Cameron Mitchell Movies
The son of a Pennsylvania minister, actor Cameron Mitchell first appeared on Broadway in 1934, in the Lunts' modern-dress version of Taming of the Shrew. He served as a bombardier during World War II, and for a brief period entertained thoughts of becoming a professional baseball player (he allegedly held an unsigned contract with the Detroit Tigers until the day he died). Mitchell was signed to an MGM contract in 1945, but stardom would elude him until he appeared as Happy in the original 1949 Broadway production of Death of the Salesman. He re-created this role for the 1951 film version, just before signing a long-term contract with 20th Century Fox. Throughout the 1950s, Mitchell alternated between likeable characters (the unpretentious business executive in How to Marry a Millionaire [1952]) and hissable ones (Jigger Craigin in Carousel [1956]); his best performance, in the opinion of fans and critics alike, was as drug-addicted boxer Barney Ross in the 1957 biopic Monkey on My Back. Beginning in the 1960s, Mitchell adroitly sidestepped the IRS by appearing in dozens of Spanish and Italian films, only a few of which were released in the U.S. He also starred in three TV series: The Beachcomber (1961), The High Chapparal (1969-1971), and Swiss Family Robinson (1976). Mitchell spent the better part of the 1970s and 1980s squandering his talents in such howlers as The Toolbox Murders, though there were occasional bright moments, notably his performance as a neurotic mob boss in 1982's My Favorite Year. A note for trivia buffs: Cameron Mitchell also appeared in the first CinemaScope film, The Robe (1953). Mitchell was the voice of Jesus in the Crucifixion scene. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1960
This episode could well have been inspired by the story of comedian Joe E. Lewis, whose throat was slashed during a vicious Chicago gang war in the 1930s. Cameron Mitchell guest stars as Johnny Pacheck, a comic working at the mob-controlled Mohawk club. Finding himself caught between bootlegger Big Jim Harrington (Ted De Corsia), who regards Johnny as his personal property, and Federal agent Elliot Ness (Robert Stack), who wrongly suspects Johnny of murder, the beleagured comedian makes several wrong decisions that could end up costing a lot of lives--including his own. Also in the cast are Phyllis Coates, onetime Lois Lane on Superman, as a duplicitous doxie, and veteran movie heavy Timothy Carey as a leering, ultra-sadistic hoodlum. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1960
The petty tyrannies and misunderstandings that lead to war are the focus of this conventional, multi-national action film by Horst Haechler. Clements (Cliff Robertson) is a diver who moves to Kalymnos, an area of rumbling social unrest, with the idea of sponge diving for a living. He has enough money to buy a boat and get started but his plans are ruined when Mana (Maria Schell) steals his capital. Clements chases Mana to Kuluri where a despot named Psarathanas (Cameron Mitchell) keeps everyone under his heavy hand by means of terror and intimidation. Inevitably, Clements and Psarathanas clash while at the same time, he and Mana fall in love. As the social situation worsens, the would-be lovers plan to make their escape. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maria Schell, Cliff Robertson, (more)
- 1960
In this entry in the sword-and-sandal genre, the party of a returning king is ambushed by Norman pirates. The pirates kill all his guards and steal his gold. The king gathers up his forces for a final showdown with the pirates. ~ Brian Gusse, All Movie Guide
- 1960
Southern sympathizer Fred Kyle (Cameron Mitchell arrives in Virginia City, hoping to raise money for the Confederate cause. Upon learning that the citizens' loyalties are evenly divided, Kyle attempts to stir up hostility for his own benefit. The Cartwrights become involved when Little Joe begins to be swayed by his longtime friend Kyle. Others in the cast are Stacey Harris as Regis, Howard Wendell as a mine owner, and Marianne Stewart as Lily. First shown on January 16, 1960, "House Divided" was written by Al C. Ward. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lorne Greene, Pernell Roberts, (more)
- 1959
In this suspenseful crime drama, a canny American businessman living in London devises an ingenious plan to get his kidnapped son back. First he sends the required ransom. As per his plan, the abductors begin fighting amongst themselves for the loot. The death of one crook leaves behind invaluable clues to the boy's location. In the film's exciting climax, the father uses a flame-thrower to save his son. Meanwhile Scotland Yard captures the villains. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1959
