Tag: Robert Mitchum

Second-Tier But Fun Christmas Movies

Everyone knows the usual Christmas classic movies on the top of every list. But what are some favorite second-tier Christmas movies that, while not classics, are thoroughly enjoyable?

Almost everyone has seen the classic great Christmas movies like It’s A Wonderful Life, White Christmas, Miracle on 34th Street, A Christmas Story, and the many iterations of Ebeneezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol. While familiarity is the point of re-watching your favorite Christmas movies, sometimes a person wants to branch out a little to find their own comforting movie for a quiet night.

Below are three movies that are not classics and have their faults, but that I enjoy for something a little different.

Holiday Affair (1949)

Viewers of Turner Classic Mvies are probably already fans of Holiday Affair. Like It’s a Wonderful Life, Holiday Affair was not a big hit when it was released after World War II, but repeated showings on television have given the movie a broader audience.

Holiday Affair doesn’t have the holiday spirit and deeper meaning of It’s a Wonderful Life. There’s no angels and Christmas plays more of a background in this romantic comedy. But it has Robert Mitchum, who reportedly accepted the role in the family friendly movie to repair his image after getting busted for having marijuana.

Mitchum and Janet Leigh are a great couple in the movie, even if the will-they or won’t-they aspect is fairly a foregone conclusion, as it is Mitchum after all. But the movie is fun, with a highlight being that Mitchum’s competition played by Wendell Corey is not a typical heel but a nice guy.

If you like your movies in black and white, check out a couple of Barbara Stanwyck films, Christmas in Connecticut (1945) and Remember the Night (1940). The latter also stars Fred MacMurray and is endearing for a storyline that is not your typical romance as a prosecutor ends up falling in love with the woman he is supposed to prosecute.

Daddy’s Home 2 (2017)

While Daddy’s Home was a fun comedy that touched on issues of masculinity, the sequel ramps up the fun with the addition of Mel Gibson and John Lithgow and with setting the movie at Christmas time. The cast also includes Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg, Linda Cardellini, and John Cena.

You do not need to have seen the first film to enjoy Daddy’s Home 2, which finds Ferrell and Wahlberg’s characters having come to a happy way to work together raising healthy kids while Ferrell is married to Wahlberg’s ex-wife. But things take a funny turn when their fathers show up for Christmas.

I won’t ruin more, but like many great holiday movies there is a wonderful music scene that helps bring everyone together and tie up some loose ends.

You will not be abandoning your favorite Christmas movies for this one, but it is a fun addition if you want something lighthearted and a little different.

A Christmas Story Christmas (2022)

This film is also a sequel, but this time a sequel to a movie that has become a classic in its own right, A Christmas Story (1983). Producers had made two previous tries at creating a good sequel to the original A Christmas Story. But My Summer Story (1994) and A Christmas Story 2 (2012) are at best, for die-hard fans of the original, or at worst, better forgotten completely.

A Christmas Story Christmas, however, does things that a good sequel does. It brings back many of the actors from the original, including Scott Billingsly as Ralphie but also many of the other kids as grownups. So as a start, the movie is a nice nostalgic trip to catch up with favorite characters (from an original movie that was already nostalgic).

A Christmas Story Christmas also has callbacks to man of the events from the original, like a trip to see Santa Claus, someone accepting a dare, etc. If there is one weakness in the movie it is that it might be a little too long and seem episodic, straying from the main story in an attempt to squeeze everything in. But those episodes gives something to fans of the original.

More importantly, the over arching story captures many of the themes of the original while adding something worthwhile. While the original focused on a grown up’s memories of being a child, A Christmas Story Christmas, at its best, is about the challenges of the holidays as an adult trying to survive Christmas while also trying to create new memories for the children.

While A Christmas Story Christmas may never reach the classic status of A Christmas Story, it has a lot to say and is a nice break from the repeated viewings of the beloved original.

Honorable Mention: While many might mention Love Actually (2003) as a fun second-tier holiday film that many love and many hate, there is another movie from one year earlier also featuring Hugh Grant that deserves mention. About a Boy (2002) is a comedy drama based on a Nick Hornby novel that is not entirely about Christmas, but has several Christmas references including he setting at the end and the lead character, played by Hugh Grant, living off the money from one Christmas song. But the film captures the holiday spirit, where one might see Grant being a version of Ebeneezer Scrooge and one awkward boy (played by Nicholas Hoult) replacing Dickens’ ghosts.

