Robert Mitchum's Sad Eyes: Two for the Seesaw (1962)

Certain die-hard Robert Mitchum fans, such as myself, hold a dear secret about one tiny particular aspect of his lengthy career. No, I'm not talking about his brief foray into the music industry with his Calypso album (::shudders::). I'm referring to the few select romantic films he made. Mitchum is more well-known as the tough, mean guy or the tough, nice guy in many a film noir, Western, war drama or thriller. However, he had a much softer side - one that twinkled through his sad eyes and escaped through his parted lips.

My first encounter with a Mitchum-romance, as I like to call it, was Holiday Affair (1949) (co-starring Janet Leigh). At first, I was surprised that Robert Mitchum was even in this film. Mitchum! He's the big, surly, manly-man in all those great film noirs. What is he doing in a nice, heart-warming Christmas movie? Then when I actually watched the film, I was even more shocked to see that it was also a romance! (And yes he was part of the romance!) Mitchum was not man-handling some woman telling her, "Baby, I don't care", he was opening his heart and showing he did care, while maintaining his domineering masculinity of course. It was all lovey-dovey and I just lovey-dovied this other side of Mitchum.

So, when Mitchum was saluted with his own Summer Under the Stars day on TCM recently, I was incredibly happy to see that they were showcasing another lesser-known Mitchum-romance. In this case, it was Two for the Seesaw (1962) and his love interest was Shirley MacLaine. In contrast to Holiday Affair (1949) , this is a much grittier, realistic film. Robert Mitchum plays a soon-to-be-divorced lawyer who finds himself nearly penniless and heart broken in New York City. Shirley MacLaine is a young, street-wise dancer who has health issues as well as men issues. They meet as she is trying to hock off an ice box at some strange beat party and he, unlike most men today who are just plain wimps!, actively pursues her.

There are a few interesting things about this film. Robert Mitchum and Shirley MacLaine had a real life, 3-year, love affair as a result of working very closely on set. Might I add that they were both married at the time? (naughty!) The film is also a good example of Breaking the Code as it shows an openness to talk about sex in a romantic relationship - something that wouldn't have been discussed on-screen even a few years earlier. And finally, never have I seen a film that really shows the complexity in the minutiae of a romance. Oftentimes you get a taste of the dynamics but this film really dives in and stays there for long run.

John Wayne: His Private Secretary (1933)

Making love like a Romeo. Drinking like a fish. -Wallace, Sr.

If you are a John Wayne fan, please watch this film. If you are not a John Wayne fan and can claim a physical aversion to Westerns, please watch this film. If anything, watch it for its novelty as an atypical John Wayne film. Wayne plays Dick Wallace, a rich, young skirt-chaser whose father is frustrated with his son's antics and is desparate to make him a responsible young adult. When the right woman comes along, Dick Wallace quickly changes his tune, but it's up to his new love to convince his father that he's changed his ways for good.

This film is on DVD but if your some type of visual purist, you may be frustrated with the grainy and out of focus shots. Much wasn't done to restore the original print. If you love bonus materials, you may also be disappointed as they are rather strange and vaguely related to the movie. (For example, one of the extras is a clip of a psychadelic, 70's choreographed dance to protest pollution. Weird...) If you can overcome the poor visuals and the other DVD strangeness, you may find yourself enjoying watching a very young and very handsome John Wayne light up the screen.

Breaking the Code: Suddenly, Last Summer (1959)

All last summer, Sebastian was famished for blondes... fed up with the dark ones - Catherine

If I had to chose the one film that represented Hollywood's rebellion against the Hays Code, it would most definitely be Suddenly, Last Summer (1959). This film is as explicit as it is coy. It is in the throes of desperation - wanting to tell the viewer what it wants to say but having to hold back. The story is bursting from the seams, although it is mostly contained, some secrets find a way to ooze out the sides.

After viewing this film recently for the first time, I wondered how much of the story is representative (or at least symbolic) of the fight against the Code? Take for example, Elizabeth Taylor's character, Catherine. The previous summer she had witnessed the most utterly grotesque sequence of events that culminated in the horrific death of her manipulative cousin, Sebastian. After her return from Europe, the story is held inside her tormented mind and she is consquentially punished for the danger the truth she holds represents to others. Katharine Hepburn plays Violet, Sebastian's mother, whose incestuous relationship with her son lends to her desperate need to keep Sebastian's image alive and well - one even may say "pure". Catherine threatens to tarnish the image with the tale of Sebastian's last summer in Europe and Violet wants to literally rip the story out of her brain, by means of employing Dr. Curkowicz, played by Montgomery Clift, to perform a lobotomy.

[potential spoilers ahead]

Catherine is the owner of a story that needs to be told and encounters a long and difficult path to become the story's teller. When she is finally able to give birth to the story, the experience is painful, ensuiing in screams and sobs but in the end healing. Violet, the censor, the person still alive who is most threatened by this story is not capable of handling it after repressing it for so long.

Catherine - Story - Hollywood

Violet - Censor - Hays Code

Does anyone see the connection? I tend not to think this was in any way on purpose but it was probably a subconscious for of rebellion. It could also be the English major in me just looking for something to analyze. Who knows? What I do know is this film is unquestionably part of Hollywood's break from the code.