1 00:00:03,760 --> 00:00:06,240 Speaker 1: Well, hey there, good people of Hollywood Land, and welcome 2 00:00:06,280 --> 00:00:09,080 Speaker 1: once again as we dip into our archive of stories 3 00:00:09,160 --> 00:00:12,799 Speaker 1: at the intersection of Hollywood in true crime. This week, 4 00:00:12,840 --> 00:00:15,640 Speaker 1: we're bringing you an episode on Robert Mitcham. You may 5 00:00:15,680 --> 00:00:18,720 Speaker 1: know Robert Mitcham as the evil preacher with love and 6 00:00:18,800 --> 00:00:21,520 Speaker 1: hate tattooed on his knuckles in the Night of the Hunter, 7 00:00:22,360 --> 00:00:25,919 Speaker 1: or as the ex con Max Katie who terrorizes the 8 00:00:25,920 --> 00:00:29,040 Speaker 1: family of an attorney in the original version of Cape Fear. 9 00:00:30,000 --> 00:00:32,800 Speaker 1: But Robert Mitcham's real life was just as riveting as 10 00:00:32,800 --> 00:00:36,280 Speaker 1: one of his iconic performances. He was a fugitive from 11 00:00:36,280 --> 00:00:39,040 Speaker 1: a chain gang. He was busted from marijuana in the 12 00:00:39,120 --> 00:00:43,159 Speaker 1: nineteen forties before his career had really taken off, and 13 00:00:43,200 --> 00:00:46,120 Speaker 1: he was saved by an unlikely ally, one of the 14 00:00:46,120 --> 00:00:49,440 Speaker 1: most powerful men, not just in Hollywood, but in the world. 15 00:00:50,320 --> 00:00:53,040 Speaker 1: I hope you dig this episode on Robert Mitcham, and 16 00:00:53,080 --> 00:00:54,800 Speaker 1: then I also hope you'll come back on a few 17 00:00:54,880 --> 00:00:57,120 Speaker 1: days when I discussed this episode with all of you 18 00:00:57,280 --> 00:00:59,880 Speaker 1: in the rap Party. 19 00:01:01,200 --> 00:01:04,040 Speaker 2: Hollywoodland is a production of Double Elvis. 20 00:01:05,840 --> 00:01:09,240 Speaker 1: Give him on a Haltigon ride, Give him on a 21 00:01:09,400 --> 00:01:14,480 Speaker 1: Boultign nail, and his rank and well his ranked under. 22 00:01:16,120 --> 00:01:25,560 Speaker 2: At The stories about Robert Mitcham are insane. He escaped 23 00:01:25,600 --> 00:01:28,080 Speaker 2: from a chain gang in Georgia where he was doing 24 00:01:28,160 --> 00:01:32,240 Speaker 2: time for vagrancy. He walked away unscathed from a near 25 00:01:32,319 --> 00:01:36,600 Speaker 2: fatal plane crash. He avoided jail time by committing perjury. 26 00:01:37,040 --> 00:01:39,759 Speaker 2: He punched a cop in the face on his front lawn. 27 00:01:40,240 --> 00:01:43,919 Speaker 2: He faced a year in county jail after LAPD detectives 28 00:01:44,000 --> 00:01:47,319 Speaker 2: raided a reefer party. And for more than fifty years, 29 00:01:47,800 --> 00:01:52,320 Speaker 2: Robert Mitcham made great films, some of the greatest noir 30 00:01:52,440 --> 00:01:56,080 Speaker 2: and crime films of all time. Unlike that clip I 31 00:01:56,120 --> 00:01:58,280 Speaker 2: played for you at the top of the show, that 32 00:01:58,480 --> 00:02:01,240 Speaker 2: wasn't from a great film. That was a fair use 33 00:02:01,320 --> 00:02:05,280 Speaker 2: sample from the Library of Congress of Arthur Middleton performing 34 00:02:05,600 --> 00:02:07,760 Speaker 2: Give a Man a Horse he Can Ride in nineteen 35 00:02:07,880 --> 00:02:11,560 Speaker 2: twenty one. I played you that clip because I can't 36 00:02:11,560 --> 00:02:14,720 Speaker 2: afford the rights to a clip from anatoly lipfex Sorry, 37 00:02:14,760 --> 00:02:18,600 Speaker 2: wrong number. And why would I play you that specific 38 00:02:18,720 --> 00:02:23,320 Speaker 2: slice of landline noir cheese? Could I afford it? Because 39 00:02:23,400 --> 00:02:26,920 Speaker 2: that was the number one movie in America on September one, 40 00:02:27,240 --> 00:02:30,760 Speaker 2: nineteen forty eight, and that was the day Robert Mitcham 41 00:02:30,800 --> 00:02:34,800 Speaker 2: was arrested for possession of marijuana, the first high profile 42 00:02:34,880 --> 00:02:37,920 Speaker 2: Hollywood arrest of its kind, one that would be the 43 00:02:37,960 --> 00:02:43,680 Speaker 2: accusations of a backstabbing setup. On this episode, Chain Games, 44 00:02:44,000 --> 00:02:48,760 Speaker 2: a death, defying crash, landing, reefer parties, and Robert Mitcham. 