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Robert Mitchum talk + Cape Fear (15)

Fri 3 Oct, 8.30pm

£6.00/£4.00 Concs

“Some English writer asked, ‘Do you follow the Stanislavski method?’ I said, ‘I follow the Smirnoff method.” (Robert Mitchum).

Despite the success of Mitchum’s 54 year screen career his early life is cloaked in mystery, the truth hidden within conflicting tales of time spent as a prizefighter, escaped felon and secret poet. Lloyd Robson’s recent book Oh Dad, A Search for Robert Mitchum (Parthian Books) was the result of his four year search for the legendary tough-guy – perched somewhere between the bar stools of biography, travelogue, gonzo journalistic search and an attempt to define masculinity in the modern age. Lloyd will raise a glass to Mitchum, relate some of his own experiences researching the book, and introduce a special screening of Cape Fear (15).

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Mitchum at his nastiest; Max Cady, a cruel ex-convict, is ravenous for the ruination of a Georgia lawyer (Gregory Peck) who eight years earlier sent him to prison for the brutal assault of a young woman. Cape Fear was the first movie that proved Mitchum’s worst critics wrong and still holds you on the edge of your seat to the very end.

Dir. J Lee Thompson USA 1962 1h 45m

Ticket price includes a Smirnoff-based drink in celebration of Mitchum’s favourite tipple.

Drinks sponsored by Smirnoff.

Mitchum Double Bill: Out of the Past (PG) & Two for the Seesaw (PG)

Sun 5 Oct, 3.30pm & 5.30pm

Mitchum, running from his past, gets entangled with the wrong woman and trouble ensues. The most delicate and nuanced of film noirs, graced with a reflective lyricism that almost lifts it out of the genre. The first movie reliant upon Mitchum’s name to carry it, and only the second big screen showing for Kirk Douglas.

Dir. Jacques Tourneur USA 1947 1h 37m

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Based on the play by William Gibson, Mitchum plays a businessman newly arrived in New York. As he wanders aimlessly, he meets an impoverished dancer and the two try to straighten out their lives together. Co-star Shirley Maclaine compliments Mitchum’s unusual performance to such an extent that the movie began a real-life affair that almost ruined Mitchum’s marriage.

Dir. Robert Wise USA 1962 1h 59m