Robert Mitchum - Top 10 Best Performances 

I had the pleasure of working with Robert Mitchum twice when I was a production assistant on movies shot in Hollywood and on location. Mitchum had supporting roles in Matilda (1978) and That Championship Season (1982). A consummate professional, Mitchum was gruff but friendly and told endless, priceless stories, if he decided you were someone worthy of hearing them. "You meet a better class of people in jail than in Beverly Hills." he said.

Honorable mention: The Wonderful Country and his last great cameo in Jim Jarmusch's Dead Man.

Imo Yakuza is his best performance by far. Such a masterpiece of a strong man deeply sensitive and understanding of his surrounding communicating with barely a word. Its crazy how underrated this movie is. Would add Heavon knows Ms Allison and Cape Fear.

Mitchum was the kind of guy who asked David Lean, "What county does this guy come from in Ireland?" . . . and then nailed the accent for that County. One of the handful of American getting an Australian accent right in The Sundowners. the Company Commander in The Story of GI Joe; the Destroyer Commander and the Squadron Commander in The Hunters; Mitchum could play authority figures believably. (Mitchum served stateside in the US Army during WWII as a Medic; he was awarded an ARCOM . . . which was unheard of at the time. The guy cared a lot . . . but rarely got caught doing ot . . . .

Out of The Past is my number one.

I LOVE Robert Mitchum, the man, his absolutely great performances with the great women co-stars and great directors. Man, if he was around today in his 40's or so, doing these films, he'd be getting Oscars galore. Anyone name me anything even close to this great, great work here on Mitchum's filmography! Thanks for this!

The Night of the Hunter (1955) Thunder Road (1958) Cape Fear (1962) These are my absolute favorites to watch with brilliant Acting performances by Robert Mitchum !

I first encountered Robert in the cinema when I was a boy in 1957 -- his performance in Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison. I was mesmerized by his riveting performance. I can't say (at 6) I fully understood all that this film was about. But I watched it again and again as it appeared on TV and gradually better appreciated the textures that John Huston, Robert and Deborah wove into this film. While I'd have to agree his performances in Cape Fear and The Night of the Hunter are more powerful, I still enjoy him most in Heaven Knows. Perhaps that's how he rated his own performances -- Heaven Knows was his favorite, while Night of the Hunter was his best. Thanks again for bringing to light the range and power of this great artist!

Anything with Mitchum is okay by me. Once asked about one of his films he said "They don't pay me to watch em"

Nothing beats ''Heaven Knows Mr. Allison." I loved it as a kid and it's been a yearly favorite ever since. It has everything.

Both the book and movie "Friends of Eddie Coyle," are the best. George V Higgins, is also underrated. Mitchum plays the part perfect. Saw it when it came out. My wife & I went with a couple, who were friends. He was an undercover narc, for on of the local sheriff's departments. Movie blew him away. About a year ago, I got the book to re-read, then watched the movie again. Rates up there with The Godfather, Heat, To Live, Goodfellows and To Die in L.A. You're correct. Eddie is a bad gangster, but you feel sorry for him and his ending. The book emphasized it more, Eddie wasn't going to rat out. He knew going to go back would be his death, but he was going back to prison. A truly stand up guy.

I love THE SUNDOWNERS & watch my copy often. Deborah Kerr was so lovely too. He was scary in CAPE FEAR & NIGHT OF THE HUNTER. So good. All of his films are great. GRASS IS GREENER I watch my copy often.

Best Bad Boy Mitchum is "Thunder Road." And he wrote the songs. Have to watch it every few years. But the other day, I stumbled across an obscure western, with Mitchum. "Girl Rush." Him and a few other tough guy actors are pretending to be women, to take over a crooked town. Comedy western, but he's still a tough guy, Mitchum, in a calico dress, in a bar fight, is a hoot,

The list is fantastic, however, he was fantastic playing along with Dean Martin and Roddy McDowell in the 1968 'Five Card Stud', which was one of his many great performances in a Western. Another forgotten gem was the 1964 'Man in the Middle' which was also released under the title of 'The Winston Affair' which was a Military Court room drama in WW II In India. He was also great in the 1968 'Villa Rides' playing along with Yul Brynner and Charles Bronson.