Thanks to the notorious gangland conference in Appalachian, New York, the word "Mafia" was on everyone's lips in 1959. Rushing to capitalize on this fact was the low-budget expose Inside the Mafia. Grant Richards plays a Lucky Luciano type who is about to return to the US after several years' deportation. Richards arranges for an upstate New York gangland meeting, where minor mob functionary Cameron Mitchell plans to depose big boss Ted DeCorsia. Mitchell also intends to murder Richards so that he can rule the Mafia unfettered. But Richards is still master of his own fate, and he guns down his competition during the gang conference before surrendering to the police. Inside the Mafia told the public little that wasn't already known, but the film served its purpose of cashing in on a "hot" title. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cameron Mitchell, Elaine Edwards, (more)
- 1959
Having the unique distinction of being perhaps the only American drama filmed in Cuba just after Fidel Castro's revolution, Pier 5, Havana is also distinctive because the American hero Steve Daggett (Cameron Mitchell) fights to protect Castro from dangerous pro-Batista counterrevolutionaries. Steve comes to Cuba to find his friend Hank Miller (Logan Field) who has been missing for awhile. It turns out that he has been captured by Fernando (Eduardo Noriega), the leader of the pro-Batista forces, who needs Hank to convert their airplanes into bombers. Steve enlists the help of the local police in his search for Hank. Complicating matters is the fact that Steve's former girlfriend Monica (Allison Hayes) is now Mrs. Hank Miller. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cameron Mitchell, Allison Hayes, (more)
- 1959
Director Albert Band is also a screenwriter, and this is his second drama based on a story by Stephen Crane (his first screenplay was 1951's Red Badge of Courage). Band's interpretation of Crane's story The Monster, is a slow, pedestrian rendition of the emotional upheaval of a lowly handyman, Monk Johnson (James Whitmore). Johnson works for a local doctor and is a friend of everyone in town when disaster strikes. The doctor's house catches on fire and Johnson's face is completely burnt as he rushes in to save the physician's young son. After he recuperates, his grotesque appearance alienates his former friends to the point where they are aggressive, threatening, and ready for violence. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cameron Mitchell, James Whitmore, (more)
- 1958
The distinguished CBS dramatic anthology Studio One moved from New York to Hollywood with this adaptation of David Karp's cautionary novel The Brotherhood of the Bell. In an indeterminate future, government agent James Waterson (Cameron Mitchell) must choose between friendship and blind loyalty. Years earlier, Waterson had joined a secret order called the Brotherhood of the Bell, which promised him a multitude of professional opportunities in exchange for certain favors. Now the Brotherhood wants Waterson to fire his assistant and close friend, Clark Sherrell (Tom Drake), and replace him with another member of the order. Now that things have gotten personal, Waterson's eyes are opened to the inescapable fact that the Brotherhood of the Bell will stop at nothing to achieve its goal of total world domination. Ten years after this 1958 Studio One telecast, The Brotherhood of the Bell was remade as a TV movie starring Glenn Ford as "Andrew Paterson," who had been transformed from a government functionary to a college professor. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cameron Mitchell, Tom Drake, (more)
- 1957
Filmed on location, Escapade in Japan stars child actors Jon Provost and Roger Nakagawa. Separated from their parents, Tony (Provost) and Hiko (Nakagawa) wander through such sites as a Shinto temple, the teeming streets of Kyoto and a geisha house. Believing that they've somehow broken the law, the boys do their best to elude the authorities, who of course only want to reunite the kids with their families. Teresa Wright and Cameron Mitchell co-star as Provost's parents, Kuniko Miyake and Susumu Fujita play Nakagawa's mom and dad, and a young Clint Eastwood shows up as a Marine named "Dumbo." Produced by rapidly fading RKO Radio Pictures, Escapade in Japan was distributed by Universal-International. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Teresa Wright, Cameron Mitchell, (more)
- 1957
