By Raquel Stecher
Robert Mitchum is my favorite actor. There is something about his on-screen charisma that keeps me coming back for more. He brightens up even a dull movie, and I encourage all of you to marathon some of his best films.
New to Mitchum? I highly recommend starting with Out of the Past (1947), the classic film noir that put him on the map. Once you’ve watched that, follow it up with these films available on DVD Netflix to rent. Even if you’re familiar with Robert Mitchum, it’s still fun to revisit the legendary actor’s body of work.
MACAO (1952)
If you loved Robert Mitchum and Jane Russell together in His Kind of Woman then you must watch Macao. It’s not a sequel, but it does match Mitchum and Russell in a similar scenario and in an exotic locale. Mitchum plays Nick, an American on the run for a crime he didn’t commit. He meets Russell when he saves her from a precarious situation and she thanks him by stealing his wallet. They get mixed up in the seedy gambling world of the China Seas.
ANGEL FACE (1953)
Jean Simmons stars as the title Angel Face character Diane, a wealthy heiress who will remove anyone who gets in her way. Mitchum plays an ambulance driver and chauffeur who falls into Diane’s trap. In one memorable scene, Robert Mitchum slaps Jean Simmons across the face. As legend has it, the sometimes tyrannical director Otto Preminger kept shooting take after take of the same shot. When Preminger asked for one more, a frustrated Mitchum replied “one more?” and then slapped the director. It’s one of my favorite Mitchum anecdotes!
THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER (1955)
By far the best known of Robert Mitchum’s roles, The Night of the Hunter stars Mitchum as evil preacher Harry Powell. When his prison cellmate Ben Harper (Peter Graves) reveals he’s hiding some stolen money, Powell sets out to find to find his family. The famous scene when Powell tells the story of L-O-V-E and H-A-T-E with his tattooed knuckles is one of the most iconic in cinema history. The movie also includes two excellent performances by Shelley Winters and Lillian Gish and is the only film that Charles Laughton, best known for his acting roles, ever directed. It’s a haunting movie and simply one of the best ever made.
CAPE FEAR (1962)
Robert Mitchum’s role in Cape Fear ties with The Night of the Hunter’s Harry Powell as one of the most evil characters on film. Mitchum plays Max Cady, an ex-convict seeking revenge on attorney Sam Bowden (Gregory Peck), the man who put him in prison. It’s a terrifying film and Mitchum plays pure evil so brilliantly. Mitchum and Peck both had small roles in the 1991 remake.
THE FRIENDS OF EDDIE COYLE (1973)
As a Boston gal born and raised, it’s hard for me not to love The Friends of Eddie Coyle. Based on the novel by George V. Higgins and directed by Peter Yates, the film stars Mitchum as Eddie Coyle, a Boston gangster-turned-snitch. Needless to say, his gangster friends are none too happy with him. Robert Mitchum spent time with locals perfecting his Boston accent and it shows. It’s one of the most realistic Boston accents performed by a non-native on screen. This movie was also the inspiration for the Ben Affleck’s Boston heist movie The Town (2010).
Raquel Stecher has been writing about classic films for the past decade on her blog Out of the Past. She attends the TCM Classic Film Festival as well as other events where old movie fanatics get together to geek out. Raquel has been a devoted DVD Netflix member since 2002! Follow her on her blog Out of the Past, or find her on Twitter @RaquelStecher and @ClassicFilmRead, Facebook, and Instagram.