45 00:02:49,320 --> 00:03:20,600 Speaker 2: I'm Jake Brennan and this is Hollywood Land. Robert Mitcham 46 00:03:20,639 --> 00:03:22,760 Speaker 2: appeared in more than one hundred and ten movies in 47 00:03:22,800 --> 00:03:25,840 Speaker 2: television shows in a career that spanned more than half 48 00:03:25,919 --> 00:03:29,840 Speaker 2: a century. He worked his entire life right up until 49 00:03:29,880 --> 00:03:32,720 Speaker 2: his death in nineteen ninety seven at the age of 50 00:03:32,840 --> 00:03:37,440 Speaker 2: seventy nine. He personified the film noir archetype of the 51 00:03:37,560 --> 00:03:41,680 Speaker 2: violent man wrapped in indifference, to paraphrase Roger Ebert in 52 00:03:41,760 --> 00:03:45,240 Speaker 2: movies like Out of the Past. In Night of the Hunter, 53 00:03:45,640 --> 00:03:48,720 Speaker 2: he turned in one of cinema's most chilling performances as 54 00:03:48,720 --> 00:03:53,240 Speaker 2: a murderous preacher, tattooing love and hate across his knuckles, 55 00:03:53,600 --> 00:03:57,480 Speaker 2: thirty years before Spike Lee tattooed those same words onto 56 00:03:57,560 --> 00:04:03,600 Speaker 2: radio raheem. His style was deceptively simple, but the expressions 57 00:04:03,640 --> 00:04:06,680 Speaker 2: that he summoned to his stoic face were sometimes so 58 00:04:06,880 --> 00:04:10,800 Speaker 2: suggestive that the censors insisted they be cut, as was 59 00:04:10,840 --> 00:04:14,560 Speaker 2: the case in the original Cape Fear. He worked hard, 60 00:04:14,880 --> 00:04:18,039 Speaker 2: year after year, punched the clock like acting was just 61 00:04:18,240 --> 00:04:21,760 Speaker 2: any other job, because it was, and he continued to 62 00:04:21,760 --> 00:04:25,240 Speaker 2: flex those violent men wrapped in indifference muscles later in 63 00:04:25,279 --> 00:04:28,359 Speaker 2: life in the Friends of Eddie Coyle, a movie which 64 00:04:28,440 --> 00:04:31,479 Speaker 2: in my opinion is the greatest Boston crime movie of 65 00:04:31,520 --> 00:04:34,200 Speaker 2: all time, all due respect to that the Padded and 66 00:04:34,320 --> 00:04:40,080 Speaker 2: Martin Scorsese. Yet despite all of this, Robert Mitcham never 67 00:04:40,160 --> 00:04:43,520 Speaker 2: won an Academy Award for his work. And you know what, 68 00:04:44,279 --> 00:04:50,839 Speaker 2: Robert Mitcham didn't give a fuck. Howard Hughes, the eccentric 69 00:04:50,880 --> 00:04:55,559 Speaker 2: aviation tycoon turned Hollywood producer and later ocd posted child, 70 00:04:55,960 --> 00:04:59,120 Speaker 2: once said, Bob, you like a pay toilet. You don't 71 00:04:59,160 --> 00:05:03,040 Speaker 2: give a shit for nothing. Mitcham's critics weren't so kind. 72 00:05:03,680 --> 00:05:07,480 Speaker 2: They ridiculed him for quote sleepwalking through his roles. Said 73 00:05:07,480 --> 00:05:11,440 Speaker 2: he rarely reacted, let alone acted, that he shrugged or 74 00:05:11,440 --> 00:05:14,400 Speaker 2: grimaced more than he spoke, and who the hell cared 75 00:05:14,440 --> 00:05:17,839 Speaker 2: what anyone else thought. Robert Mitcham sure didn't. He just 76 00:05:17,880 --> 00:05:20,719 Speaker 2: did what he wanted to do, whether that was drinking tequila, 77 00:05:20,880 --> 00:05:23,479 Speaker 2: cheating on his wife, picking the movie roles that appealed 78 00:05:23,480 --> 00:05:26,440 Speaker 2: to him, or a smoking reefer gauged to use the 79 00:05:26,480 --> 00:05:30,120 Speaker 2: hep jazz man speak that Mitcham fluently spoke. A couple 80 00:05:30,200 --> 00:05:34,320 Speaker 2: puffs of gage, and Mitcham's sleepy dog eyes when borderline catatonic. 