{"id":41183,"date":"2015-03-07T03:19:53","date_gmt":"2015-03-07T03:19:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/owegopennysaver.com\/?p=41183"},"modified":"2015-03-09T03:24:00","modified_gmt":"2015-03-09T03:24:00","slug":"tinseltown-talks-chris-mitchums-journey-to-hollywood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2015\/03\/07\/tinseltown-talks-chris-mitchums-journey-to-hollywood\/","title":{"rendered":"Tinseltown Talks – Chris Mitchum\u2019s Journey to Hollywood"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Tinseltown<\/a>

John Wayne, Patrick Wayne and Chris Mitchum in Big Jake.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Tinseltown<\/a>

Chris and Robert Mitchum in 1985.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Tinseltown<\/a>

Chris, Robert and Jim Mitchum in the cab of their camper in 1954 heading off on camping trip as mother Dorothy and sister Trini look on. Photo provided by Chris Mitchum.<\/p><\/div>\n

Chris Mitchum began his movie career almost 50 years ago at Arizona\u2019s \u2018Old Tucson,\u2019 the historic film studio site of numerous film and TV Westerns since the 1940s (see www.oldtucson.com<\/a>).<\/p>\n

\u201cI was a student at the University of Arizona in 1967 and someone told me the studio was looking for extras,\u201d recalled Mitchum from Santa Barbara.<\/p>\n

After being hired for $13.80 a day, plus free lunch, a production manager offered him a part on the short-lived TV show \u201cDundee and the Culhane.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I moved back to Los Angeles, I took him up on the offer,\u201d said Mitchum. \u201cI walked in for the interview and the producer and director said \u2018He\u2019s perfect!\u2019 before I even saw the script. They told me to pick up a copy on my way out and would pay me $150 a day.\u201d<\/p>\n

The role, however, was not exactly choice.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy character was dead before the opening credits,\u201d laughed Mitchum. \u201cI just had to lie there and get rolled over, which explains why I didn\u2019t have to read for the part!\u201d<\/p>\n

From that humble beginning, Mitchum worked his way up to production and writing credits as well as acting roles in some 60 films, including three with John Wayne and several featuring another fellow named Mitchum.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople see my dad on film when he was 40 or 50 and ask me \u2018Are you Robert Mitchum\u2019s brother?\u2019 I tell them I\u2019m not quite that old \u2013 he was my father,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Like many actor-parents, Mitchum\u2019s dad was often absent as Chris and his brother and sister grew up.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe started acting around the time I was born, so I grew as his career was growing,\u201d said Mitchum. \u201cHe did the best he could, and when he was around we had fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mitchum remembers one summer vacation trip in 1954.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe studio helped him fit a camper to a1-ton flatbed Ford truck and we drove it across the Southwest fishing and hunting,\u201d he recalled. \u201cCampers like that were not yet commercially available. Someone bought the design and started the camper industry.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though his father was regarded as a screen legend, he offered little acting advice. \u201cThe only guidance he gave was \u2018Don\u2019t ever get caught acting.\u2019 In other words, don\u2019t act the part, just be the character.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 1970, Chris was hired for \u201cChisum,\u201d which starred John \u2018Duke\u2019 Wayne and Forrest \u2018Tuck\u2019 Tucker, and was executive produced by Wayne\u2019s son, Michael.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were filming down in Durango, Mexico. Tuck\u2019s wife\u2019s birthday was coming up one Sunday, so Duke hired a private plane to fly him back to Burbank on the Saturday to be with her. But when Tuck got to the airport, they had to call him back for a scene next day.<\/p>\n

\u201cDuke and I were talking on the set, and Tuck was sitting in one of those tall director\u2019s chairs. The assistant director came over to Michael Wayne to explain how upset Tuck was becoming. Duke heard them talking and asked \u2018Michael, what\u2019s the problem?\u2019 He replied \u2018Nothing Pop, we\u2019ve got it.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cDuke and I continued talking and again were distracted. \u2018Michael,\u2019 he asked again, \u2018What\u2019s wrong?\u2019 \u2018Pop, it\u2019s OK,\u2019 said Michael.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen Duke asked a third time, Michael explained how upset Tuck was about the delay getting home. Duke, of course, had paid for the plane! So Duke started mumbling to himself: \u2018I\u2019m not gonna to get mad, I\u2019m not gonna to get mad, I\u2019m not – the hell I\u2019m not – Tuckerrrrrr!\u2019 and stormed off towards Tuck with that characteristic John Wayne walk.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought, my God, where are the cameras to catch this, it\u2019s right out of one of his movies. When he stepped off the screen, he was still \u2018John Wayne.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Mitchum, who lost a run for Congress last year and is challenging the result (see www.mitchumlegal.com), went on to appear in two other popular Wayne films, \u201cBig Jake\u201d and \u201cRio Lobo.\u201d<\/p>\n

But rather than giving his early career a boost, \u201cI couldn\u2019t even get a job interview afterwards\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Find out why in the second part of Mitchum\u2019s interview next week.<\/p>\n

Nick Thomas teaches at Auburn University at Montgomery, Ala., and has written features, columns, and interviews for over 550 magazines and newspapers. Follow on Twitter @TinseltownTalks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chris Mitchum began his movie career almost 50 years ago at Arizona\u2019s \u2018Old Tucson,\u2019 the historic film studio site of numerous film and TV Westerns…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41183","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-editorial"],"yoast_head":"\nTinseltown Talks - Chris Mitchum\u2019s Journey to Hollywood - Owego Pennysaver Press<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2015\/03\/07\/tinseltown-talks-chris-mitchums-journey-to-hollywood\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tinseltown Talks - 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