Talk:Robert Mitchum/Archive 1

Questions and suggestions relating to the article page
Should a quotes section be included ? —Preceding unsigned comment added by George-Archer (talk • contribs) 14:02, 11 April 2008 (UTC)

Drug arrest
someone should probably mention his drug arrest and how it affected his career. I believe it was before The Big Steal. Eventually, after he served time, the charges were overturned. Steve-O 14:25, 4 January 2006 (UTC)
 * His marijuana conviction is mentioned in the "Work in film noir" section. In itself, the incident had little effect on his career (he had two significant hits immediately after the conviction, and continued to have some success in film noir). It is hinted at (mostly on the Internet) that the "leading ladies" of the day didn't want to work with him after the incident, but there's no solid evidence of that. If anything, I think the arrest only added to Mitchum's screen persona (it was a set-up, after all). Volatile 21:39, 4 January 2006 (UTC)
 * I think at the time, it was possibly a career killer. RKO was very worried about it and Liz Scott (as mentioned in The Big Steal) quit a film because she didn't want to be associated with him.  Steve-O 04:53, 5 January 2006 (UTC)

An anachronism - "middle school"
The article mentions that Mitchum was kicked out of "middle school". This seems like an anachronism -- I do not believe there were "middle schools" at that time. Junior high schools maybe.

The Wikipedia article on Middle Schools states "...the middle school concept is a relatively new model for the middle-level grades, contrasted with the more traditional junior high concept". Sharon Rufener 16:02, 17 February 2007 (UTC)

Mitchum as icon
Someone deleted a reference to Mitchum as "iconic," calling the use of the adjective "puffery." I didn't change it back (or submit it in the first place) and I don't care one way or the other. But I think there's a pretty good case to be made for Mitchum as an iconic figure in American cinema, a case that can be made whether one even likes Mitchum or not. He's pretty much the definitive noir actor in most everyone's book, it seems to me. I think "iconic" can quite legitimately be used without it being puffery. Opinions?
 * I am the one that reverted the addition. I agree fully that Mitchum is iconic, but on wikipedia the general consensus is to let a person's record do the talking rather than applying such adjectives to avoid the appearance of POV. Indrian 08:05, 7 August 2007 (UTC)
 * I don't disagree, but I think there might be some value in making the point early in an article that someone or something is, in fact, widely recognized as particularly notable in an aspect of its existence, and not merely another example of the broad variety. In (I hope) clearer terms, it might well serve an article to mention not just that the Statue of Liberty is a statue, but that it is an iconic one.  Certainly Mitchum would laugh at all of this, but this is about him, so he doesn't count. :-) Monkeyzpop 08:56, 7 August 2007 (UTC)

Saboteur?
I've deleted the reference to Mitchum's appearance in Saboteur for the time being, as the IMDb is not sufficiently reliable for a piece of information such as this, since the information apparently conflicts with other things known to be true. He's not listed in the detailed list of actors in the AFI catalog, which lists everyone down to the baby in a stroller! In addition, this film was made during Dec. 1941-Feb. 1942, when Mitchum was working at Lockheed and had gone blind (fortunately temporarily). It's just possible that he left the Lockheed job and recovered his sight in time to be an extra at the extreme end of Saboteur's shooting schedule, but it's highly unlikely. I've seen the film many times and never noticed Mitchum. It's possible, I suppose, but I doubt it, without more evidence. As soon as possible I'll check the film itself, and if I can, locate a cite among the daily production reports at USC, though those are skimpy for Universal films. I realize that's original research, a no-no here, but if I can find one of the reports, it can be used as a cite. Not trying to have a dispute, just trying to be as accurate as possible. IMDb is a wonderful resource, but a credit found there and NOWHERE else is not sufficient to state as fact. Any ideas for other resources you know of? Monkeyzpop (talk) 20:37, 13 January 2008 (UTC)

Norwegian ancestry
Mitchum's norwegian ancestry should be mentioned in the article. Badagnani (talk) 21:06, 15 September 2008 (UTC)

Elvis Presley and Robert Mitchum
I read that Elvis took his quiff from Robert Mitchum - that's iconic enough! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.41.93.85 (talk) 17:19, 23 March 2010 (UTC)

The Defiant Ones
Tony Curtis said on a recent interview on Turner Classics Movie (TCM) that Robert Mitchum was the first choice for the 1958 movie 'The Defiant Ones" with Sidney Potier but he declined the role because he didnt want to work with a black man. Tony Curtis ended up with the roll.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 208.199.244.2 (talk) 17:09, 13 July 2010 (UTC)
 * Curtis had it wrong. Mitchum declined the role not because he "refused" to work with a black man (a notion made ludicrous by his work that same year with black actor playing his close friend in The Wonderful Country, as well as by many other examples from Mitchum's career), but because, as a veteran himself of a Southern chain-gang, he believed the premise of the film was faulty, that whites and blacks were never chained together in the South.  Accurate or not, that and not bigotry was Mitchum's reason for turning down the film:  inauthenticity.Monkeyzpop (talk) 10:04, 14 July 2010 (UTC)

The Cloak
can someone please write this in somewhere?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JepOL9EMDqU

it is incredibly popular. too popular not to mention. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.174.141.207 (talk) 22:00, 23 October 2010 (UTC)

