Thomas Mitchell

[klondike]

I think he's wonderful in The Long Voyage Home, he kind of keeps everything in check, without him John Wayne's Swede could have seemed quite ridiculous, but Mitchell is kind of a sobering presence.

I get ya: his role served the same plot function as James Gleason's did in another Wayne film, Tycoon; he becames a sort of rudder for Wayne's conscience when his passions start moiling him around.

[rohanaka]

Hi Miss Finnie... thanks for that terrific link.

I have been a fan of Thomas Mitchell for a long time... but I just did not KNOW it...ha.

It has only been in the last couple of years that I started realizing he was a part of so many of my favorite movies... as in: "Oh yeah... that's the guy in ____ " (just fill in the blank...ha) He's fast becoming one of my all time favorite character actors. And I really like how he is not a "type". He has a wide range.

I ALWAYS enjoyed him in It's a Wonderful Life, Mr Smith Goes to Washington, and of course, Stagecoach and Gone With the Wind... but I SERIOUSLY never put two and two together that it was the same guy... (duh) And then along came Only Angels Have Wings (another film I had seen several times but just never paid close enough attention to...until this past year, anyway) and I started to realize how MANY films I enjoyed w/ Mitchell as a good part of the reason why.

And then I saw Lost Horizon for the first time this past fall... I gotta say... that is one of my all time favorite performances for him.

[jdb1]

Have you seen Mitchell in Moontide? He was very good as the bullying, hulking pal (named Tiny) of Jean Gabin, jealous of Gabin's interest in Ida Lupino, and ultimately doing some pretty nasty things to poor Ida.

I've never heard of Moontide, though I love the name, and the cast sounds pretty cinchy; and Boy Howdy, TM's character must've been jam-pack on sheer nerve, to have squared off with Ida Hot-Pistol Lupino!
I wouldn't have dared; that woman always seemed ready to bite off whatever threatened her, and spit it back in yer face!

Klonny, you just gotta see this one, one of only two Gabin made for Hollywood (in his pursuit of Dietrich). As it happens, Ida is the fragile waif in this one - Gabin rescues her from suicide and gives her a reason to live (the reason, apparently, is to keep house for him). And Mitchell is really heinous, in the unlovable big lug mode. It's not a great movie, but the performances make it worth watching. (I saw it on the Fox Movie Channel)