Robert Mitchum: Baby, I Don't Care (103 page)

War and Remembrance.
1988-89. ABC, Paramount. Producer: Barbara Steele, Dan Curtis. Director: Dan Curtis. Screenplay: Herman Wouk, Dan Curtis, Earl W. Wallace from the novel by Wouk. Players: Robert Mitchum, Jane Seymour, Victoria Tennant, Hart Bochner, Polly Bergen, John Gielgud, David Dukes, Sharon Stone, Sami Frey, John Rhys-Davies, Ian McShane, Ralph Bellamy. (Television miniseries.)

Brotherhood of the Rose.
1989. NBC. Producer-Director: Marvin J. Chomsky. Screenplay: Guy Waldron from the novel by David Morrell. Players: Robert Mitchum, Peter Strauss, Connie Sellecca, David Morse, James B. Sikking. (Television miniseries.)

Jake Spanner, Private Eye.
1990. USA Network. Producer: Andrew J. Fenady. Director: Lee H. Katzin. Screenplay: Andrew J. Fenady from the novel
The Old Dick
by L. A. Morse. Players: Robert Mitchum, Ernest Borgnine, John Mitchum, Jim Mitchum, Stella Stevens, Dick Van Patten, Edy Williams, Edie Adams, Terry Moore, Sheree North, Nita Talbot, Richard Yniguez, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. (Cable television feature.)

Midnight Ride.
1990. Cannon. Producer: Joan Weidman. Director: Robert Bralver. Screenplay: Russel V. Manzatt, Robert Bralver. Players: Michael Dudikoff, Mark Hamill, Robert Mitchum.

Believed Violent.
1990. Candice Productions. Producer: Sergio Gobbi. Director: George Lautner. Screenplay: Sergio Gobbi, Gilles Lambert from a novel by James Hadley Chase. Players: Michael Brandon, Robert Mitchum, Sophie Duez, Francis Perrin, Mario Adorf.

A Family for Joe.
1990. NBC. Producer: Arnold Margolin, Sonny Grosso, Larry Jacobson, Richard Learman. Director: Jeffrey Melman. Screenplay: Arnold Margolin. Players: Robert Mitchum. Maia Brewton, Jarrad Paul, Chris Furth, Jessica Player, Barbara Babcock, John Mitchum. (Television feature, pilot for series.)

A Family for Joe.
1990. NBC. Producer: Arnold Margolin, Sonny Grosso, Larry Jacobson, William P. D’Angelo, Byron Chudnow. Director: Alan Rafkin. Staff writers: Oliver Goldstick, Phil Rosenthal, others. Players: Robert Mitchum, Juliette Lewis, Ben Savage, David Lascher, Jessica Player, Barry Gordon, Leon the Dog. (Half-hour network television series.)

Cape Fear.
1991. Universal. Producer: Barbara DeFina, Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall. Director: Martin Scorsese. Screenplay: Wesley Strick from the novel by John D. MacDonald and previous screen adaptation. Players: Robert DeNiro, Nick
Nolte, Jessica Lange, Juliette Lewis, Joe Don Baker, Illeana Douglas, Gregory Peck, Robert Mitchum, Martin Balsam.

Waiting for the Wind.
1991. Envoy Productions. Producer: Jeffrey Zeitlin, Don Schroeder. Director: Don Schroeder. Screenplay: Douglas Lloyd McIntosh. Players: Robert Mitchum, Rhonda Fleming, Jameson Parker, Fred Pinkard. (Syndicated half-hour television drama.)

African Skies.
1992. Family Channel, Atlantis. Players: Catherine Bach, Robert Mitchum, Simon James. (Half-hour cable television series.)

Woman of Desire.
1993. Nu Image. Producer: Avi Lerner, Danny Lerner, Joanna Plafsky, Trevor Short. Director: Robert Ginty. Screenplay: Anthony Palmer. Players: Bo Derek, Jeff Fahey, Steven Bauer, Robert Mitchum.

Tombstone.
1993. Producer: Andrew Vajna. Director: George Cosmatos. Writer: Kevin Jarre. Players: Kurt Russell, Val Kilmer, Powers Booth, Charlton Heston, Robert Mitchum (narrator).

Backfire.
1994. Producer: J. Christian Ingvordsen. Director: A. Dean Bell. Screenplay: A. Dean Bell. Players: Kathy Ireland, Robert Mitchum, Telly Savalas, Mary McCormack, Shelly Winters, Josh Mosby.

Dead Man.
1995. Miramax. Producer: Karen Koch, Demetra MacBride. Director: Jim Jarmusch. Screenplay: Jim Jarmusch. Players: Johnny Depp, Lance Henriksen, Gary Farmer, Mili Avital, Iggy Pop, Crispin Glover, Robert Mitchum.

Waiting for Sunset
(aka
Pakten).
1995. Norsk Film, Yellow Cottage. Producer: John Paul Dejoria, Allan Oberholzer, Gerd Haag, Nina Crone. Director: Leidulv Risan. Screenplay: Arthur Johansen, Leidulv Risan, Alan Oberholzer. Players: Robert Mitchum, Cliff Robertson, Erland Josephson, Espen Skjonberg, Hanna Schygulla, Nadja Tiller.

