Robert Mitchum Refused To Conform To Hollywood ‘Bad Boy’ Mitchum Won A Supporting Actor Oscar Nomination In 1945

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The world won’t see the likes of Robert Mitchum again. The veteran actor, who died Tuesday at 79, was a true original - tough, laconic, sleep-eyed and sexy. The big, burly, hard-living star was equally at home in war films, film noir, dramas and comedy.

The ultimate Hollywood “Bad Boy,” Mitchum served a jail sentence nearly 50 years ago for marijuana possession. He refused to conform to the Hollywood code and looked upon the press with disdain and boredom. Often underrated as an actor, Mitchum received a best supporting actor Oscar nomination for 1945’s “The Story of G.I. Joe” and even had a hit record back in 1958, “Thunder Road.”

Here’s a look at a few of this screen legend’s films available on video:

Mitchum achieved major star status in 1947’s “Out of the Past” (Turner), a gripping film noir. Jacques Tourneur directed this thriller in which Mitchum finds himself caught up in a web of murder, money and love. Kirk Douglas and Jane Greer star in this classic. Avoid the colorized version.

Also that year, Mitchum starred with Robert Ryan and Robert Young in “Crossfire” (Turner, $20). Though the film appears somewhat dated today, the Edward Dmytryk-directed drama was one of the first Hollywood films to explore bigotry. Mitchum plays one of three soldiers accused of killing a Jewish hotel guest.

Mitchum showed his lighthearted romantic side in the entertaining 1948 western romance “Rachel and the Stranger” (Turner). William Holden and Loretta Young also star in this charmer.

The actor gives a sturdy performance in the taut 1951 crime drama “The Racket” (Turner) as a police captain trying to break up a mob run by an odious gangster (Robert Ryan). Directed by John Cromwell.

He’s absolutely riveting in 1955’s terrifying “The Night of the Hunter” (MGM, $20). Mitchum plays a psychotic preacher - with the words “love” and “hate” tattooed on his hands - who marries a lonely widow with two kids hoping he can find the money her late husband had stashed. Charles Laughton directed James Agee’s adaptation of Davis Grubb’s novel. Shelley Winters and Lillian Gish also star.

Mitchum teamed up in 1957 with Deborah Kerr for John Huston’s enjoyable comedy-drama “Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison” (Fox, $20). Kerr plays a nun stranded on a Pacific Island during World War II with a rough and rugged Marine (Mitchum).

They are equally fine together in Fred Zinnemann’s moving 1960 drama “The Sundowners” (Warners, $15). Mitchum and Kerr head the cast of this well-acted drama about a family of Irish sheepherders in Australia who dream of making enough money to buy their own farm.

Mitchum was at his psychotic best in the chilling 1962 thriller “Cape Fear” (MCA, $15) as a sadistic criminal just released from prison who makes life a living hell for former prosecutor Gregory Peck and his family. Mitchum and Peck also made cameos in Martin Scorsese’s violent 1991 remake (MCA, $15).

He was cast against type in 1962’s romantic comedy-drama “Two for the Seesaw” (MGM, $20). Mitchum plays a Nebraska lawyer who moves to New York and falls in love with a Jewish bohemian (Shirley MacLaine). Robert Wise directed.

Howard Hawks directed Mitchum and John Wayne in the spirited “El Dorado” (Paramount, $15), a 1967 western that bears more than a passing resemblance to Hawks’ “Rio Bravo.” The Duke plays a gunslinger; Mitchum is his old friend, a sheriff who also happens to be the town drunk. A young James Caan also stars.

David Lean cast Mitchum as a mild-mannered Irishman who marries a beautiful young woman (Sarah Miles) who doesn’t love him in the oh-so-romantic 1970 epic “Ryan’s Daughter” (MGM, $30).

Mitchum returned to his film noir roots in 1975’s “Farewell, My Lovely” ($13), a fun remake of the 1944 Raymond Chandler mystery “Murder, My Sweet.” Mitchum plays hard-boiled private eye Philip Marlowe. Available through Movies Unlimited, (800) 4MOVIES.

During the 1980s, Mitchum turned to television, starring as Pug Henry in the popular 1983 miniseries “Winds of War” ($140) and the 1989 sequel “War & Remembrance, Part I” and “War and Remembrance, The Final Chapter” (MPI) ($180 for both parts).

In recent years, Mitchum popped up in small parts in two westerns, 1993’s “Tombstone” (Hollywood, $15) and 1996’s “Dead Man” (Miramax).