Robert Mitchum: Baby, I Don't Care

by Lee Server

  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

  LServ500@aol.com

  Index

  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.

  Burns, George

  Burns, Lillian

  Burr, Raymond

  Burroughs, William

  Burstyn, Ellen

  Burton, Richard

  Busch, Niven

  Bush, George

  Butler, James

  Caan, James

  Cabeen, Boyd “Tyrone

  Cabeen, Carmen

  Cabot, Bruce

  Cain, James M.

  Cannon Films

  Cape Fear

  Capra, Frank

  Carey, Harry, Jr. “Dobe

&
nbsp; Carey, Harry, Sr.

  Carey, Olive

  Carpenter, Daniel

  Carradine, John

  Caruso, Anthony

  acting work of

  Casablanca

  Castle, William

  Catto, Max

  censorship

  Chandler, John Davis

  Chandler, Raymond

  Chapin, Billy

  Chase, Barrie

  Chase, Chris

  Chase, Donald

  Chayevsky, Paddy

  Cherry, Helen

  Civilian Conservation Corps

  Clancy, Bill

  Clark,’ Candy

  Clark, Mark

  Clark, Walter Van Tilburg

  Cleary, Jon

  Clements, Stanley “Stash

  Clothier, Bill

  Clouse, Robert

  Clyde, Andy

  Coghlan, Frank “Junior

  Cohen, Mickey

  Cohn, Harry

  Colbert, Claudette

  Coleman, George

  Colicos, John

  Collins, Joan

  Confidential Magazine

  Conrad, Barnaby

  Conrad, Joseph

  Coogan, Jackie

  Cooper, Dennis

  Cooper, Gary

  Cooper, Grant

  Corbin, John

  Corey, Wendell

  Cortez, Stanley

  Cosentino, Toni

  Cowan, Lester

  Craig, William

  Crawford, Broderick

  Cromwell, John

  Crossfire

  Cross of Iron

  Cukor, George

  Curtis, Dan

  D’Angelo, Bill

  D’Antonio, Joanne

  Darnell, Linda

  Davidson, Bill

  Davis, Carroll

  Davis, Jim

  Davol, Dick

  Day, Elias

  Day, Laraine

  Day, Oranne Truitt

  Dead Man

  Decca Records

  De Coque, Paul

  Defiant Ones, The

  DeFore, Don

  de Gaulle, Charles

  DeHavilland, Olivia

  Dejoria, John Paul

  DeLaurentiis, Dino

  Demick, Irina

  DeNiro, Robert

  Depp, Johnny

  Derek, Bo

  Dern, Bruce

  Desire Me

  Dewey, Donald

  DeWitt, Jacqueline

  DeYoung, Joe

  Dickerson, Doris

  Dickinson, Angie

  Diller, Phyllis

  DiMaggio, Joe

  Dmytryk, Edward

  Dmytryk, Jean Porter

  Domergue, Faith

  Donen, Stanley

  Donnell, Jeff

  Donner, Robert

  Doolittle, Jimmy

  Dortort, David

  Doss, Betty

  Doughboys in Ireland

  Dougherty, Jim

  Douglas, Kirk

  in films with RM

  Douglas, Melvyn

  Dowd, Maureen

  Dowtin, Al

  Dozier, William

  DRM Productions

  Dudley, Seymour

  Duff, Bonnie

  Duff, Warren

  Dunaway, Faye

  Dunn, James

  Eastwood, Clint

  Edwards, Nate

  Eells, George

  Egan, Richard

  Eisenhower, Dwight

  Eisenschitz, Bernard

  Elam, Jack

  El Dorado

  Ellis, Richard

  Enemy Below, The

  Equalizer, The

  Esmond, Jill

  Evans, Vicki

  Faithfull, Marianne

  Falk, Peter

  Family for Joe, A

  Farber, Manny

  Farewell, My Lovely

  Fargo, George

  Farnum, Dustine

  Farrow, John

  Farrow, Mia

  Fast, Frederick

  Fast, Howard

  Faulker, William

  Feeder, Bill

  Feldman, Charles K.

  Fellows, Robert

  Felton, Earl

  Fenady, Andrew

  Fenton, Frank

  Fernandez, Abel

  Fernandez, Emilio

  Ferrer, Mel

  Figueroa, Hector

  Fike, Lamar

  film noir

  Mitchum’s roles in

  Fire Down Below

  Fitzgerald, Charles

  Fitzgerald, F. Scott

  Five Card Stud

  flashbacks

  Fleischer, Richard

  Flynn, Errol

  Follow the Band

  Fonda, Henry

  Ford, John

  Ford, Robin “Danny

  Foreign Intrigue

  Foster, Fred

  Foster, Norman

  Franklin, Joe

  Frederick, Reva, see

  Frenke, Eugene

  Freund, Leo

  Friends of Eddie Coyle, The

  Fuller, Samuel

  Furthman, Jules

  Gable, Clark

  Gabriel, John

  Gang, Martin

  gangster genre films

  Gardner, Ava

  Garmes, Lee

  Garnett, Tay

  Garson, Greer

  Gersdorf, Phil

  Gershuny, Theodore

  Gibson, William

  Giesler, Jerry

  Gilardi, Jack

  Gilmore, William S., Jr.