81 00:05:34,880 --> 00:05:38,800 Speaker 2: He couldn't be bothered. Nothing much really bothered Robert Mitcham, 82 00:05:38,880 --> 00:05:42,279 Speaker 2: unless somebody was trying to bother him. He was a 83 00:05:42,320 --> 00:05:46,000 Speaker 2: six foot one alpha misanthrope, after all, and sometimes he 84 00:05:46,040 --> 00:05:54,800 Speaker 2: could stand to just be left alone. Lyla Leeds's two 85 00:05:54,880 --> 00:05:58,520 Speaker 2: new boxer puppies were barking out back. She and her 86 00:05:58,560 --> 00:06:01,640 Speaker 2: guests could hear them from inde or rented bungalow at 87 00:06:01,680 --> 00:06:05,440 Speaker 2: eight four four three Rude Path Drive in LA's Laurel Canyon. 88 00:06:06,240 --> 00:06:09,279 Speaker 2: Real estate agent Robin Ford sat in the living room 89 00:06:09,320 --> 00:06:12,159 Speaker 2: and wondered how much to bothersome dogs would drive down 90 00:06:12,200 --> 00:06:17,160 Speaker 2: the neighborhood's property values. The dancer Vicky Evans seemed oblivious 91 00:06:17,160 --> 00:06:20,480 Speaker 2: to the noise. She was Lilah's roommate. It was likely 92 00:06:20,560 --> 00:06:23,560 Speaker 2: used to it by now, and if Robert Mitcham had 93 00:06:23,560 --> 00:06:26,000 Speaker 2: been the worrying type, this would have been the time 94 00:06:26,080 --> 00:06:29,600 Speaker 2: he should have begun to worry. He thought he'd spotted 95 00:06:29,600 --> 00:06:32,599 Speaker 2: someone lurking in the bushes outside Lila's place when he 96 00:06:32,680 --> 00:06:36,520 Speaker 2: arrived that evening. It being dark outside, he figured it 97 00:06:36,560 --> 00:06:39,960 Speaker 2: with shadows playing tricks on it. But just to be safe, 98 00:06:40,320 --> 00:06:44,160 Speaker 2: he asked Lyla to dim the lights inside. He wasn't worrying, 99 00:06:44,720 --> 00:06:49,200 Speaker 2: just taking precautions because despite what brand name was printed 100 00:06:49,240 --> 00:06:51,839 Speaker 2: on the pack of cigarettes which brought to Lila's place, 101 00:06:52,360 --> 00:06:56,359 Speaker 2: the pack wasn't filled with Philip morris on filters. The 102 00:06:56,440 --> 00:07:00,360 Speaker 2: regular cigarettes had been swapped out for a reefers, cigaretreats, 103 00:07:00,720 --> 00:07:04,120 Speaker 2: or jazz cigarettes. And that's why Mitcham and Robert Ford 104 00:07:04,160 --> 00:07:07,120 Speaker 2: had congregated at Lila and Vicki's place to begin with, 105 00:07:07,920 --> 00:07:11,680 Speaker 2: to smoke some gage and get real high. Which in 106 00:07:11,800 --> 00:07:15,600 Speaker 2: nineteen forty eight, twelve years after the release of Reefer 107 00:07:15,680 --> 00:07:19,360 Speaker 2: Madness and eleven years after the United States government had 108 00:07:19,360 --> 00:07:23,600 Speaker 2: effectively criminalized marijuana. That meant that they were all committing 109 00:07:23,680 --> 00:07:28,160 Speaker 2: a crime that, if cot could end their careers. Lila's 110 00:07:28,160 --> 00:07:32,400 Speaker 2: acting career had barely begun, Mitcham's career was just taking off. 111 00:07:33,920 --> 00:07:37,400 Speaker 2: The public had been systematically taught to fear the reefer. 