Happy 100th Birthday to Robert Mitchum!

Noir icon ROBERT MITCHUM, who died in 1997, would have been 100 this Sunday. The rugged actor was born on August 6, 1917 in Bridgeport, Connecticut and went on to become one of the actors most associated with film noir for classics such as "Out of the Past."

TCM will be honoring him all by showing his movies on August 6 (see schedule below).

Here are some of the tributes to our favorite movie tough guy, including film retrospectives.

LA Times: On his 100th birthday, here's to legendary Hollywood tough guy Robert Mitchum

WSJ: The Versatile Robert Mitchum: The actor, who would have been 100 this week, mastered many genres—thriller, film noir, western and more

Massive Robert Mitchum Centenary Tribute Set As NYFF 2017 Retrospective

Boston Globe: After 100 years, there’s still been only one Robert Mitchum

TCM SCHEDULE FOR AUGUST 6
(Times are Eastern)

6:00 AM The LOCKET (1946)
    
7:30 AM WHEN STRANGERS MARRY (1944)

9:00 AM CROSSFIRE (1947)

10:30 AM HOLIDAY AFFAIR (1949)

12:00 PM HIS KIND OF WOMAN (1951)
    
2:15 PM ANGEL FACE (1953)

4:00 PM THE STORY OF G.I. JOE (1945)

6:00 PM THE WONDERFUL COUNTRY (1959)

8:00 PM THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER  (1955)
    
10:00 PM OUT OF THE PAST (1947)
    
12:00 AM THUNDER ROAD (1958)

2:00 AM THE ENEMY BELOW (1957)

4:00 AM GOING HOME (1971) 

Happy Birthday, Robert Mitchum

Happy 98th Birthday to ROBERT MITCHUM. The noir icon and all-around tough guy was born August 6, 1917 in Bridgeport, Connecticut. TCM is celebrating his birthday a few days late (August 12) with a full day of movies dedicated to him as part of their Summer Under the Stars series. Set those DVRs since many of these films aren't on DVD or Blu-ray.

AUGUST 12 on TCM (Times are for East Coast):

6:00 AM: Till The End of Time (1946)
8:00 AM My Forbidden Past (1951) buy dvd
9:15 AM The Sundowners (1960) buy dvd
11:45 AM Rachel And The Stranger (1948)
1:15 PM Blood On The Moon (1948)
2:45 PM The Lusty Men (1952)
4:45 PM The Hunters (1958) buy dvd
6:45 PM The Dick Cavett Show: Robert Mitchum (1971)
8:00 PM Home From The Hill (1960) buy dvd
10:45 PM Thunder Road (1958) buy blu-ray
12:30 AM The Yakuza (1975) buy dvd
2:30 AM Ryan's Daughter (1970) buy dvd

"Thunder Road" Out on Blu-ray

Thunder Road, starring ROBERT MITCHUM as a moonshiner outrunning the law in a souped-up hot rod, is now out on Blu-ray from Shout Factory. Order on Amazon.

The Collinsport Historical Society site, dedicated to the show Dark Shadows, shares this onset memory from actor Mitchell Ryan, who would go on to play Burke Devlin on the supernatural soap opera:

"I was twenty-three years old and on my first movie set. I was nervous as hell and stayed to the side away form the camera. I had a small scene with Mitchum who was just short of being a god and at the height of his popularity. He stood by the camera joking with the crew. At last I heard my scene called, at which point Mitchum walked over to me, was silent for a second and then said, 'Remember, I'm big Mitch and you're Little Mitch.' He looked grim then burst out laughing and said, 'Let's do this fucking thing.'"

Ohio Sheriff Blames 'Thunder Road' for Glamorizing Crime

One Ohio sheriff's editorial on the legacy of 'Thunder Road' and the sorry state of current crime ran today in the Cleveland Daily Banner.

"The story line of this movie romanticized the lives of those who today we would call less than honorable citizens...

In the movie the moonshiners were justified in their law-breaking because they were supposedly poor, humble folks who were victimized by the federal government. That same refrain is still being used by many criminals today. History tells us that these poor, underprivileged victims were finally put out of business by the dogged efforts of federal, state, and local law enforcement."

Of course, putting anything on camera tends to glamorize it. No mention of Mitchum's own brush with the law.

'Return to Thunder Road' author appearance

This non-fiction book by Alex Gabbard profiles the real-life story of moonshining in the southern Appalachians, as seen in the 1958 ROBERT MITCHUM film 'Thunder Road.' Gabbard will be speaking at the March 17 Literacy Luncheon in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

From the Amazon profile: "This is a powerful saga of an age gone by ... Alex Gabbard tells the story of moonshining in the mountains where he grew up and how it influenced the rural south and fledgling stock car racing, giving the sport its most colorful and enduring characters."

'Thunder Road' was one of Mitchum's most personal films. He came up with the idea for the film, produced it, chose the director and cast his son, Jim, as his younger brother. He also sang the hit title track, 'The Ballad of Thunder Road.'

Classics from the vault: Thunder Road

Story at Examiner.com

... Thunder Road is the kind of movie that sticks in the minds of its viewers for years after seeing it. It’s the first film maverick director Jim Jarmusch* ever recalls seeing, at the age of six at a drive-in theater. As he related in a 1992 interview in Film Comment, despite being a huge Mitchum fan he never saw the film again, so indelible was the childhood memory in his mind. Bruce Springsteen named the opening track of his 1975 Born to Run album after the movie, although he never even saw it – he only saw the film’s poster in the lobby of a theater.

Thunder Road airs Tuesday, July 21 at 6:00 PM ET on Turner Classic Movies.

*Jarmusch later directed Mitchum in his last film, Dead Man.

Keely still singing classics from Rat Pack days

Story at SF Examiner.

"For Smith, those old songs have a lot of history. "Yeah, there’s about 40 men that I think of when I sing certain songs!" she says, laughing. "I used to think a lot about [Frank] Sinatra, but not so much these days. I think of [Prima]. I think of ROBERT MITCHUM, and a couple of other people I can’t tell you!"

She’s saving that for her autobiography, on which she has been working in a stop-and-go fashion."

Keely performs daily (except Mondays) at The Rrazz Room in San Francisco through April 5. She costarred in Thunder Road with Mitchum.

50s Fords Haul Moonshine To Quench The Devil's Thirst: Thunder Road

Story at Jalopnik.com

ROBERT MITCHUM outrunnin' revenoors in a triple-carbed '50 Ford sedan full of white liquor - now that's what we call a car movie! Thunder Road still holds up well after 50 years.