J. Fred Henry Publications, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
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By Geoff Carter
He was cool, one of the first anti-heroes of the silver screen. Maybe even a little cooler than Steve McQueen. With his world-worn face, half-lidded eyes, relaxed self-assurance, and deep sonorous baritone, Robert Mitchum exuded a powerful yet unassuming screen presence. You’ll never catch him acting. Known even early in his career as a film noir icon, Mitchum stretched the boundaries of his screen persona to include the greatest of heroes and the most sinister of villains.Â
As the war-weary Lieutenant Bill Walker in The Story of G.I. Joe, a biopic of front-line journalist Ernie Pyle (Burgess Meredith), Mitchum becomes the epitome of an everyday guy thrown into the ugliness and daily grind of an infantry company in Italy during World War II. Despite fatigue, stress, and pain, he uncomplainingly goes about his duty, even when it includes writing letters to parents of his dead GIs.
As the psychotic Max Cady, an ex-con bent on avenging himself on the lawyer who testified against him in Cape Fear, Mitchum’s brooding malignance dominates every scene he’s in. Whether he’s simply leaning against a car watching his nemesis or calmly reacting to police questioning, Mitchum’s utter lack of fear and emotion is creepy even as his calm and relentless determination seems as inevitable as the tide.
In Charles Laughton’s classic thriller Night of the Hunter, Mitchum plays Harry Powell, a psychopathic preacher who wreaks God’s vengeance on rich widows. After his cellmate Ben Harper (Peter Graves) is hung for murder during a bank robbery, Powell seeks out and seduces his widow and proceeds to terrorize Harper’s children to tell him where the loot is hidden. While Cady never bothered to hide his malignance, Harper masks it under a façade of religious righteousness; his hypocrisy makes his evil all the more pernicious.
The power and appeal of Robert Mitchum’s acting is in the seeming effortlessness of his portrayals. Like Spencer Tracy, who was also a paragon of a completely naturalistic style of acting, Mitchum downplayed the technical aspect of his craft. He once said that most of acting entailed memorizing your lines, hitting your marks, and going home, but many of the actors and directors who worked with him maintained he was an artist of the first degree, always cognizant of his role and himself as an artist. Robert Mitchum is something of a mystery, a cypher who, like his characters, was reluctant to reveal too much of himself.
Robert Mitchum’s Top Ten Films
The Night of the Hunter: This thriller centers around John (Billy Chapin) and Pearl Harper (Sally Jane Bruce), the children of a bank robber who has been sentenced to death. Before being apprehended by the authorities, Ben Harper (Peter Graves) tells his kids to hide the money from the robbery. While awaiting the death sentence, Ben’s cellmate Harry Powell (Mitchum), a self-proclaimed man of God—who also happens to be a serial killer—decides to seduce Harper’s widow Willa (Shelley Winters) and ingratiate himself with his children in order to find the money. After he disposes of Willa, the children run away and Powell mercilessly tracks them until he runs up against his final reckoning. Harry Powell is one of the nastiest screen villains in movie history; his fervent greed is so intermingled with his religious fervor that the two become—in Mitchum’s hands—a religion all its own.
Starring: Robert Mitchum, Shelley Winters, Peter Graves, Lillian Gish, Billy Chapin, Sally Jane Bruce, and James Gleason. Written by James Agee. Directed by Charles Laughton.
Cape Fear: This thriller pits attorney Sam Bowden (Gregory Peck) against ex-con Max Cady (Mitchum) who was sentenced to prison for rape because of Bowden’s testimony. The newly released Cady—bent on punishing Bowden for putting him in jail—starts stalking Bowden and his family. After the family dog is mysteriously killed and Cady deflects an attempt to deter him, Bowden flees with his family on a houseboat to Cape Fear, where he and Cady have their inevitable showdown. As Cady, Mitchum embodies the malignant patience and relentless focus of a stalker consumed with hate and revenge. His cool exterior barely masks the fermented mass of coiled fury in his soul. Mitchum’s Cady is so calculated and deliberate that his evil intentions become all the more terrifying.