112 00:07:38,000 --> 00:07:42,600 Speaker 2: It made you crazy, gave you bloodlust, superhuman strength, turned 113 00:07:42,600 --> 00:07:45,520 Speaker 2: you into a homicidal maniac, made you grow hair on 114 00:07:45,560 --> 00:07:49,280 Speaker 2: your hands. Of course, Mitcham knew that that was all bunk, 115 00:07:49,600 --> 00:07:52,800 Speaker 2: and so did the cops. But the lapds crackdown on 116 00:07:52,920 --> 00:07:56,800 Speaker 2: Hollywood's consumption of marijuana came from orders up on High 117 00:07:57,480 --> 00:08:00,640 Speaker 2: Narcotics Division was to rid the city of this sin 118 00:08:00,800 --> 00:08:05,000 Speaker 2: by breaking into every speakeasy, every back room, every reefer party, 119 00:08:05,040 --> 00:08:10,280 Speaker 2: from Wio to Wiltshire. And sometimes they didn't even have 120 00:08:10,360 --> 00:08:14,680 Speaker 2: to break in. Sometimes they were welcomed to the party. 121 00:08:16,240 --> 00:08:18,480 Speaker 2: Vicky opened the back door to see what the commotion 122 00:08:18,640 --> 00:08:22,440 Speaker 2: was about, and the darkness outside led in, so did 123 00:08:22,440 --> 00:08:27,040 Speaker 2: the boxers incessant yapping. She poked her head outside, she jumped. 124 00:08:27,400 --> 00:08:31,400 Speaker 2: Two lapd Dicks emerged from the shadows, the same shadows 125 00:08:31,480 --> 00:08:34,600 Speaker 2: Robert Mitcham had suspected were moving when he first arrived. 126 00:08:35,360 --> 00:08:37,800 Speaker 2: Mitcham had a joint burning between his fingers. When the 127 00:08:37,800 --> 00:08:40,640 Speaker 2: cops walked inside the house, he let the joint fall 128 00:08:40,760 --> 00:08:42,600 Speaker 2: to the ground and tried to shoot the smoke with 129 00:08:42,640 --> 00:08:46,280 Speaker 2: his hand, but he'd been made. Robin Ford gave his 130 00:08:46,400 --> 00:08:48,960 Speaker 2: joint a dramatic flick and buried it under the couch. 131 00:08:49,480 --> 00:08:53,720 Speaker 2: Both cops followed it with their eyes. Detective Sergeant Alva 132 00:08:53,720 --> 00:08:56,320 Speaker 2: Bar picked up the Philip Morris pack that was laying 133 00:08:56,360 --> 00:08:59,480 Speaker 2: on the coffee table. He took a look inside. He 134 00:08:59,600 --> 00:09:01,760 Speaker 2: raised it to his nose and took a deep sniff. 135 00:09:02,120 --> 00:09:06,720 Speaker 2: He nodded towards Mitcham, these yours. Mitcham resisted the urge 136 00:09:06,720 --> 00:09:09,280 Speaker 2: to allow his hatred of authority to persuade him to 137 00:09:09,320 --> 00:09:12,280 Speaker 2: deck the five os square of the jaw. The nark 138 00:09:12,440 --> 00:09:15,360 Speaker 2: did have a badge, so Mitcham just shook his head. 139 00:09:15,760 --> 00:09:20,160 Speaker 2: They weren't his. Barr called bullshit, don't give me any 140 00:09:20,200 --> 00:09:24,800 Speaker 2: business and we'll get along fine. The other cop, Detective JB. McKinnon, 141 00:09:25,120 --> 00:09:27,280 Speaker 2: was clasping a pair of cuffs around the wrists of 142 00:09:27,360 --> 00:09:30,839 Speaker 2: Robin Ford Percy pants was shaking like a goddamn leaf, 143 00:09:31,040 --> 00:09:34,040 Speaker 2: and Mitcham sighed. He stuck his hands up in the air. 144 00:09:34,559 --> 00:09:37,520 Speaker 2: Fuck it, who cared? It's just a couple of giants. 145 00:09:37,679 --> 00:09:41,080 Speaker 2: Would it end his acting career? It might. Future Mitcham 146 00:09:41,080 --> 00:09:42,120 Speaker 2: would figure that shit out. 147 00:09:42,160 --> 00:09:42,400 Speaker 1: Though. 148 00:09:43,120 --> 00:09:45,680 Speaker 2: Barr turned his attention to Lilah. He pointed at the 149 00:09:45,679 --> 00:09:48,679 Speaker 2: pockets of her bathrobe What are you getting there, he asked. 150 00:09:49,080 --> 00:09:52,560 Speaker 2: She pulled out some crumpled up newspaper. Barr unwrapped it, 151 00:09:53,040 --> 00:09:59,719 Speaker 2: three more marijuana cigarettes, eight bens of dream tabs. Bar 152 00:10:00,120 --> 00:10:02,840 Speaker 2: Kinnon had what they needed to place all four under arrest. 