Crazy About the Movies: Robert Mitchum - The Reluctant Star

Robert Mitchum: The Reluctant Star (1991)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Polly Bergen, Anthony Caruso, Edward Dmytryk, Jane Greer, Deborah Kerr, Ali Mac Graw, Sarah Miles and Sydney Pollack are jointed by Robert Mitchum himself to discuss the actor on and off the screen.

At just a hour there's certainly nothing ground-breaking here but what makes this film (and the series) so special is that we've got so many legends on hand and of course most of them are no longer with us. This series is great because we get to see these legends talk about Mitchum but then we have the man himself talking about his early life, how he got into the movies and he also goes into detail about some of the people he worked with as well as the movies he made.

If you're a fan of Mitchum then you'll certainly want to watch this as the interviews are really great and there's no question that the star is a lot more open here than in the now notorious Turner Classic Movies interview. Mitchum talks about his early life, his most famous movies and even his now legendary arrest.

Robert Mitchum had an interesting reputation as an actor. When he was interviewed about his craft, he constantly minimized it...saying that it was essentially a great way to avoid real work! He was, in so many ways, the opposite of the method actor....he just did his job and that's it...or so he described his work. So, when you see him in this retrospective, he once again minimizes his talents and his films. But the rest of the interviewees, they certainly didn't think this was the case...they seemed to love and respect him and his craft.

What I appreciated about this film is that instead of just being a filmography, the film focuses on Mitchum's personality and personal life as well. So, in other words, you get to see more about who he really was...something you rarely get in most similar types of documentaries. Well made and one of the better films of its type. My only complaint? I would have liked it to be even longer!

At the first sigh, a portrait like many others from serie. The significant detail - the confessions, memories, explications of Robert Michum himself about his youth, his steps of career, roles and details of past. A sort of deep honesty defining, more than the words of his colegues, a great actor not only for acting but for a special form of honesty to himself and to his work. A film defining, in precise way, an entire world.