A handful of suburban couples discover that emotional turmoil lurks behind the placid exterior of the planned community of Sunrise Hills in this drama based on the novel by John McPartland. David and Jean Martin (Jeffrey Hunter and Patricia Owens) find their relationship starting to crumble after Jean is raped by Troy Boone (Cameron Mitchell), an alcoholic war veteran who has been unable to readjust to civilian life. Meanwhile, Troy's wife, Leola (Joanne Woodward), wants to start a family, but Troy isn't interested in having children. Jerry Flagg (Tony Randall) is a used car salesman who turns to drink to deal with the disappointments of his career and his life, which is more than his wife, Isabelle (Sheree North), bargained for in their relationship. And Herman Kreitzer (Pat Hingle) is the good-hearted proprietor of a hardware store who wants to help his Japanese-American assistant Iko (Aki Aleong) find a new home. Though Herman's wife, Betty (Barbara Rush), discourages him because of the reaction that she foresees from the rest of the community, she eventually sides with him and joins him in the effort to help Iko assimilate. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joanne Woodward, Tony Randall, (more)
The painfully true story of welterweight boxing champion Barney Ross is detailed in Monkey on My Back. Cameron Mitchell stars as Ross, whose meteoric ring career is interrupted when he joins the Marines at the outset of WWII. A highly decorated hero, Ross contracts malaria oversees and is given morphine to assuage the pain. By the time he returns to the states, Ross is a confirmed drug addict. Before he can rise to the top again, he must hit rock bottom and his descent into the hell of narcotics dependency is graphically illustrated (so much so that the film was almost denied a Production Code seal). Though a cured Barney Ross served as technical advisor for Monkey on My Back, he ended up suing the producers for defamation of character -- and lost. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cameron Mitchell, Dianne Foster, (more)
Glynis Johns and Cameron Mitchell are top-billed in All Mine to Give, but they're out of the picture halfway through. Johns and Mitchell play a Scottish couple, Mamie and Robert, living in the American wilderness of the mid-19th century. Robert dies, whereupon Mamie takes on the responsibility of raising their six children. And when she succumbs to illness, it is the oldest child, Robbie (Rex Thompson, who'd previously played Louis Leonowens in The King And I), who takes on the challenge of finding homes for his siblings on Christmas Day. Based on a true story, All Mine to Give has heart-tugging potential, but the script isn't up to the performances. One year before its American release, the film was distributed in Great Britain under the title The Day They Gave Babies Away. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Glynis Johns, Cameron Mitchell, (more)
Carousel was adapted from the 1945 Rodgers and Hammerstein Broadway musical of the same name--which, in turn, was based on Liliom, a play by Ferenc Molnar. Gordon MacRae stars as carnival barker Billy Bigelow, who much against his will falls in love with Maine factory girl Julie Jordan (Shirley Jones). Billy proves an improvident and unreliable husband, but Julie stands by him. Upon discovering that Julie is pregnant, the unemployed Billy sees an opportunity for some quick money by joining his unsavory pal Jigger (Cameron Mitchell). The scheme goes awry, and Billy dies. Standing before the Pearly Gates, Billy is given a chance to redeem himself by the kindly Starkeeper (Gene Lockhart). He is allowed to return to Earth to try to brighten the life of his unhappy 15-year-old daughter Louise (Susan Luckey). Billy offers Louise a star that he has stolen from the sky; when Louise backs off in fear, Billy slaps her. He feels like a failure until he and his Heavenly Friend (William LeManessa) attend Louise's school graduation ceremony. There the invisible Billy watches as the principal (Gene Lockhart again) inspires Louise (and, by extension, Julie) by assuring her that so long as she has hope in her heart, she'll never walk alone. Frank Sinatra, the film's original Billy Bigelow, dropped out of the production due to laryngitis. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gordon MacRae, Shirley Jones, (more)
- 1956
In this typical 1950s Western, cowboy Wes Tancred (Richard Egan) is publicly vilified after killing a famous gunslinger who was a public hero. In fact, the hero was a villain, and Tancred killed him in self-defense, but Tancred is so scorned for his act that there is a mean-spirited ballad sung about him wherever he goes. On the run from his infamy, he comes to the small town of Table Rock and finds that it has been taken over by a gang of outlaws. To redeem his name, Tancred comes to the aid of the besieged Sheriff Miller (Cameron Mitchell). He also takes under his wing the son of a stagecoach operator who has been killed by the gang of outlaws. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Egan, Dorothy Malone, (more)