Starring: Robert Mitchum, Gregory Peck, Polly Bergen, Lori Martin, Martin Balsam, Telly Savalas, and Barrie Chase. Written by James R. Webb. Directed by J. Lee Thompson.
Farewell, My Lovely: Hollywood has had varying degrees of success when it comes to putting the works of Raymond Chandler onto the silver screen. Humphrey Bogart did a great job as Philip Marlowe, Chandler’s archetypal hard-boiled private eye, but in this later production, Robert Mitchum is perfectly cast as Marlowe. He is gruff, hard-boiled, and cynical, yet underneath that tough exterior, he is as trustworthy as a boy scout and righteous as a judge. Mitchum navigates Marlowe’s interior and exteriors selves perfectly. The scene in which he plies alcoholic informant Jesse Florian (Sylvia Miles) with booze for information and leaves writhing in self-disgust is perfectly calibrated.
Starring: Robert Mitchum, Charlotte Rampling, Sylvia Miles, John Ireland, Anthony Zerbe, Harry Dean Stanton, and Jack O’Halloran. Written by David Zelag Goodman. Directed by Dick Richards.
The Story of G.I. Joe: In this biopic of World War II journalist Ernie Pyle (Burgess Meredith), Mitchum plays Lieutenant Bill Walker, a war-weary officer who guides a group of green recruits as they deal with the horrors and stresses of war and the emotional hardships of being so far from home. Mitchum portrays Walker as an officer who cannot afford to let his emotions control him; his men’s lives depend upon him being clear-thinking and logical. Mitchum is perfect in this role. While seemingly unemotional on the outside, his face—especially his eyes—and weary voice tells us everything about the agony he is going through as he sees his men attempting to endure the hardships of battle.
Starring: Robert Mitchum, Burgess Meredith, Wally Cassell, Freddie Steele, John R. Reilly, Jimmy Lloyd, and William Murphy. Written by Leopold Atlas, Guy Endore, and Philip Stevenson. Directed by William Wellman.
Ryan’s Daughter: In this romantic drama set on the beautiful coast of Ireland during the Irish Revolution, Mitchum plays Charles Shaughnessy, the unassuming and somewhat naïve village schoolmaster. Bored with life in her small village, Rosy Ryan (Sarah Miles) the young daughter of the town publican and British informer Thomas Ryan (Leo McKern), falls in love with the much older Shaughnessy. The two are married but Rosy is dissatisfied and soon becomes infatuated with a British soldier and starts an affair with him. Against the backdrop of the Irish uprising, Charles and Rosy struggle to keep their marriage intact. The role of Shaughnessy is a departure from Mitchum’s usual tough-guy roles. His depiction of Charles as a patient, loving, and sensitive husband is both moving and heart-rending.
Starring: Sarah Miles, Robert Mitchum, Trevor Howard, John Mills, Christopher Jones, Leo McKern, and Barry Foster. Written by Robert Bolt. Directed by David Lean.
El Dorado: In this star-studded Western romp, Mitchum is paired with John Wayne as a pair of righteous gunslingers out to take on a corrupt and power-hungry cattle baron. As Sheriff J.P. Harrah, Mitchum at first epitomizes a competent and courageous lawman, but, later, after running into a femme fatale, he becomes a hopeless drunk unable to deal with the evil rancher Bart Jason (Ed Asner) who is attempting to run a local family, the McDonalds, off their land. Harrah’s buddy Cole Thornton (John Wayne) comes to the aid of his old friend, and together with the help of a few friends, they help justice prevail. While the film has somewhat of a tongue-in-cheek feel to it with some cutesy scenes (Mitchum taking a much-needed bath) and trite one-liners, Mitchum shows a surprising vulnerability as a jilted lover. His grit and resilience are deftly handled by Mitchum.