153 00:10:03,320 --> 00:10:06,000 Speaker 2: They also had what they wanted, which was another Hollywood 154 00:10:06,040 --> 00:10:08,960 Speaker 2: doper caught red handed and jacked on the devil's weed. 155 00:10:09,559 --> 00:10:12,360 Speaker 2: And they didn't care about Robin Ford or Lila or 156 00:10:12,360 --> 00:10:15,600 Speaker 2: her roommate. They wanted Robert Mitcham. He was the one 157 00:10:15,640 --> 00:10:18,800 Speaker 2: box office draw in the room. Busting someone of Mitcham's 158 00:10:18,840 --> 00:10:21,600 Speaker 2: caliber would get some attaboys from the brass as well 159 00:10:21,640 --> 00:10:26,040 Speaker 2: as some solid coverage in the papers. As the cops 160 00:10:26,160 --> 00:10:30,200 Speaker 2: dragged the quartet downtown, Mitcham got to thinking, how did 161 00:10:30,200 --> 00:10:31,720 Speaker 2: the cops know that he was going to be at 162 00:10:31,760 --> 00:10:35,520 Speaker 2: Lilah's that night? Something stunk and it wasn't the ode 163 00:10:35,559 --> 00:10:38,560 Speaker 2: of Sweet Leaf. Clinging to his suit jacket, he was 164 00:10:38,600 --> 00:10:40,760 Speaker 2: about to take a fall for a cigarette pack full 165 00:10:40,800 --> 00:10:43,240 Speaker 2: of reefer and he'd be damned if it wasn't a setup. 166 00:10:44,040 --> 00:10:47,480 Speaker 2: The station was crawling with photographers and reporters when they arrived. 167 00:10:47,880 --> 00:10:50,040 Speaker 2: The walk from the police cruiser to the front door 168 00:10:50,040 --> 00:10:53,160 Speaker 2: of the station was cluttered with flashbulbs and beat writers 169 00:10:53,240 --> 00:10:57,840 Speaker 2: jockeying for attention. Mitcham squinted his graveyard shift eyes and 170 00:10:57,960 --> 00:11:02,160 Speaker 2: dodged questions. In side the station, the cops walked him 171 00:11:02,160 --> 00:11:08,040 Speaker 2: through the booking process. Name Robert Charles Durman Mitcham, age 172 00:11:08,520 --> 00:11:13,760 Speaker 2: thirty one, occupation. Mitcham paused to let a stone smile 173 00:11:13,960 --> 00:11:16,920 Speaker 2: creep across his face, and then he gave his answer 174 00:11:17,880 --> 00:11:25,480 Speaker 2: former actor. The judge wanted to pin the shoe store 175 00:11:25,480 --> 00:11:29,239 Speaker 2: a robbery on him, but Robert Mitcham maintained his innocence. 176 00:11:29,880 --> 00:11:32,240 Speaker 2: It was simply impossible. He had been sitting in a 177 00:11:32,240 --> 00:11:35,200 Speaker 2: Savannah jail cell when the robbery happened. And why was 178 00:11:35,240 --> 00:11:38,200 Speaker 2: he in custody in the first place. Mopery with the 179 00:11:38,240 --> 00:11:41,240 Speaker 2: intent to gock fuck If he knew they didn't like 180 00:11:41,360 --> 00:11:44,400 Speaker 2: Yankees in the Deep South, he didn't know that, especially 181 00:11:44,480 --> 00:11:47,480 Speaker 2: ones who the law deemed a quote unquote dangerous or 182 00:11:47,559 --> 00:11:52,480 Speaker 2: suspicious character with no visible means of support, in other words, 183 00:11:52,880 --> 00:11:58,800 Speaker 2: a bomb. It was nineteen thirty two, and that's essentially 184 00:11:58,840 --> 00:12:02,680 Speaker 2: what Robert Mitcham was. A fourteen year old drifter, a 185 00:12:02,760 --> 00:12:06,080 Speaker 2: hobo in training. He hopped a freight train back home 186 00:12:06,120 --> 00:12:09,840 Speaker 2: in New York, headed south in search of adventure. The 187 00:12:09,880 --> 00:12:13,000 Speaker 2: American expanse was calling. It wasn't even like he ran 188 00:12:13,040 --> 00:12:15,880 Speaker 2: away either. His mother packed his suitcase, made him a sandwich, 189 00:12:15,920 --> 00:12:18,720 Speaker 2: and sent