James Dean: Race with Destiny.
1997. Producer-Director: Mardi Rustam. Screenplay: Dan Sefton. Players: Casper Van Dien, Carrie Mitchum, Diane Ladd, Robert Mitchum.

THE CREATION OF THE
preceding pages has been made possible with the help of hundreds of individuals, friends and strangers alike, some contributing so generously and tirelessly that these few lines of appreciation in no way do them justice.

I thank the following for interviews, conversations, and correspondence (in some cases predating the official start of this project): James Bacon, Budd Boetticher, Mrs. L. Britton, Anthony Caruso, Phyllis Diller, Toni Cosentino Hayes, Beverly Jackson, Perry Leiber, Jr., Kathie Parrish, Henry Rackin, Reni Santoni, William Wellman, Jr., Gene Barry, Theodore Bikel, Harry Carey, Jr., John Davis Chandler, Frank Coghlan, Jr., John Colicos, Robert Donner, Jack Elam, Rhonda Fleming, John Gabriel, Robert Ginty, Leo Gordon, the eternally alluring Jane Greer, Jerry Hardin, Phil Hartman, David Hedison, Kim Hunter, Anne Jeffreys, Roy Jenson, Sally Kirkland, Lila Leeds, Janet Leigh, Pierce Lyden, Malachy McCourt, Roddy McDowall, Dina Merrill, Gary Morgan, Kate Murtagh, Michael Pate, Fred Pinkard, Jean Porter, Vincent Price, Johnny Sands, Karen Sharpe, Harry Dean Stanton, Ingrid Thulin, Les Tremayne, Paul Valentine (we’ll always have Musso & Frank’s), Edward Anhalt, old buddy A. I. Bezzerides, Rock Brynner, Barnaby Conrad, Sam Fuller, Oliver Goldstick, John Guare, Howard Koch, Tom Lea, Allen Rivkin, Phil Rosenthal, John Paul Dejoria, Andrew J. Fenady, William S. Gilmore, Jr., Bert Granet, Paul Gregory, Paul Helmick, Otto Lang, Alan Oberholzer, Walter Seltzer, Ken Annakin, Earl Bellamy, Edward Dmytryk, Guy Hamilton, Lee Katzin, Burt Kennedy, Andrei Konchalovsky, Stanley Kramer, Buzz Kulik, Herbert Leonard, Andrew V. McLaglen, Ronald Neame, Alan Rafkin, Sheldon
Reynolds, Dick Richards, Leidulv Risan, J. Lee Thompson, Robert Wise, Richard Wilson, Michael Winner, Anthony Cerbone, Stanley Cortez, Ray Gosnell, Victor Kemper, Max Kleven, Henry Lange, Jr., D. Michael Moore, Terry Morse, Jerome Siegel, Ron Wright, Charles Champlin, William Feeder, Joe Franklin, Irv Kupcinet, Bart Mills, Carolyn Sofia, Mrs. Alva Barr, Jeannette Dill, Jim Doughtery, Al Dowtin, Caroline Ferrera, Margie Reagan Cate Doherty Green, Edie Hemphill, Dave Holland (founding honcho of the Lone Pine Film Festival), Mickey Hoyle, Red Hoyle, Mrs. Carey Loftin, Elliott Morgan, Margaret O’Connor, Virginia Paskey, Norm Peterson, Harry Schein, Doris Siebel, Herb Speckman, Emma Warner. I also thank those persons who offered stories, information, and corroboration but preferred to do so off the record. Sad to say, some of the above have passed away since this work began.

Of all the many people who agreed to speak with me I must make special note of two women whose experiences and perspectives were particularly helpful in my attempt to tell Robert Mitchum’s life story. First: Mitchum’s personal assistant for more than thirty years, Reva Frederick Youngstein. She is as sharp, tough-minded, and all knowing today as she must have been in her boss’s heyday. Though her relationship with Mitchum concluded unpleasantly, she was never other than fair and sympathetic in recollecting their time together—indeed, she would often correct for me rumors or printed stories that painted her old associate in a bad light.

Second: Robert’s sister, Julie Mitchum Sater, who gave generously and prodigiously from her memories of a beloved brother during many hours of conversation. Intelligent, iconoclastic, and possessing a remarkable memory, she is a fascinating character in her own right.

More than one thousand documents and published works were consulted for this book. A collective thank-you to the numerous journalists and writers who chronicled—in some cases anonymously—my subject’s life and career from the 1940s to his demise. Of particular value were the various columns, articles, or archived files of Hedda Hopper, Ruth Waterbury, Sidney Skolsky, Bob Thomas, William Tusher, Grover Lewis, Robert Ward, Helen Lawrenson, James Bacon, Army Archerd, Bart Mills, Bill Davidson, Andrew Sarris, and Pauline Kael. Of book-length works devoted to Mitchum, I have enjoyed and found most helpful the biographic efforts by Mike Tomkies and George Eells and bibliographic volume by Jerry Roberts. In a special category all its own is brother John Mitchum’s wonderful, rollicking memoir.

