MITCHUM MOST WANTED Part Four

THE NIGHT FIGHTERS (1960: Dir. Tay Garnett)

Robert Mitchum had many talents, actor, writer, poet, musician, drinker, but perhaps the most surprising was vocal mimic. In films such as Foreign Intrigue (1956) and Fire Down Below (1957) he affected perfect French and Trinidadian accents - he even recorded his own Calypso album in authentic Caribbean patois. For The Night Fighters Bob tried out his Irish brogue for the first time - later put to fine use in David Lean's Ryan's Daughter (1971) - as an Irish Republican Army recruit who learns the hard way that love and violence can only lead to tragedy. The last of three films produced by his own company including Thunder Road  (1958) and The Wonderful Country (1959), Mitchum hired his One Minute to Zero (1952) director Tay Garnett to helm this made-in Ireland production. The film's failure to connect with audiences put the kibosh on Bob's future as actor-producer. Regardless, the casting, direction, and design of the film lend it a remarkable authenticity let down only by the cliched storyline. A quality effort that doesn't deserve its obscurity.

MITCHUM MOST WANTED Part Three

BANDIDO (1956: Dir. Richard Fleischer)

One of a pair of troubled films that Bob made with Dick Fleischer (see also His Kind of Woman), Bandido was written by Earl Felton (20000 Leagues Under The Sea) and originally based on a story about Pancho Villa. Plagued by production delays, script re-writes, and Mitchum's false arrest on location in Mexico for marijuana possession, this widescreen Western is better than it has any right to be, no doubt largely attributable to the unflappable skill of Fleischer, a veteran of stylish low budget noirs (The Narrow Margin, Armored Car Robbery). This time Mitchum is selling his skills as a soldier of fortune south of the border and getting entangled in the Mexican Revolution, very similar to the role he would play many years later in Villa Rides (1968). Cast as Bob's object of desire, forgotten German beauty Ursula Thiess (Bengal Brigade) may be a lovely asset but it's the film's intense action and exotic locations that keep the audience engaged. A United Artists release that has shockingly never been officially available on any home video format.

MITCHUM MOST WANTED Part Two

SECOND CHANCE (1953: Dir. Rudolph Maté)

Big Bob in 3 Dimensions! A rare foray by RKO into the 3-D craze of the Fifties resulted in this soleil noir which featured Jack Palance, fresh from Shane (1953), polishing his now well established villainous credentials. Still young at age 30 Bob's smoldering co-star Linda Darnell was already in a career down turn which would see her largely retreat to Television in a few short years. Mitchum may have been marking time as he finished this last film in his RKO contract with eccentric boss Howard Hughes, but cast as a depressed prize fighter one would never know, particularly given Bob's well-disguised acting professionalism. At the time there were few men who could pose a credible threat to Mitchum onscreen and Palance was one of them, which if nothing else, manages to rescue this potboiler from obscurity. Picturesque Mexican locations also help and the 3-D climax in dangling cable cars provides vertigo inducing thrills. A satisfying trip south of the border that should get a proper restoration on Blu-ray soon.

MITCHUM MOST WANTED Part One

Even a century after his birth, Robert Mitchum remains one of cinema's all-time greatest stars. His uniquely hard-boiled screen persona effortlessly radiated both detachment and danger. A fluently instinctive performer, who was as comfortable playing lugubrious losers, as he was handsome heroes. He is an actor always worth watching, no matter how mediocre the production. My extensive collection of his films is an obsessive work-in-progress. The following are the most wanted and unavailable titles of his filmography still out of reach  in North America on DVD or BLU-RAY:

THE LUSTY MEN (1952: Dir. Nicholas Ray)

Robert Mitchum did some surprisingly strong work in his early career under contract to Howard Hughes at RKO Studios. Having mostly collaborated with journeymen or rookie directors, Mitchum had yet to experience the dominant vision of true auteur, until he met Nicholas Ray. Ray was a filmmaker fascinated by the outsider. Obsessed with individualists, his cinematic legacy left us with some of the most memorable rebels of all-time (They Live By Night, In A Lonely Place, Rebel Without A Cause). Their first meeting came when director Josef Von Sternberg was fired from the film Macao (1952) and Ray was brought in to complete it. Demonstrating a largely hidden writing talent, Mitchum even collaborated on a revision of the largely nonsensical screenplay. Following that fruitful partnership they quickly went into production on The Lusty Men, a contemporary Western drama that contains the quintessential Mitchum protagonist. As broken down rodeo rider Jeff McCloud, Bob gets to play all the melancholy notes using his perfect physical instrument. With his broad barrel chest, brooding bedroom eyes, graceful gait, and laconic manner, Mitchum oozes animal magnetism from every pore. Mindful of his sexy leading man, Ray keeps all of the erotic undercurrents at a rolling boil as fiery Susan Hayward and folksy Arthur Kennedy spice up the story's tragic love triangle. One of Bob's best and a criminal omission on Blu-ray.