Nobody played Philip Marlowe better than Robert Mitchum. It's just terrific writing. "This car sticks out like spats at an Iowa picnic." "She had all 'A's', none of them on a report card." "There was something about Abraham Lincoln's picture that loosened him up." "She gave me a smile I could feel in my hip pocket." "I'll bet you five dollars you can't find a state they're not wanted in." "$50, $10 extra if you bleed in my boat."

Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison is a superb Robinson Crusoe type of picture that features a Marine and a nun hiding from the Japanese soldiers during WWII. The best scene is when Robert Mitchum, in his camouflaged face, snuck inside the storeroom of canned victuals but got trapped at the top of the shelf. It's done with high tension, making his performance highly memorable.

You've got to hand it to Robert Mitchum: nobody was better than him, of course, with the exception of Humphrey Bogart. It's a matter of style. Both are unique and perfect for film noir. However great Robert Mitchum is in Out of the Past, it's still the same issue: that convoluted second half. What a mistake. Of course, you could ask him about it, and true to form, he would nonchalantly say, "Two or three pages were lost in the mimeo department."

Forget The Night of the Hunter which is unbelievably overrated. This is Robert Mitchum at his evil best as Max Cady who truly comes alive in the final thirty minutes. When he crushed an egg, that was done on the spur of the moment. How about when Robert Mitchum went crazy with Polly Bergen inside of the boat? That wasn't faked at all, and the blood everywhere was real. Gregory Peck would concede: "It's Bob's picture. Best performance he ever gave."

The best part of That Championship Season is acting. It's also nice to see the setting to be shot on location in Scranton, Pennsylvania, giving it an authentic look. Bruce Dern, Paul Sorvino, Stacy Keach, and Martin Sheen are equally outstanding. But Robert Mitchum shines the most and may have rendered the best performance of his career. He's the sole reason why That Championship Season is a special film.

A lot of people have complained about Robert Mitchum for being too old to play Victor "Pug" Henry. Wrong, he was perfect: very dignified and respectable. I think highly of his credibility by starring in various military pictures such as Story of G.I. Joe; The Enemy Below; Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison; The Hunters; and Anzio. The bottom line is Robert Mitchum was the major selling point of The Winds of War. This is the crowning achievement of his long, esteemed career.

A precursor to Junior Bonner, it's about men who are addicted to the thrilling lifestyle of a rodeo cowboy. Riding bucking horses and bulls and wrestling calves to the ground, danger is the main attraction, but there's a price to pay that grinds them into ground beef. This is a terrific rodeo picture that belongs in the top ten of Robert Mitchum's career while Susan Hayward gives a powerful performance to show why her character matters in the grand scheme of things.

While Das Boot remains the indisputable champ of the submarine genre, The Enemy Below is the runner-up. Robert Mitchum vs. Curd Jürgens. An American destroyer escort vs. a German U-boat. It's a battle of wits. The best part is the depth charges exploding underwater over and over. There's no CGI bullshit. That's why the film won an Oscar for Best Special Effects. Sound is another big part of the action.

It's a well-written film noir. Robert Mitchum is excellent while Faith Domergue is a take-charge femme fatale. Misdiagnosing his condition as a concussion, what Jeff really had is a subdural hematoma. That's why he couldn't think straight anymore after being hit in the head by a poker. And it's funny that everybody keeps telling Robert Mitchum his eyes don't look good, but we all know it's how they are.

Before there was Breaker Morant and before there was A Few Good Men, there was Man in the Middle. Robert Mitchum gives his usual intelligent portrayal of a military man he's always been underrated for. Keenan Wynn does his best imitation of "I'm really that nutso" guilty suspect. But it's Trevor Howard who steals the picture with his quiet straightforward display of strong British acting. That's when the theme started to work with its presentation of insanity defense.

After the critical success of The Enemy Below, Dick Powell and Robert Mitchum decided to do another military picture, and this time, it's called The Hunters. This is Top Gun before there was Top Gun almost three decades later. Remember that The Blue Max hadn't come around yet. The use of Air Force jets and its counterparts is certainly nice which includes a video footage of one actually crash landing on the runway.

Man with the Gun is right up there with other Western greats. Robert Mitchum give a solid, likeable performance...the kind that doesn't say "ah, fuck it." Sure, the plot is similar to High Noon, but I like this one more for its edge and simplicity. With the exception of Robert Mitchum, nobody stands out. Hence, it's a story-driven picture.

Robert Mitchum plays a professional gambler who's paid $50,000 to stay in Mexico for a year. That's the confusion of the first hour. It wasn't getting anywhere, but as soon as the twist is revealed, the movie starts to improve. There's a lot of talking to pass the time, and the chemistry between Robert Mitchum and Jane Russell is extremely strong. Then, there's Vincent Price who ends up stealing the show.

Robert Mitchum sure gets mixed up with femmes fatales so easily. Is he dumb or what? This time, it's Jean Simmons for Angel Face. It's a finely directed picture by Otto Preminger, one of his best. Twenty-three at the time of filming, Jean Simmons dominates the show from start to finish while Robert Mitchum is happy to oblige. The ending is a shocker.

Robert Mitchum is a moonshine bootlegger ready to battle the United States government on asphalt, hence Thunder Road. It's a rare film because he had a hand by coming up with a script idea and oversaw its production, leading to a surprise hit in the South, and would record the music. Robert Mitchum's son, James, has a supporting role, and it's impossible to get over the uncanny resemblance they have of each other. James' part was meant for Elvis Presley, but his manager asked for too much money. So, he got it instead to make his first on-screen appearance.