What your favorite second-tier Christmas movies? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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Moral Ambiguity and “Lawman” (Missed Movies)

Burt Lancaster stars in “Lawman,” an underrated Western that veers into unexpected territory.

Burt Lancaster Western Lawman is an excellent underrated 1971 Western that should stand next to the better-known classics in the Western canon. The film, directed by Michael Winner, features the brutality and moral ambiguity of other more highly regarded films like The Wild Bunch (1969), McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971), and Unforgiven (1992). Lawman also features excellent acting from Burt Lancaster, Robert Ryan, Lee J. Cobb, Robert Duvall, Sheree North, and many other familiar supporting actors.

Lancaster plays Jared Maddox, the lawman of the title, who comes to town seeking the cowboys who got drunk and shot up his town and accidentally killed a man, as shown in the movie’s opening scene. Lee J. Cobb is the cattle baron Vincent Bronson who employs the cowboys.  And Robert Ryan plays the local marshal who basically works for Cobb.

With that setup, early on a viewer might expect a good-guy-versus-evil-cattle-baron Western.

But that is not what happens.

While some of Bronson’s men are hotheads, Bronson is a practical man who initially tries to reason with Maddox. As the movie progresses, one begins to see that Maddox is relentless in his pursuit to follow the rule of law.  Thus, he begins to seem like a Western version of Inspector Javert from Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables.

Even though Maddox realizes that the wanted men will most likely face a fine if brought to justice, various encounters lead to more and more bloodshed. Ryan’s marshall and Maddox’s former lover (Sheree North) question what is happening in the town. As the film moves to a chilling climax, the viewer begins to question what is right and what is wrong. But I will not reveal any more about the plot.

The wonderful screenplay is by Gerald Wilson, and Winner does an excellent job with the direction. Winner, who would revisit themes around violence three years later in Death Wish (1974), here highlights both the beauty and loneliness of the desert landscape (filmed in Durango, Mexico), doing the same with Lancaster’s face. His Western attempts to give a realistic portrayal of violence and the difficulty of living in the West.

Conclusion? If you are looking for a Western that features twists on classic stereotypes and you like movies that challenge conventions, you will probably enjoy Lawman. While Lawman may not be on the same level as some other classic challenging Westerns — such as McCabe & Mrs. Miller from the same year, it is still worth seeking out if you are in the mood for an unusual Western.

Other Reviews Because Why Should You Trust Me? The somewhat unusual Lawman garnered mixed reviews at the time of its release, although I wonder if it is a movie better appreciated as time has passed. Rotten Tomatoes gives the film an 80% critics rating and a 61% audience rating. The lower audience rating might be because some viewers were disappointed that the movie did not follow the usual Western conventions and featured a somewhat unusual resolution. Roger Ebert gave the film only two stars, calling it “a Western with a lot of sides but no center.” The New York Times found the movie “unresolved in substance” but “long on sting.” One of the few reviews of the film on the Internet is one by Dennis Schwartz, who gives the movie a B- and calls it a “wannabe thoughtful Western.” Schwartz also calls Lawman and “unofficial remake” of 1955’s A Man With a Gun, and I see some similarities in plot to that also underrated Western, which stars Robert Mitchum. Meanwhile, Jeremy Poulos on Letterboxd found the film enjoyable and noted similarities to spaghetti Westerns.

{Missed Movies is our continuing series on good films you might have missed because they did not receive the recognition they deserved when released.}

Thanks to Tony Fontane for telling me about Lawman on Twitter. Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Robert Mitchum Prayin’ For Rain in California

    Robert Mitchum Singing

    The great actor Robert Mitchum was born on August 6, 1917. When Mitchum was on the silver screen, he was one of the coolest men on the planet. Unfortunately, he is less remembered for his cool laid-back singing, which is one part of his career that fascinates me. I proudly own his CD of calypso music, just as I have several of his films.