Dorothy Mitchum
In the infobox, it says spouse Dorothy Spence (Mitchum?) died in 1997. Under the heading "death", it says "He was survived by his wife of 57 years, Dorothy Mitchum," One of the facts is likely to be wrong.--Tomwsulcer (talk) 15:32, 7 February 2011 (UTC)
 * The infobox lists the years of the marriage, not the years of her life. The marriage began in 1940 and ended in 1997 with HIS death.Monkeyzpop (talk) 17:26, 7 February 2011 (UTC)

Dope possession conviction
Dope possession conviction ... isn't this the guy that is portrayed in L.A. Confidential that gets sent to jail for marajana possession? And if so why is it not mentioned in the article? --70.162.171.210 (talk) 06:21, 21 August 2011 (UTC)

From the archive ... — Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.162.171.210 (talk) 06:28, 21 August 2011 (UTC)

"Drug arrest

Someone should probably mention his drug arrest and how it affected his career. I believe it was before The Big Steal. Eventually, after he served time, the charges were overturned. Steve-O 14:25, 4 January 2006 (UTC)
 * His marijuana conviction is mentioned in the "Work in film noir" section. In itself, the incident had little effect on his career (he had two significant hits immediately after the conviction, and continued to have some success in film noir). It is hinted at (mostly on the Internet) that the "leading ladies" of the day didn't want to work with him after the incident, but there's no solid evidence of that. If anything, I think the arrest only added to Mitchum's screen persona (it was a set-up, after all). Volatile 21:39, 4 January 2006 (UTC)
 * I think at the time, it was possibly a career killer. RKO was very worried about it and Liz Scott (as mentioned in The Big Steal) quit a film because she didn't want to be associated with him. Steve-O 04:53, 5 January 2006 (UTC)

"--70.162.171.210 (talk) 06:27, 21 August 2011 (UTC)

Was his father English?
Quote from the article: "His mother was Norwegian, his father was a railroad worker" LOL. "Railroad" is no country I ever heard of! Mitchum sounds English (should it really be spelled "Mitcham"?), so was his father from England? 93.219.160.14 (talk) 13:31, 23 May 2012 (UTC)

removing reference to M*A*S*H TV series
I'm removing the sentence about Mitchum portraying General Douglas MacArthur in a 1975 episode of M*A*S*H. The IMDB makes no mention of it, and I can find no reference to it anywhere, except for a blog post mentioning that the M*A*S*H actor seems to resemble Mitchum. Elsquared (talk) 23:11, 30 August 2013 (UTC)

Assessment comment
Substituted at 15:41, 1 May 2016 (UTC)

No Personal Life section?
After he got married, nothing happened to him except acting in films? The article would need a "Personal life" section. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Sciken (talk • contribs) 04:41, 16 May 2017 (UTC)

WWII
He would have been 24 in 1941, did he serve?108.31.79.145 (talk) 00:05, 25 July 2014 (UTC)


 * No. (2A00:23C4:638C:4500:C8AF:5DA2:D8FD:A77B (talk) 11:31, 1 January 2017 (UTC))


 * And why didn't he serve? Matbusch (talk) 00:21, 9 June 2017 (UTC)

Mitchum the calypsonian
My copy of the (augmented) CD reissue of Calypso tells me that the LP was published in 1957, and the notes to the LP tells me that the lyrics were cleaned up. What's the source for the claims for 1955 publication and for no softening for the US market? -- Hoary 16:05, 2005 Jun 2 (UTC)
 * Now fixed, according to the album notes, CD notes, this page, and Lee Server's biography. -- Hoary 07:58, 2005 Jun 4 (UTC)

"Scotch-Irish" changed to "Scottish-Irish" as 'Scotch' is a whisky (correct and well said - I think 'Scots-Irish' is ok too, yes?). BlueKangaroo 0540 GMT 25 June 2005.
 * You'll never stop the Americans calling them 'Scotch-Irish'. It's too long-established. Valetude (talk) 00:06, 11 November 2015 (UTC)

Sir Walter Scott called himself "Scotch", so what's wrong with it? Seadowns (talk) 16:03, 18 July 2018 (UTC)

Starred in a film for Showtime
Robert Mitchum starred in a 1985 film "Reunion at Fairborough" as Carl Hostrop, ace pilot. Co-star Deborah Kerr informs him that he is a father and grandfather.

Republican
Why put "Political Party Republican" in the sidebar when there is just one line in the article stating that he voted Republican. It's not as though Mitchum was heavily involved in politics. From watching interviews he obviously had little interest in politics, less interest in politicians and even came across as being a democrat by today's standards. At least, the article does not say if he was actively involved in campaigning. It just seems like another WikiLefty dig. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 87.113.125.234 (talk) 22:44, 5 January 2014 (UTC)


 * How do you know all that? How many hours did you spend with Mitchum? Do you have some sources which trace back to persons who spent enough time with Mitchum to know how much he cared about politics? (PeacePeace (talk) 12:46, 21 July 2019 (UTC))

foot loose & nervous break down
Foot loose & nervous bread down seem to have no sources cited. For an encyclopedia, "foot loose" is to vague a term. So Mitchum got married, but was "foot loose." This required at least 2 reliable sources and also some other term should be used which is clear. AS to "nervous break down," this expression is not in the DSM-IV and so far as I know, has no scientific psychological definition. Did Mitchum have depression? What is the diagnosis? The diagnosis requires at least 2 reliable sources which themselves cite some psychologist. (PeacePeace (talk) 12:45, 21 July 2019 (UTC))