Looking forward to watch The Friends Of Eddie Coyle, my favorite actor of the classic era.

Mitchum was truly so fascinating. I love it!

In a last scene of the film The Longest Day (1962) about D Day, Robert Mitchum as an invasion general says to the young driver of his jeep, "Run me up the hill, punk!"

Great list, but I would've undoubtedly added The Yakuza, at least as an honorable mention. He and Takakura absolutely command each and every scene they’re in, and the romantic sub-plot really makes you feel for the guy. Not to mention the finger-cutting scene. A criminally underrated masterpiece.

Two of my favorites ate Heaven Knows Mr Allison and GI Joe

Deeply sleeping on the lusty men. That's a tremendous top 3 performance for sure

thanks for this video Robert Mitchum has always been one of my favorite actors

He was SO terrifying in the scene on the Houseboat when he smashed the egg in his hand that Polly Bergen was shaking in fear. They had to take a break and she joked around with Mitchum so she could even continue.

Put simply, Mitchum is my favorite film star. Even if the movie stunk - and he did make a few stinkers - he was always worth watching. You didn't include this film in your top ten, but it's okay - but did you ever see "Going Home" from 1971? I think that is a hard-to-find title but Mitchum was great in that one too. But I can't argue with your Top 10. BTW, I wrote him a letter after the VHS release of "Cape Fear" telling him how much I was blown away by his performance, and I got an autographed picture back (I really don't know if he signed it - it could have been an assistant, but hey, at least the letter got to him). And my Robert Mitchum story is a little bit different then the others. It goes like this: In 1997, I was on a game show called "Shopping Spree". And this was after a year of toughing things out. I end up winning ALL the prizes which included a trip to Hawaii. So of course I'm all happy and jazzed and can't believe it etc. etc. So I leave the studio lot, go to my car, and turn on the radio. "Actor Robert Mitchum died in his Santa Barbara home earlier today." And with that, I looked up in the air and screamed "OH, YOU JUST HAD TO DO IT TODAY, DIDN'T YOU?" Truthfully, I knew his was in bad health and wasn't entirely shocked by the news, but why on that particular day when I have every reason to be happy? Uggh. And get this: My favorite actress is Lee Remick. She died on July 1, 1991. Mitchum died July 2, 1997. It's not difficult for me to remember those dates. Either ways, great video.

Night of the Hunter was the bes!

Anything he’s in is Great but if this was my list Home from the Hill would definitely be number One!! Maybe because it’s 1960 & I grew up in the 60’s. The little grocery store & the way the world was then( if you were a kid) was just so simple & sweet to me. Sure wish someone would download this movie. 🍿 ✌️

I'm surprised His Role as Victor "Pug" Henry in the two series The winds of war and War and Remembrance were not among his top 10

He could play evil people.

To me his best are El Dorado and Farewell My Lovely, which I can see over and over again, enjoying every time. John Wayne and John Ireland are excellent in there too.

I loved your list and the depth of your commentary; however, I would have found a place for “The Enemy Below.” It’s a thrilling war drama directed by Dick Powell that emphasizes honor, respect, and bravery even for a mortal enemy. It also includes a great performance from the German-Austrian actor Curt Jorgensen, who plays the role of a U-boat Commander very convincingly.

Even at the end, Mitch was overshadowed. His death made the news July 2, 1997. On July THIRD the newspapers carried the death of James Stewart.....

You forgot his wonderful role as Coach Daniel Delaney in That Championship Season (1982)

I’m 70 and when you said Heaven Knows Mr. Allison was his favorite role, I actually cried. But you failed to mention an early one that I hold equally dear, “The Hunters”. That was the first time I went to a theater. My mom wanted to see Mae Britt as she was in the news quite a bit and she thought I was like to see airplanes. To me that story was a classic and is what actually inspired me to become a pilot and airplane lover, and hopefully as noble as Col. Cleve Seville.

Great work. The rankings, the background. I just watched him in 'The Winston Affair' - not celebrated, but a fine film.

