Robert Mitchum Video #1 ~ The Reluctant Star

This is an hour long documentary on the career of Robert Mitchum, provided to you by Hulu.com.

It's a Veritable Robert Mitchum Explosion

So I've been preparing for months. And months. And months for a Robert Mitchum Week. A follow up on my highly successful Norma Shearer Week. It made sense. Norma Shearer is my favorite actress so why wouldn't I do a second themed week with my favorite actor Robert Mitchum.

I read the Robert Mitchum biography Baby I Don't Care by Lee Server and I watched various documentaries on Mitchum's life and work. I've been viewing Robert Mitchum movies from various sources: old videotapes, Netflix, YouTube, even Hulu. I've even been listening to his Calypso album! So why couldn't I pull off Robert Mitchum week?

First off, I wanted to write all the pieces together. In one fell swoop. Every time I came up with a brilliant idea for a post, I'd tuck back into the recesses of my brain for later use only to have said ideas lost in the void that is my mind. Plus I had way too many ideas to cram into just one week. I thought about doing a whole Robert Mitchum month but I didn't have enough content for that. And that was a lot of pressure to put on myself.

How about a Robert Mitchum 1 week and a half? Or two weeks and a third?

Did I mention I have to write a review on a Mitchum-related book for a publisher? Yeah. I better get on that.

Then there was the bio. Oh how I dreaded writing that bio. How am I going to cram Robert Mitchum's crazy life and prolific career into a few paragraphs?

So this morning I decided to toss Robert Mitchum Week out the window and just have what I call "A Veritable Robert Mitchum Explosion". I'm going to post lots of Mitchum stuff, willy-nilly, no form, no structure, just Mitchum stuff spewed onto this blog, in post form. And you know what, I feel liberated. I feel like a poet who was try to cram thoughts into a haiku but decided to use free-form poetry instead.

Watch this space as I proceed to post about Mitchum, in all his glory, with no schedule or structure at all.

Queen Norma Shearer ~ Their Own Desire (1929) now on DVD

I cannot tell you how happy I am that one of my top favorite Norma Shearer films is now out on DVD, thanks to the Warner Archive Collection. And now that they are doing nice original packaging for these DVD-Rs (instead of that boring navy blue swirly design they were previously using), Their Own Desire (1929) gets an awesome treatment with this funky contemporary colorized cover!

The movie itself is a feast for the eyes. Many scenes were shot at the Norconian Resort in Norco, California which was an Art Deco paradise. I secretly dream of breaking into the abandoned resort and looking for the lost and decaying Art Deco treasures. The resort boasted an amazing Art Deco swimming pool and Norma Shearer got to show off her diving skills in a great scene with Robert Montgomery. They both hit the water and share an underwater kiss which to me is an iconic representation of the film, the resort and the era.

There is lots more for the eye to feast on! A dancing scene with moving lights and shadows is the essence of cool Art Deco/1920s style. The rich soak up the sun and get some exercise with a nice game of polo. And the clothes. Oh the clothes. I want them all.

Believe it or not, there is a story too but this is where I separate from other folks. Most people do not like the story because they feel it's lacking in substance and is full of predictable cliches. However, I am very drawn to stories about rich jaded people who are so bored and numb that they manipulate lives to get themselves to feel something. Bonjour Tristesse (1958) anyone? And that's what this is. A story about rich people bored with life. To me that's fascinating. Norma Shearer stars as Lally, a young beautiful rich girl who escapes to a resort with her mother after they have found out that her father, Lewis Stone, is having an affair with another woman. At the resort, Lally meets Jack, Robert Montgomery, and they fall in love. Trouble is, Jack is the son of Beth, the woman who is having an affair with Lally's father. Oops! It's the type of soap opera that only a really excellent Pre-Code film can provide.

I wrote a short review back in 2008 when I first saw the film on TCM and I forsee writing more about this in the future. Now that this is on DVD, I hope to purchase it and make some lovely screen cap collections of all the Art Deco beauty of this film. Maybe I'll even make it a week long affair. Stay tuned... 

Tony Rome (1967) is pretty darn cool

When Tony Rome is out and about, trouble is sure to follow. I really loved this movie, so much so that I watched it twice in a row. Once for the story and a second time for the atmosphere. I'm a gal who loves details and this film had a lot to savor. Here are some things I picked up on. Enjoy.

Flimsy nightgowns and balcony bar service

7-digit phone numbers without Area Codes

Old-fashioned product logos. In this case, beer cans.

Old-fashioned cars like this blue Ford.

Cocktail stirrers

Iconic shots such as this one.

Young Gena Rowlands

Old-fashioned hair clips

Jill St. John and her outfits

Going to bed with full make-up on

Ginormous pools in really fancy seaside hotels

Smaller Floridian seaside hotels. My dad used to own one back in the early 1970s.

Old-fashioned staplers.

Telephone Books/Yellow Pages

Typewriter-typed documents

Typewriters

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Do you like to look for certain details in movies? What do you look for? I particularly like searching for objects that today are obsolete. There is some charm in things we used to rely on but don't anymore. Or even things like staplers that we use today but older versions seem to be of higher quality.