out of

Macao casts Robert Mitchum as Nick Cochran, an exiled American who arrives in the title country looking for a fresh start - though it's not long before he finds himself embroiled in a variety of local affairs (Jane Russell co-stars as Mitchum's sultry love interest, while Brad Dexter plays a local mobster). Despite the inclusion of some expectedly hard-bitten bits of dialogue (ie after being told that diamonds would "only cheapen" her, a character remarks, "yeah, but what a way to be cheapened"), Macao primarily comes off as a slow-paced, thoroughly dull piece of work that is utterly unable to engage or involve the viewer on any level. The talky and pointless vibe is exacerbated by director Josef von Sternberg's wholly underwhelming visuals, though the filmmaker does elevate the proceedings - albeit temporarily - with a fairly thrilling foot chase in the movie's third act. There are few other positive elements to be found within Macao, although fans of Mitchum will undoubtedly want to check the movie out if only for the actor's atypically loose performance.

out of

Quite long but generally entertaining, Home from the Hill revolves around an exceedingly dysfunctional Southern family - with Robert Mitchum cast as womanizing patriarch Wade Hunnicutt. Wade's wife, Hannah (Eleanor Parker), remains married to the man based solely on the condition that she be allowed to raise teenaged son Theron (George Hamilton) as she sees fit, though it's not long before Wade - upset at his boy's reputation as a mama's boy - decides to take over as the central parental figure in Theron's life. Complicating matters is the presence of loyal ranch hand Rafe (George Peppard), who - as it turns out - is actually Wade's illegitimate son. Right from its opening moments, Home from the Hill plays out like a typically sweeping Hollywood epic - exemplified by Vincent Minnelli's grandiose directorial choices - although it ultimately becomes clear that the material doesn't entirely warrant such treatment. Mitchum's commanding performance certainly goes a long way towards keeping things interesting, to the extent that the film starts to suffer once his character is relegated to the sidelines. The increased emphasis on Theron's less-than-plausible character arc - the rationale behind his leaving home is utterly preposterous - doesn't help matters, and there's just no overlooking the feeling that the film would've benefited from some judicious editing. That being said, the inclusion of several thoroughly compelling sequences - coupled with some fine acting by Mitchum and Peppard - ensures that Home from the Hill remains just entertaining enough to warrant a mild recommendation.

out of

The Sundowners casts Robert Mitchum as Paddy Carmody, an Australian drover whose nomadic lifestyle suits him just fine - though his wife (Deborah Kerr) and son (Michael Anderson Jr) are desperate for a home they can call their own. Shot on location and featuring stunning cinematography by Jack Hildyard, the film's lack of plot never becomes as pronounced as one might've feared - though there's no denying that a shorter running time would've been prudent. Scripter Isobel Lennart does an excellent job of capturing the Carmodys' day-to-day grind, emphasizing long yet fascinating sequences involving Paddy's various sheep-related exploits (including the inherent difficulties in herding over a thousand such animals from one place to another). The vibe of authenticity is cemented by Mitchum's superb performance; the actor drops his laconic persona and effortlessly steps into the shoes of a laid-back, salt-of-the-earth sort, and even adopts a convincing Australian accent. And although the episodic structure ensures that certain sequences are more interesting than others, The Sundowners is generally an effective and sporadically captivating piece of work.

out of

Lightweight almost to the point of distraction, The Good Guys and the Bad Guys stars Robert Mitchum as James Flagg - an aging Marshal who must team up with an old foe (George Kennedy's Big John McKay) after learning of a feared outlaw's (David Carradine) plans to rob a local bank. Although Mitchum and Kennedy are quite good together, The Good Guys and the Bad Guys remains strangely uninvolving throughout its mercifully short running time - a problem that can be primarily attributed to the overwhelmingly fluffy vibe that director Burt Kennedy has hard-wired into the proceedings. The filmmaker's ill-fated decision to emphasize the more comedic elements within Ronald M. Cohen and Dennis Shryack's screenplay certainly doesn't help matters, nor does the inclusion of a slapsticky, egregiously frenetic finale that finds virtually all of the movie's characters chasing a runaway train. It's clear that everybody involved with the production had a great time making it, but that simply doesn't disguise the film's inherently superfluous nature.

out of

Set primarily in contemporary Japan, The Yakuza casts Robert Mitchum as Harry Kilmer - an ex-G.I. and all-around tough guy who heads to the land of the rising sun after an old friend's daughter is kidnapped by a ruthless mob boss. Harry consequently enlists the help of a former Yakuza member (Takakura Ken), and even finds time to track down an old lover (Keiko Kishi) and her daughter (Christina Kokubo). As talky and deliberately-paced as one might've expected from a Sydney Pollack film, The Yakuza is generally an effective - if somewhat overlong - little thriller that undoubtedly benefits from Mitchum's effortlessly cool and thoroughly compelling performance. Much of the movie's opening hour is devoted to long, dialogue-heavy sequences in which the characters contemplate the various cultural differences between them; it's sporadically interesting stuff that admittedly isn't quite as fascinating as screenwriters Paul Schrader and Robert Towne clearly believe it to be. That said, the film does improve considerably as it slowly-but-surely morphs into a flat-out revenge story - culminating with a genuinely thrilling finale that finds Mitchum and Ken descending upon a Yakuza stronghold, where they must battle almost two dozen soldiers (Mitchum, armed with a shotgun and a pistol, is particularly bad-ass here).

out of