One of the gutsiest movie musicals of the 1950s, Love Me or Leave Me is the true story of 1930s torch-singer Ruth Etting, here played by Doris Day. While working in a dime-a-dance joint, Ruth is discovered by Chicago racketeer Martin "The Gimp" Snyder (fascinatingly played with nary a redeeming quality by James Cagney). The smitten Snyder exerts pressure on his show-biz connections, and before long Ruth is a star of nightclubs, stage and films. Ruth continues to string Snyder along to get ahead, but she can't help falling in love with musician Johnny Alderman (Cameron Mitchell). After sinking his fortune into a nightclub for Ruth's benefit, Snyder is rather understandably put out when he finds her in the arms of Alderman. Snyder shoots the musician (but not fatally) and is carted away to prison. Upon his release, Snyder finds that Ruth is still in love with Alderman; he is mollified by her act of largesse in keeping her promise to perform in his nightclub at a fraction of her normal salary. No one comes off particularly nobly in Love Me or Leave Me, even though the still-living Ruth Etting, Martin Snyder and Johnny Alderman were offered full script approval. The fact that we are seeing flesh-and-blood opportunists rather than the usual sugary-sweet MGM musical stick figures naturally makes for a more powerful film. In his autobiography, James Cagney had nothing but praise for his co-star Doris Day, and bemoaned the fact that she would soon turn her back on dramatic roles to star in a series of fluffy domestic comedies. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Doris Day, James Cagney, (more)
- 1955
Clark Gable and Jane Russell star in this rugged widescreen western, exquisitely photographed by Leo Tover and directed by veteran action expert Raoul A. Walsh. Gable plays Ben Allison, who with his brother Clint (Cameron Mitchell) journeys to Montana in search of gold. They come upon wealthy businessman Nathan Stark (Robert Ryan), whom they try to rob of $20,000. Instead, Stark talks Ben and Clint into becoming partners with him on a cattle drive to Montana. As the group travels to Texas, they come upon a party of settlers being attacked by Indians. They save the saucy Nella Turner (Jane Russell) and she joins with Ben, who has been made trail boss, and Clint on the cattle drive. Ben and Nella are attracted to each other but after an initial fling, Nella rejects him -- Ben just wants enough money to buy a small ranch and Nella won't settle for slim pickings. Arriving in Fort Worth, Nella takes up with Stark, whose desire to make as much money as possible coincides with Nella's money-hungry ambitions. But when, at Stark's insistence, she accompanies him on the final trek to Montana, the seething friction between Ben and Stark erupts as the drive heads into dangerous Indian country. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Clark Gable, Jane Russell, (more)
- 1955
Greer Garson's first non-MGM starring vehicle was the stylish western Strange Lady in Town. That lady is Julia (Garson), who arrives in 1880 New Mexico to set up practice as a doctor. The townsfolk are not only resistant to the notion of a lady sawbones, but they become downright hostile when Julia turns out to be a tireless advocate of the Women's Suffrage movement. Rival doctor O'Brien (Dana Andrews) doesn't feel that there's any room in the medical profession for ladies; his personal feelings for the lovely Julia are another matter. Faced with such roadblocks as prejudice, ignorance and downright stupidity, Julia nonetheless perseveres with O'Brien eventually seeing things her way. When Julia's hotheaded younger brother David (Cameron Mitchell) turns outlaw, the townspeople are prepared to ride her out of town on a rail, but she is rescued by the intervention of the local Mexicans and Indians, who have accepted her presence and her ministrations without reservation. Hmmmm . . . could Strange Lady in Town be the direct ancestor of TV's Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Greer Garson, Dana Andrews, (more)
- 1955
