Posted on 08/13/2017 6:17:09 AM PDT by Twotone
Robert Mitchum was born in Connecticut one hundred years ago - August 6th 1917 - and had the kind of childhood that gives you plenty to talk about in interviews, although Mitchum rarely did. His father, a railroad worker, was crushed to death before his son's second birthday, and young Bob was eventually sent to live with his grandparents in Delaware. He was expelled from middle school for getting into a fight with the principal. Kicked out of high school, he drifted round the country, hopping freights, sleeping in boxcars, picking up a little dough digging ditches, getting jailed for vagrancy, working on chain-gangs... He found his way to Long Beach, where he ghost-wrote for an astrologer and composed songs for his sister's nightclub act. He was set upon by half-a-dozen sailors from the local base, and was on his way to whippin' all six of 'em when his wife stepped in to break it up because he was enjoying it too much. He got busted for pot, and he had a nervous breakdown that made him temporarily blind.
At which point he decided he was leading too stressful a life, and a little light work as a movie extra seemed comparatively relaxing...
(Excerpt) Read more at steynonline.com ...
Great actor. Love “Out of the Past”.
I’m sure I’ve seen it, but it would have to be years ago. Who knew “Against All Odds” was a remake?!
Never cared much for Mitchum, but an interesting article nonetheless.
Compare Mitchum’s role in El Dorado to Dean Martin’s in Rio Bravo (essentially the same movie done twice). The latter was far superior.
“Out of the Past” is a good movie.
“Heaven Knows Mr. Allison” is another one I enjoy, one of my all-time favorite movies. He and Deborah Kerr were perfect together. Loved it as a kid, love it even more now.
Robert Mitchum, John Wayne, Richard Burton, Robert Duvall, Clint Eastwood... these are the Hollywood folks I’ve always enjoyed.
Ditto. Good list.
“Compare Mitchum’s role in El Dorado to Dean Martin’s in Rio Bravo (essentially the same movie done twice). The latter was far superior.”
I am an unabashed Mitchum fan, but I agree that Dean Martin’s performance was superior to Mitchum’s turn.
Henry Hathaway also made Rio Lobo, which was the same story filmed a third time, each film (Rio Bravo, El Dorado, and Rio Lobo) starring John Wayne. Wayne’s box office appeal was so strong that Hathaway knew an audience would come just to see Wayne appear in the same film three times. Each film made a profit.
RE List:
They didn’t break down, cry, and cower in the corner like most of the ... “men”... in movies these days.
Typically won’t watch too many modern movies. There’s a few, but not many. Jason Statham is a good actor, comes to mind. Reminds me of Old School.
Great article. Thanks for posting. I knew Steyn was a good music critic, but didn’t know he reviewed actors and movies. I haven’t seen Out of the Past — have to add it to my Netflix queue.
Really liked his The Night of the Hunter and Cape Fear.
Mitchum sure had an interesting life pre-actor.
Yep, Steyn covers a lot of territory. Here’s a previous column about Jack Lemmon...
https://www.steynonline.com/7014/dads-on-screen-on-stage-and-off
Tom Hardy, Christian Bale, and Russell Crowe are good “manly” actors.
I think Mitchum did only one other USMC-related flik—Gung Ho! About Carlson’s 2dMarine Raider Battalion and their Makin Island Raid!
*****
Gunny G
*****
Tom Hardy is awesome. The Drop with Gandolfini is a must. His worse movies are the popcorn movies like Bane and Mad Max reboot. I can watch Warrior with him and Nick Nolte every night if I had the time
Russell Crowe was great in "Master and Commander - The Far Side of the World", "Gladiator", and "3:10 to Yuma" (great remake of a great original. )Bale was with Crowe in "3:10".
Ive only seen Tom Hardy as Bane in the Batman movie. But he was convincing in that role, did a good job.
Yes, there's still a few today.
Just saw "Kong: Skull Island" a few days ago.
Funny scene: Helicopter pilot sees a giant ape silhouetted against the sun - "Is that a Monkey?"
Yup... that's one really effin' BIG monkey, brother...and he ain't happy.
I remember that one too...
The Ballad of Thunder Road (1958)
Back when men in Hollywood were men
Isn’t Hardy a bi?
No clue. He’s good at playing a tough/serious guy though.
Wasn’t it Mitchum who said “Acting can’t be too hard; after all, dogs do it”?
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