't yell out, OK?.