Man on the Ledge is a 60-minute TV remake of the 1951 theatrical film Fourteen Hours. Cameron Mitchell (playing the role originated in the film by Richard Basehart) stars as a disconsolate young man who steps out onto a skyscraper ledge, intending to jump to his death. The many people who try to talk Mitchell out of suicide include hard-bitten cop William Gargan, the boy's mother Sylvia Sidney, and his girflfriend Vera Miles. Both this TV drama and the original Fourteen Hours were based on a real-life incident which had a more tragic denouement than the one depicted herein. Man on the Ledge originally aired as the December 28, 1955 entry in the Twentieth Century Fox Hour television anthology. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Samuel Fuller directed and cowrote this typically hard-boiled drama set in Japan following World War II. Eddie Kenner (Robert Stack) is given a special assignment by the Army to get the inside story on Sandy Dawson (Robert Ryan), a former GI who has formed a gang of fellow servicemen and Japanese locals who use their muscle to take over Tokyo's pachinko racket and commit a series of train robberies, targeting deliveries of military ammunition. Eddie is supposed to gather evidence on the murder of a soldier believed to have fallen in with the gang, and Eddie tries to blend in with the group to find out how they work. Hoping to learn more, Eddie also begins romancing Mariko (Shirley Yamaguchi), a Japanese woman who was married to the slain gangster, and he learns that the ruthless Dawson kills men who are injured during robberies rather than leave them behind to possibly testify against him. After a burglary goes wrong, Dawson becomes convinced that there's an informer in the group; wrongly believing it's Griff (Cameron Mitchell), Dawson kills his loyal soldier and makes Eddie his second in command. Veteran Japanese actor Sessue Hayakawa appears as Inspector Kito, a Japanese police detective working with Eddie to crack the case. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Ryan, Robert Stack, (more)
- 1955
Made-for-television adaptation of the Walter Van Tilburg Clark novel about a lynch mob that pounces on three men whom they think are cattle rustlers and murderers. (Alternate title: Lynch Mob) ~ Nicole Gagne, All Movie Guide
- 1955
Miscegenation, that old reliable bugaboo of many a Southern-based novel, is at the center of Hamilton Basso's The View from Pompey's Head. The film version stars Richard Egan as a New York lawyer who returns to his Southern home town to investigate an embezzlement charge. The victim is an ageing novelist (Sidney Blackmer), whose royalties are mysteriously disappearing; the novelist's wife (Marjorie Rambeau) suspects that her husband is being cheated. But it is the novelist himself who is siphoning off his earnings, in order to provide for his African-American mother, and to buy her silence regarding his mixed parentage. The wife is apprised of the situation, and agrees to keep mum. With all this going on, it's understandable that few viewers remember the love triangle between Richard Egan, Dana Wynter and Cameron Mitchell which motivates the rest of The View from Pompey's Head. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Egan, Dana Wynter, (more)
- 1954
Hell and High Water brings an intriguing Cold War slant to a standard submarine melodrama. Richard Widmark plays a soldier-of-fortune sub commander who agrees to sell his services to noted atomic scientist Victor Francen and his assistant (and daughter) Bella Darvi. Francen intends to prove that the Communists intend to launch a nuclear attack on Korea from an Arctic island, then blame the attack on the United States. Widmark frankly doesn't give a fig about politics, but he is won over by the sincerity of Francen and his idealistic cohorts, and by the beauty of Ms. Darvi. Before the Reds' evil intentions can be thwarted, however, Widmark must face down a Communist Chinese submarine loaded with highly volatile atomic weaponry. The special effects are very impressive, especially for a mid-1950s 20th Century-Fox production. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Widmark, Bella Darvi, (more)
- 1954
Gary Cooper, Richard Widmark and Cameron Mitchell portray three somewhat disreputable 19th-century soldiers of fortune, en route to California to prospect for gold. Stopping over in a tiny Mexican village, the three men are hired by Susan Hayward to rescue her husband, who is trapped in a gold mine in hostile Indian territory. The threesome agree to the expedition, their interest piqued by the possibility of picking up some gold themselves. During the harrowing journey, the party's already frayed nerves are aggravated when the men become attracted to Hayward. The group arrives at the mine's location--the Garden of Evil, so named because the Indians regard it as the domain of evil spirits. During the escape, Hayward's husband (Hugh Marlowe) is killed by the Indians, as is Mitchell. Cooper and Widmark play cards to decide who will take Hayward to safety and who will cover them while they flee. Cooper wins--but later discovers that Widmark had cheated in order to sacrifice himself. Garden of Evil takes too long to get to its climax, but the Cinemascope photography and Bernard Herrmann's rich musical score make the wait worthwhile. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gary Cooper, Susan Hayward, (more)