  Ginty, Robert

  Girl Rush

  Gish, Lillian

  Gleason, Jackie

  Globus, Yoram

  Godard, Jean Luc, n

  Going Home

  Golan, Menahem

  Golden Harvest Productions

  Goldstick, Oliver

  Goldwyn, Samuel, Jr.

  Good Guys and the Bad Guys, The

  Goodman, David Zelag

  Gordon, Leo

  Gorman, Cliff

  Gosnell, Ray

  Gould, Elliott

  Grade, Lew

  Graham, Sheilah

  Grahame, Gloria

  Grainger, Edmond

  Granet, Bert

  Granger, Stewart

  Grant, Carv

  Grass Is Greener, The

  Gray, Gary

  Greenfield, Mike

  Greer, Jane

  in RM’s films

  Gregory, Paul

  Grey, Zane

  Griffith, D. W.

  Gross, Jack

  Gross, Walter

  Grubb, Davis

  Guare, John

  Gunderson, Charles

  Gunderson, Gustav Olaf

  Gunderson, Petrine

  Guterman, Morty

  Guthrie, A. B. “Bud

  Haas, Charles

  Hacker, Frederick

  Haines, William Wister

  Hale, Barbara

  Hall, Archie

  Hall, William

  Hamill, Pete

  Hamilton, George

  Hamilton, Guy

  Hamilton, Kitty

  Harbin, Vernon

  Hardin, Jerry

  Hardy, Oliver

  Harris, Eleanor

  Harris, Richard

  Harrison, Joan

  Harrison, Robert

  Hartman, Don

  Hartman, Phil

  Hathaway, Henry

  Havelock-Allan, Anthony

  Hawks, Howard

  Hayes, Arthur

  Haynes, Lee

  Hayward, Lillie

  Hayward, Susan

  Hayworth, Rita

  Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison

  Hecht, Harold

  Hedison, David

  Heffernon, Harold

  Helmick, Paul

  Hemsey, Yvonne

  Henabery, Joseph E.

  Henry, Victor “Pug

  Hepburn, Katharine

  Herrmann, Bernard

&nbs
p; Hess, Dean E.

  Higgins, George V

  Higham, Charles

  Hill, Jim

  His Kind of Woman

  Hitchcock, Alfred

  Hodgett, A. Q.

  Holden, William

  Holiday Affair

  Holland, Cecil

  Hollywood Ten

  Holmes, Earl

  Holt, Tim

  Home from the Hill

  homosexuality

  Hopalong Cassidy series

  Hopper, Hedda

  Horta, Walter

  Houseman, John

  House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC)

  Houston, Norman

  Howard, Trevor

  Howe, James Wong

  Hoyle, Mickey

  Hoyle, Red

  Hudson, Rock

  Hughes, Howard

  eccentric behavior of

  female stars cultivated by

  RKO management by

  RM’s prosecution and

  Human Comedy, The

  Humphrey, William

  Hunnicutt, Arthur

  Hunt, J. Roy

  Hunter, Kim

  Hunters, The

  Huston, Danny

  Huston, John

  Huston, Virginia

  Hutcheson, Ken

  Ireland, John

  Jackpot

  Jacks, Robert

  Jackson, Beverley

  Jagger, Dean

  Jake Spanner, Private Eye

  Jarmusch, Jim

  Jarre, Kevin

  Jeffreys, Anne

  Jenson, Roy

  Jewell, Richard

  Jewish Defense League (JDL)

  Johns, Glynis

  Johns, Larry

  Johnson, Lyndon B.

  Johnson, Van

  Jones, Christopher

  Jones, Elmer Ellsworth

  Jordan, Charles

  Jurgens, Curt

  Kael, Pauline

  Kastner, Elliott

  Katzin, Lee

  Kazan, Elia

  Keach, Stacy

  Keaton, Buster

  Kefauver, Estes

  Keith, Jack

  Kellogg, Marjorie

  Kemper, Victor

  Kennedy, Arthur

  Kennedy, Burt

  Kennedy, George

  Kennedy, John E

  Kenyatta, Jomo

  Kerouac, Jack

  Kerr, Deborah

  Killer in the Family

  Killy, Edward

  King Brothers

  Kinski, Nastassja

  Kirby, Jay

  Klekner, Ben

  Knowles, Patric

  Koch, Howard

  Koerner, Charles

  Konchalovsky, Andrei

  Kramer, Stanley

  Krasna, Norman

  Kulik, Buzz

  LaCoeur, Joan

  Ladd, Alan

  Lally, Paul

  Lancaster, Burt

  Lanchester, Elsa

  Lang, Otto

  Lange, Henry

  Langella, Frank

  Langford, Frances

  Lantos, Robert

  Lasker, Edward

  Last Time I Saw Archie, The