him out the door. The country was in 190 00:12:18,760 --> 00:12:21,439 Speaker 2: the throes of the Great Depression, and Mitcham was one 191 00:12:21,440 --> 00:12:24,200 Speaker 2: of an estimated quarter of a million kids. The fabled 192 00:12:24,280 --> 00:12:27,040 Speaker 2: wild boys of the road, who turned on by the 193 00:12:27,080 --> 00:12:29,400 Speaker 2: thrill of the drift and the need for steady work, 194 00:12:29,720 --> 00:12:34,360 Speaker 2: left home looking for something else, destination anywhere that wasn't here. 195 00:12:35,320 --> 00:12:38,160 Speaker 2: He listened to old timers tell tall tales on the rails, 196 00:12:38,440 --> 00:12:41,880 Speaker 2: drank moonshine, learned how to identify marijuana growing on the 197 00:12:41,920 --> 00:12:43,800 Speaker 2: side of the road, pick it and roll it up 198 00:12:43,800 --> 00:12:47,959 Speaker 2: a newspaper to smoke. He caught and cooked squirrels, learned 199 00:12:47,960 --> 00:12:50,960 Speaker 2: to defend himself, picked up odd jobs when they came 200 00:12:51,240 --> 00:12:55,800 Speaker 2: washed dishes, pick fruit, dug ditches. But in Savannah, Georgia, 201 00:12:56,120 --> 00:12:59,880 Speaker 2: Mitcham's wander muss was stopped dead in its tracks bust 202 00:13:00,360 --> 00:13:03,840 Speaker 2: for vagrancy. And now this judge wanted to double or 203 00:13:03,840 --> 00:13:06,960 Speaker 2: triple the sentence. Was this insane shoe store robbery frame 204 00:13:07,080 --> 00:13:10,240 Speaker 2: job Mitcham laughed it off. How could he have been 205 00:13:10,240 --> 00:13:13,160 Speaker 2: in jail and at the shoe store at the same time. 206 00:13:13,760 --> 00:13:16,800 Speaker 2: In the courtroom thought Mitcham was a riot. They in 207 00:13:16,880 --> 00:13:20,320 Speaker 2: turn laughed at his caddy response, and the judge did not. 208 00:13:21,080 --> 00:13:24,319 Speaker 2: He sentenced Mitchell into seven days with Chatham County Camp 209 00:13:24,400 --> 00:13:28,840 Speaker 2: number one pipe Maker Swamp chain Gang. It was a 210 00:13:28,880 --> 00:13:33,280 Speaker 2: work detail full of tuberculosis and hepatitis, of swamp fever 211 00:13:33,400 --> 00:13:36,880 Speaker 2: and gay green. Robert Mitcham would later say that his 212 00:13:37,040 --> 00:13:40,240 Speaker 2: escape from the chain gang was pedestrian, that he simply 213 00:13:40,400 --> 00:13:43,280 Speaker 2: stopped showing up one day and no one missed him 214 00:13:43,520 --> 00:13:46,120 Speaker 2: At actuality. He made a break for it at a 215 00:13:46,120 --> 00:13:49,560 Speaker 2: moment when his chains were unfastened while the crew worked 216 00:13:49,600 --> 00:13:52,000 Speaker 2: the side of the road. The captain in charge of 217 00:13:52,040 --> 00:13:55,560 Speaker 2: work detail was looking one way. Mitcham bolted the other way. 218 00:13:56,200 --> 00:13:58,960 Speaker 2: As he disappeared into the woods, he heard the captain's 219 00:13:59,080 --> 00:14:02,760 Speaker 2: rifle sound out something hot and fast blue past them. 220 00:14:02,880 --> 00:14:05,400 Speaker 2: There's a fifty to fifty chance the bullet would hit 221 00:14:05,480 --> 00:14:09,920 Speaker 2: him or it wouldn't. Frankly, Robert Mitcham didn't give a 222 00:14:10,000 --> 00:14:41,240 Speaker 2: damn either way. The pilot was cursing loudly so that 223 00:14:41,280 --> 00:14:43,880 Speaker 2: you'd be heard over the rumbling engine. The plane had 224 00:14:43,920 --> 00:14:46,200 Speaker 2: just touched down on the landing strip with the brakes 225 00:14:46,480 --> 00:14:49,400 Speaker 2: they weren't working, not at all, and the tiny four 226 00:14:49,480 --> 00:14:52,840 Speaker 2: seater barreled forward. The pilot watched as the tree line 227 00:14:52,960 --> 00:14:55,040 Speaker 2: just beyond the end of the rungway approached them with 228 00:14:55,200 --> 00:15:00,400 Speaker 2: furious speed. Fuck. Robert Mitcham sat nervously in the co 229 00:15:00,560 --> 00:15:03,520 Speaker 2: pilot's seat. He didn't know shit about planes. It was 230 00:15:03,560 --> 00:15:07,760 Speaker 2: merely a passenger en route from Los Angeles to Bridgeport, California, 231 00:15:07,880 --> 00:15:11,080 Speaker 2: some three hundred and fifty miles north in the Sierra Mountains. 