Starring: John Wayne, Robert Mitchum, James Caan, Ed Asner, Charlene Holt, Paul Fix, Arthur Hunnicutt, and Christopher George. Written by Leigh Brackett. Directed by Howard Hawks.
The Friends of Eddie Coyle: In this underrated 70s crime drama, Mitchum plays Eddie Coyle, a low-level member of a Boston crime gang who is caught between a gang of bank robbers for whom he’s supplying guns and the FBI, for whom he’s informing. Reluctant to turn in Dillon (Peter Boyle) for whom he worked with in the past, and facing a prison term, Eddie decides to inform on his gunrunner friend Brown (Steven Keats) in hopes of getting his prison sentence reduced. After Brown is busted by the FBI, he puts the finger on Eddie, who, after he is betrayed by his FBI contact Foley (Richard Jordan) finds himself caught between a rock and hard place. Playing a middle-aged man betrayed by his friends, sick and tired of being a loser, but still proud and tough, Mitchum is perfect.
Starring: Robert Mitchum, Peter Boyle, Steven Keats, Richard Jordan, Alex Rocco, Joe Santos, and Helena Carroll. Written by Paul Monash. Directed by Peter Yates.
Crossfire: This film noir thriller chronicles the investigation the mysterious murder of a man in a hotel room. While army investigator Captain Finlay (Robert Young) focuses on a group of soldiers, Sergeant Keely (Mitchum), concerned that his best friend Mitch (George Cooper) might be unjustly accused, starts looking into the murder on his own. The investigation follows a series of twists and turns as the two finally home in on the murderer. Keely and Finlay eventually uncover that antisemitism is probably the motive for the crime and finally corner the perpetrator and bring him to justice. As Keely, Mitchum is the perfect foil for Young is this socially conscious noir thriller. He is tough, loyal, and determined to find the killer.
Starring: Robert Mitchum, Robert Young, Robert Ryan, Gloria Grahame, Paul Kelly, George Cooper, and Sam Levene. Written by John Paxton. Directed by Edward Dmytryk.
The Sundowners: In this family saga about a nomadic sheep drover family in the outback of Australia, Mitchum plays Paddy Carmody, a sheep drove who loves the nomadic lifestyle of a shepherd. However, his wife Ida (Deborah Kerr), sick of living in a tent, wants to buy a farmhouse and settle down. She persuades Paddy to take on a job and stay in the town of Cawndilla shearing sheep and eventually is able to save money to put a down payment on a farm. When Paddy wins a substantial amount gambling, Ida persuades him to buy the farm. Paddy reluctantly agrees, but then loses all the money gambling. As the carefree Paddy, Mitchum exudes a freshness and vitality usually not seen in his performances; his Paddy, unlike so many of his other characters, does not seem to bear the weight of the world on his shoulders.
Starring: Robert Mitchum, Deborah Kerr, Peter Ustinove, Michael Anderson, Jr., Glynis Johns, and Dina Merrill. Screenplay by Isobel Lennart. Directed by Fred Zinnemann.
Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison: In this World War II romance-thriller, Mitchum plays Marine Corporal Allison, a member of a Marine reconnaissance team who is stranded on a Japanese-occupied island. Seeking cover, he discovers that he is not alone. The island is also occupied by Sister Angela (Deborah Kerr), a novice Irish nun who was abandoned there by the island’s native inhabitants. When the Japanese return, Allison and Sister Angela hide out in a cave until the Japanese decide to leave. Eventually, they two fall in love. Allison tries to persuade her to abandon the church and marry him, but she declines. When the Japanese return, Corporal Allison has to choose between duty and his heart. Mitchum’s performance as a tough Marine who loses his heart to the angelic Sister Angela is nothing short of miraculous.
Starring: Robert Mitchum, Deborah Kerr, Akira Ohno, Masao Ukon, and S. Nakagawa. Written by John Huston and John Lee Mahin. Directed by John Huston.