Out In The 1950s Film Night- Robert Mitchum’s Foreign Intrigue

DVD Review

Foreign Intrigue, starring Robert Mitchum

A while back when I started reviewing film noirs from the 1940s and 1950s I mentioned in reviewing Robert Mitchum’s role as a gumshoe, shamus, peeper, you know, private detective, in the classic film Out Of The Past that perhaps he should seek less physically demanding work. Not that the barrel-chested he-man could not take (or give) a punch or take an off-hand shot or seven from some rooty-toot- toot addled dame but that such work caused lot of wear and tear. But would he listen? Well not for a while. (See in reviewing other Mitchum films in the interval he always seemed to be taking a punch or shot, or giving one so that he seemed, uh, hopelessly addicted to the seamy side of life). So when I heard that he had worked his way out of those tough guy roles in this film, Foreign Intrigue, and was to be merely a press agent, a word slinger, a flak, a smoother of the way, hell, maybe even a semi-intellectual I jumped for joy.

Jumped for joy for a short while until he took his first dodged bullet and had his first punch thrown (or given, it does not matter) and then I was kind of wishing he went back to safe old private sleuthing after he got caught up with the hard boys of international crime and the hard guys of international governmental crime detection. See the guy who his was flacking for, some big dough guy of ill-begotten wealth (as it turned out) died (natural causes) and that event set off more murder and mayhem than you could shake a stick at as a cabal of unreconstructed ex-Nazis who are waiting for just the right next moment (like the shades of some Robert Ludlum novel, maybe) to set up that new regime that would last a thousand years want to know what Robert knows.

As do half the international spy/police agencies of the world. And a couple of other assorted entrants, including a couple of dishy dames (a wayward blonde, and a brunette, that dead rich boss’s not exactly grieving widow) to keep him company on those lonely nights searching for the truth. He is in for it no question. Hey, Robert I still have Jane Greer’s number for you if you want to get out of that no-win racket and just chase dishy dames and irate gangsters. Call me.