Out of the Past 🎥🎬👌

Cape Fear was made in the same place where mitchum had been incarcerated on a chain gang when he was fifteen. the people on the movie said the minute they got there his anger came back and he was so angry and into that character he was playing that the people on the movie were scared of him. he used his anger and it worked.

Nice commentary. Absolute Legend. Grew Weed for the Crew?!?! You see I Knew I loved the man!!✌️

Fantastic video! Huge Robert Mitchum fan and I’ve seen most of the films you listed but some I haven’t and am now motivated to watch! And just ignore the comments saying you forgot this, how could you not include that, what about this one…blah blah blah. With such a phenomal actor like Mitch, who made SO many movies, it’s impossible for all of us to agree on what his best performances are. Also, I guess they forgot this is YOUR list! However, I do 100% agree that The Night of the Hunter is his best by far and incredibly sad that bc it did so poorly at the time, Charles Laughton never directed another.. I appreciate the time and effort you put into this and will be watching more of your videos.

What a great moment I spent watching your video and remembering all these classics ! Thank you for showing that Robert Mitchum was way more than a cool bad Guy.

He really was GOOD! A real hunk as well.

Thank you for your tribute to this fascinating actor. It's hard to choose among all these great films. I also like The Locket, Pursued, The Lusty Men, Angel Face, Track of the Cat, The Wonderful Country, Secret Ceremony, Yakuza

I'm not sure but might be 3:am. I got drown into every performance. Starting with El Dorado which I have had replace a third time. Thank you for posting.😊

The night of the hunter,cape fear and thunder road

Night of the Hunter is such an awesome movie. Don't forget Lilian Gish. She was great in NOTH.

Night of the Hunter was NOT heavily rewritten by Laughton. Read the book. Laughton worked very hard to bring the novel to the screen. It's the closest transfer I've ever seen for plot and mood. He threw out Agee's hugely rewritten script and consulted endlessly with Grubb.

Cape fear my favorite scary movie ever

Thanks for this tribute . So hard to choose among all his greats movies. Hard to find those DVD now in France but according to your list, it seems i have the majors.❤😢 He was very nice in « Réunion at Fairborough » with his favorite partner Déborah Carr.❤️

My top 10 Mitchum movies: Pursued, Out of the Past, The Lusty Men, Track of the Cat, Night of the Hunter, Foreign Intrigue, Bandido, Thunder Road, The Wonderful Country, The Friends of Eddie Coyle . Honorable mentions: the big steal, holiday affair, she couldn’t say no (he was wonderful in comedy / light-hearted films too! Had much more range than say Grant or Bogart)

he had a photographic memory, and only needed to read a script once.

FYI: Ryan's Daughter was filmed in and around Dingle, County Kerry.....NOT County Clare.

Excellent. Thank you.

I LOVED HIM! However I'd put "Cape Fear" as number one.

Blood on the Moon

What About "Rachel and The Stranger"? Where the heck is "River of No Return" with Marilyn Monroe????????? Also, "Holiday Affair" with Janet Leigh, about the kid and the train set?

He's my favourite actor.

The Hunters, Thunder Road, The Enemy Below, Till The End Of Time.

El Dorado was the first movieI thought about when I saw this site. "Let me hear you LAUGH!"

Vintage RM would be last man in a barfight

Oh my God, another Blabey host I just wanted to see him act

Mr. Mitchum has lovely sleepy bedroom eyes! 💕

Of course I think his best was his last performance supposedly but I know it was in "Dead Man"

Loved "Yakuza," 1974.

Catch his interview with Dick Cavett where he discusses the event which is referred to here as “a nervous breakdown”

i really like him in anzio

😍😍😍

🤜M I T C H🤛 🇨🇦

In #1 Shelly Winters begins her career of being drowned. Three times? More?

You forgot Big Country, how could you? He has a great Mex accent, well played, great script. Too bad.

He's not underrated in my house.

I love Robert Mitchum as a actor but THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER I had a very difficult time watching! For me it was a jumbled mess with the singing and the IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE feel mixed in with a thriller feel it didn’t work for me and was very disappointed at the end. However...However I did like Mr Mitchum’s performance...Leeeaning Leeeeaning

Blood on the Moon