232 00:15:11,600 --> 00:15:16,080 Speaker 2: He braced for impact, and the pilot pushed the throttle forward. 233 00:15:16,320 --> 00:15:18,360 Speaker 2: Mitcham didn't know what the hell good that did. It 234 00:15:18,440 --> 00:15:20,600 Speaker 2: did take them off the crash course with the trees, 235 00:15:20,640 --> 00:15:22,880 Speaker 2: but now it put them a square on track to 236 00:15:23,040 --> 00:15:26,120 Speaker 2: slam through a fence, which they did, and jump a ditch, 237 00:15:26,360 --> 00:15:29,680 Speaker 2: which they also did. Next was an outhouse, which the 238 00:15:29,720 --> 00:15:33,880 Speaker 2: small aircraft turned into kingdom before finally coming to a stop. 239 00:15:35,240 --> 00:15:39,440 Speaker 2: Mitcham looked behind him. The studio account and writer's assistants 240 00:15:39,440 --> 00:15:46,000 Speaker 2: sitting in the back seat were both out cold. It 241 00:15:46,080 --> 00:15:49,160 Speaker 2: was nineteen forty six and Robert Mitcham was headed to 242 00:15:49,200 --> 00:15:52,120 Speaker 2: Bridgeport to begin shooting Out of the Past, the hard 243 00:15:52,120 --> 00:15:54,280 Speaker 2: boiled noir that would go on to become one of 244 00:15:54,280 --> 00:15:57,360 Speaker 2: his signature rolls, not to mention one of the most 245 00:15:57,440 --> 00:16:01,760 Speaker 2: celebrated films from the noir genre's classic era. The movie 246 00:16:01,920 --> 00:16:05,840 Speaker 2: was directed by French filmmaker Jacques Tonier, who had graduated 247 00:16:05,880 --> 00:16:08,720 Speaker 2: from B Pictures to the A list with low budget 248 00:16:08,760 --> 00:16:12,080 Speaker 2: horror movies like Cat People and I Walked with a Zombie. 249 00:16:12,760 --> 00:16:16,400 Speaker 2: Mitcham's male co star was Kirk Douglas, in only his 250 00:16:16,480 --> 00:16:20,120 Speaker 2: second role to date. Douglas was still burned by the 251 00:16:20,120 --> 00:16:22,400 Speaker 2: fact that mitchm had beat him for the lead role 252 00:16:22,480 --> 00:16:25,520 Speaker 2: in a movie called Pursue, so he tried to out 253 00:16:25,560 --> 00:16:29,120 Speaker 2: Mitcham mitchem in his performance. But no one could out Mitcham. Mitcham. 254 00:16:29,400 --> 00:16:32,600 Speaker 2: He was Mitcham. He under acted like no one else. 255 00:16:33,040 --> 00:16:36,280 Speaker 2: He's a master of stillness. Director David Lean once said, 256 00:16:36,800 --> 00:16:42,600 Speaker 2: others act Mitcham is indeed Mitchim coolly and calmly was 257 00:16:43,120 --> 00:16:46,280 Speaker 2: no matter what he was doing. Even when he was 258 00:16:46,320 --> 00:16:50,400 Speaker 2: walking away from a plane wreck in Bridgeport, California, the 259 00:16:50,440 --> 00:16:53,000 Speaker 2: rest of the cast and crew were having lunched when 260 00:16:53,080 --> 00:16:55,920 Speaker 2: Mitcham appeared, having thumbed to a ride into town from 261 00:16:55,920 --> 00:16:57,960 Speaker 2: where the plane had come to rest, just beyond the 262 00:16:58,000 --> 00:17:01,880 Speaker 2: busted up outhouse were it had already traveled. Calls had 263 00:17:01,880 --> 00:17:05,040 Speaker 2: been made to the hospital and they feared Mitcham was dead. 264 00:17:06,080 --> 00:17:09,560 Speaker 2: Robert Mitcham, though he couldn't be bothered, shook it off. 265 00:17:10,040 --> 00:17:12,600 Speaker 2: He was a little banged up, sure, but no worse 266 00:17:12,640 --> 00:17:15,199 Speaker 2: for wear. He was ready to get to work. He 267 00:17:15,320 --> 00:17:19,200 Speaker 2: walked up to the crew, smiled and asked, anybody here 268 00:17:19,320 --> 00:17:27,800 Speaker 2: got a gauge? The phone rang out and broke the silence. 