    Mitchum, of course, is in some great movies, a few of which I have had plans to write about for some time. But for today, we will remember his cool singing style with his rendition of “Little Ole Wine Drinker Me” from 1972, where he asks for rain in California “so the grapes can grow and they can make more wine.” I will drink to that.



    What do you think of Robert Mitchum as a singer? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Jimmy Soul on Happiness

    On June 25 in 1988, singer Jimmy Soul died of a heart attack at the age of 45. Who was Jimmy Soul, you ask? He had a short career in music, starting off as a gospel singer as a teenager and then had a huge hit with a calypso-sounding song rejected by Gary U.S. Bonds. The song, “If You Wanna Be Happy” went on to become a number one song in 1963. Unfortunately, he never had a hit song again, and he gave up his music career to join the army.

    Jimmy Soul In case the title does not ring any bells for you, the lyrics go:

    If you wanna be happy for the rest of your life,
    Never make a pretty woman your wife;
    So from my personal point of view,
    Get an ugly girl to marry you.

    The hit song was a version of a previously recorded Calypso song, “Ugly Woman.” I doubt the song is politically correct these days. But I’m not sure how anyone can hear it without smiling at least a little and wanting to get up and dance. You can see it here in this final scene from the movie Mermaids (1990), starring Cher, Winona Ryder, and a very young Christina Ricci in her first movie role. So, if you wanna be happy, just put on Soul’s one big hit song.

    Bonus “If You Wanna Be Happy” Information: Although nobody tops Jimmy Soul’s version of the song, actor Robert Mitchum did an interesting take on the song, entitled “From a Logical Point of View.” Yes, I actually own Robert Mitchum’s calypso CD. On several places around the Internet, several people incorrectly list the singer of Jimmy Soul’s version as The Coasters, including on some YouTube clips. Although The Coasters did not record the hit “If You Wanna Be Happy,” they had several other big hits, including “Yakety Yak” and “Charlie Brown.” The lead singer of the Coasters, Carl Gardner, passed away less than two weeks ago on June 13. Rest in peace.

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    Oxford American Southern Music Issue

    Oxford American MagazineThe Oxford American magazine recently released its Twelfth Annual Southern Music Issue, and, as always, the magazine and enclosed CD are outstanding.  Oxford American is billed as “The Southern Magazine of Good Writing,” and once a year, it devotes an issue to southern music, including a CD of the music discussed in the magazine.  I first discovered the annual music issue in 1999, when my friend and co-worker Sid gave me my first copy, and I have been following the magazine ever since.

    The “southern music” of these issues consists of nuggets of a wide variety of the good stuff.  In the CDs I have from past annual music issues, the artists included people I already knew – such as Sonny Burgess, Odetta, and the Del McCoury Band – to new discoveries for me – like the Gosdin Brothers’ 1968 recording of “There Must Be Someone (I Can Turn To)” on this year’s CD.  There are occasional odd gems, like when the 2000 CD included a recording of Robert Mitchum and Lillian Gish singing “Leaning” from Night of the Hunter that made me love the song and his voice outside the context of the haunting scene in the movie.

    Last year, Oxford American started a new approach with its music issue. Instead of covering a broad geography, the magazine began to focus on one state each year.  Last year was Arkansas, and this year’s issue concentrates on Alabama.  I really liked the previous broader approach, but the state-by-state approach is growing on me.  And either way, it is the best magazine-CD out there, and it still covers a wide range of styles and time, with songs from the 1940s through 2010.  Additionally, I like that the magazine’s approach has evolved over the years so now there is a feature story about each track on the CD.

    There are also other articles, like fiction by Greil Marcus and an article about the song-writing team of Felice and Boudleaux Bryant.  Never heard of the Bryants?  The article will tell you the story behind their songs recorded by the Everly Brothers, like “Bye Bye Love” (recorded by the Everlys just to get the $64 session fee).

    Oxford American has struggled through the years to stay in business (like another music magazine I loved, No Depression). From my recollection, and from the missing CD in my collection from one year, the magazine’s troubles peaked in 2004 when they stopped publishing for a period. Do not let that happen again. You may pick up the magazine at most bookstores or order the magazine and back issues from the website, which also has this year’s track listing (under “Further Listening”). FYI, I have no affiliation with the magazine, I just wanted to share.

    A version of this review was also published at NoDepression.com