My great appreciation and thanks to organizations and facilities who gave me access to the materials consulted: the Margaret Herrick Library of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, an invaluable institution, ditto the Special Collections department of the U.C.L.A., the New York Public Library
(Lincoln Center), the British Film Institute, the Bridgeport Library, Felton High School, the Los Angeles Public Library, Victoria State Library, Melbourne (Australia), University of California Cinema Archives, Museum of Modern Art; the New York
Daily News,
the
Connecticut Post,
the
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette,
the
Asheville Citizen-Times,
the
Long Beach Press-Telegram,
the
Guardian
(Trinidad). More thanks for various services rendered: the Biltmore Hotel; the Otani Hotel; the Beverly Hills Hotel in Los Angeles; the Pacific Sands Motel in Santa Monica; the Ritz Carlton Huntington Hotel in Pasadena; the Queen Mary, Long Beach; the Dorchester Hotel, London; the Posada Tepozteco, Tepotzlan.

For assisting me in various important ways during the preparation of this book I want to thank writer Dean Server, researcher Dianne Kraft, all-around Hollywood expert Lisa Mitchell, and delightful actress and skilled producer Hope Holiday. To my valued friends Tedd and Pat Thomey who guided me through Long Beach, California’s past and present, and the irascible and indestructible Marc Lawrence who got things kick started in Palm Springs when I would have preferred to do anything else—what can I say? Thank you, thank you.

More thanks to the many who gave aid and comfort when it was needed: Ed Gorman, Burks Hamner, Talmage Powell (pulp vet and my Asheville connection), George P. Pelecanos, Helen Smith, Carol Hardin, Sandy Silverman, Annie Nocenti, Janwillem van de Wetering, Arlene Hellerman, Dick Lochte, Deborah Deal, Neke Carson, Linda Danz, Julie Barker, Sal Ceravolo, Jorge Jaramillo, Alphagraphics, Bryan Cholfin, Tom Leigh, Alan Kaufman, Teresa Zarzycka.

At St. Martin’s Press I am grateful to Cal Morgan who gave this project a home before himself flying the coop; and to my editor, Gordon Van Gelder, guiding the book over the pitfalls of publication with sympathy, discernment, and inspiration.

To my agent Roz Targ I send affection, admiration, and much thanks for your dedication and tender loving care.

To my mother my love and gratitude for everything, and to Terri, amiga and invaluable collaborator from day one: could not have done it without you—more later.

Throw in a tip of the hat to a theatre on Forty-second Street (was it the Lyric or the Brandt?
Requiescant in pace
in any case) where a kid, long ago, saw
Farewell, My Lovely
for a dollar and a quarter.

—L. SERVER

[email protected]

Adler, Buddy

African Skies

Agee, James

Agency

Ahier, Robert

Ahlswede, Jane

Albert, Eddie

Aldrich, Robert

Alexander, Adolph

Allen, Irving

Allen, Jay

Allenberg, Bert

Alonzo, John

Altman, Robert

Ambassador, The

Ambrose, Thomas

American Beef Council

Ames, Leon

Amsterdam Kill, The

Anderson, Judith

Anderson, Michael, Jr.

Andrew, Geoff

Angel Face

Angry Hills, The

Anhalt, Edna

Anhalt, Edward

Annakin, Ken

Anzio

Ardrey, Robert

Arnaz, Desi

Arnold, Henry H. “Hap”

Asner, Ed

Atlantic City

Aubrey, James

Aubuchon, Jacques

Bacall, Lauren

Bach, Catherine

Backfire

Bacon, James

Bacon, Lloyd

Baha’i

Baker, Carroll

Baker, Roy

Baker, Stanley

Ball, Lucille

Bandido!

Banks, Ronnie

Barbour, Dave

Barque, Louis

Barque, Manuel

Barr, Alva

Barry, Gene

Baxter, Alan

Beauvoir, Simone de

Beetley, Samuel

Behrmann, Paul

Bel Geddes, Barbara

Bendix, William

Bennett, Charles

Berg, Phil

Bergen, Polly

Betty Ford Center

Beverly Hills Hotel

Bezzerides, A. L

Bick, Jerry

Big Sleep, The

Big Steal, The

Bikel, Theodore

Bischoff, Sam

Bishop, Norm

Blood Alley

Blood on the Moon

Blyth, Ann

Boehm, Sydney

Boetticher, Budd

Bogart, Humphrey

Bolt, Robert

Boone, Richard

Bordeaux, Nanette

Border Patrol

Boulting, Ingrid

Bowers, William

Boyd, William

Boyle, Peter

Brackett, Leigh

Brahm, John

Brando, Marlon

Breakthrough

Breck, Peter

Brennan, Walter

Bridges, Harry

Britton, Layne “Shotgun

Broccoli, Albert “Cubby

Brodie, Steve

Bronson, Charles

Brooks, Richard

Brown, Clarence

Brown, Harry

Brownlow, Kevin

Brubeck, Dave

Bruce, Sally Jane

Brumbaugh, Vemon

Brynner, Rock

Brynner, Yul

Buckley, Richard “Lord

Buono, Victor

Burch, John E.

Burnett, W R.