Continuing our Mitchum-a-thon here at T-vania Gent Central, what follows is a top ten (okay, seven) chart of Robert Mitchum films that I haven't seen; ones that I am nevertheless most fascinated by the promise of, and most eager to check out.
In no pitticula orda:
A Terrible Beauty. 1960, starring Mitch and Richard Harris. "Dermot O'Neill (Mitchum), is an Irishman who desires to free Ireland from Britain and joins the IRA. His friend, Sean Reilly (Harris), is devoted to the cause and all the violence, but O'Neill has growing qualms about the methods of violence." Seriously? Bob plays an IRA freedom fighter? Now that I've gotta see, if only to hear the man speak in the accent of me homeland, me fellow gobshites.
The Locket. This 1946 thriller with Laraine Day has been one of my cinematic holy grails for awhile now, but as with The Ghost Camera, I remain luckless.
Anzio. Mitch is joined here by Peter Falk and Robert Ryan in a 1968 "spaghetti war" film (a genre which just happens to be a new obsession around our offices, thanks to Tarantino's homage Inglorious Basterds.
Two For The Seesaw. Mitchum and Shirley MacLaine in a romance? For real? Why have I never heard of this flick? Why isn't it on TCM every three months? Why isn't there a Blu-Ray of this on my shelf right this minute? Well, the answer is probably that despite its promise, the film's a stinkeroo, but baby, I don't care.
The Friends of Eddie Coyle. I've actually seen this one many years ago, but I wasn't as Mitchum-obsessed at the time and didn't pay close enough attention to this very seventies movie. I have such dim memories of it, I might as well have never seen it. But with Mitchum and Peter Boyle as east coast mobsters, what's not to love?
My Forbidden Past. How could a 1951 deep-south melodrama with Mitchum and Ava Gardner, set in 1890's New Orleans, be bad? An ongoing sexual tryst between the two developed during the film's shooting. Reportedly Ava wanted to marry him, but Bob said no, let's not get too in love. She married Frank Sinatra instead, and the rest is history: Frankie left his wife Nancy for Ava, then Ava made him such a wreck that he attempted suicide twice during their relationship. (To which Sinatra later alluded to in "That's Life").
Scrooged. Although I do have high regard for much of Bill Murray's works (I straight-facedly consider Caddyshack to be one of the greatest masterpieces of American 20th century cinema), I never thought this one worthy of my time. But while glancing at IMDB's listing of ol' Bob's resume, lo and behold, I find he had a major role in this picture. Can't deny it, guess I gotta buy it.
- - JSH
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