269 00:17:27,800 --> 00:17:31,320 Speaker 2: At Howard Hughes's house, it didn't wake up the RKO 270 00:17:31,480 --> 00:17:34,000 Speaker 2: Pictures president, even though it was in the middle of 271 00:17:34,000 --> 00:17:39,320 Speaker 2: the night. Insomnia kept the billionaire up most nights. Other nights, 272 00:17:39,359 --> 00:17:42,320 Speaker 2: he was kept up from the PTSD related to his 273 00:17:42,440 --> 00:17:46,320 Speaker 2: near fatal plane crash two years earlier in nineteen forty six, 274 00:17:47,000 --> 00:17:50,040 Speaker 2: a different near fatal plane crash than Mitchm's. By the 275 00:17:50,080 --> 00:17:53,879 Speaker 2: way Hughes picked up the receiver, the voice on the 276 00:17:53,880 --> 00:17:56,760 Speaker 2: other end of the line broke the news. Robert Mitchum, 277 00:17:57,040 --> 00:18:00,560 Speaker 2: one of RKO's prize contract players, had been swept up 278 00:18:00,560 --> 00:18:03,720 Speaker 2: in a drug bust in Laurel Canyon, some reefer party 279 00:18:03,720 --> 00:18:07,080 Speaker 2: at Lyla Leeds's place. Mitcham was sitting in a holding 280 00:18:07,160 --> 00:18:09,560 Speaker 2: cell and the cops wanted to make an example out 281 00:18:09,560 --> 00:18:14,240 Speaker 2: of him, and it wasn't looking good. Hughes couldn't decide 282 00:18:14,280 --> 00:18:17,239 Speaker 2: if he had a masculine crush on Robert Mitcham or 283 00:18:17,280 --> 00:18:21,680 Speaker 2: if he was just jealous. Mitcham was barrel chested, bourbon 284 00:18:21,760 --> 00:18:27,320 Speaker 2: voice confident, where Hughes was introverted and calculated. Mitcham could 285 00:18:27,320 --> 00:18:28,960 Speaker 2: get a girl just by shooting her one of his 286 00:18:29,040 --> 00:18:32,719 Speaker 2: droopy eyed glances, while Hughes could spend thousands of dollars 287 00:18:32,760 --> 00:18:36,440 Speaker 2: on a dame only to get nowhere. Hughes watched Mitcham's 288 00:18:36,440 --> 00:18:39,240 Speaker 2: movies over and over again in his private screening room. 289 00:18:39,640 --> 00:18:42,959 Speaker 2: Out of the Past was a particular favorite. Howard Hughes 290 00:18:43,080 --> 00:18:47,440 Speaker 2: liked to daydream that he was Robert Mitcham, handsome, heroic, 291 00:18:47,640 --> 00:18:50,359 Speaker 2: unfuck withable, like he didn't give a shit about anything. 292 00:18:51,040 --> 00:18:54,160 Speaker 2: In reality, Howard Hughes gave too much of a shit 293 00:18:54,440 --> 00:18:59,480 Speaker 2: about everything. He worried way too much about disease, about communists, 294 00:18:59,480 --> 00:19:01,720 Speaker 2: about the fact that he was going deaf, about the 295 00:19:01,720 --> 00:19:03,960 Speaker 2: fact that he didn't rate didn't measure up, and now 296 00:19:04,000 --> 00:19:06,000 Speaker 2: he had to worry about one of his studio's best 297 00:19:06,119 --> 00:19:10,280 Speaker 2: actors doing serious time for a serious federal crime. It 298 00:19:10,440 --> 00:19:16,560 Speaker 2: was a serious fucking problem. However, even serious problems had solutions. 299 00:19:17,040 --> 00:19:20,199 Speaker 2: Howard Hughes just needed someone to fix it. Who do 300 00:19:20,200 --> 00:19:22,000 Speaker 2: we have to pay to get the sink killed? Hughes 301 00:19:22,040 --> 00:19:23,840 Speaker 2: asked the voice on the other end of the line. 302 00:19:26,400 --> 00:19:28,959 Speaker 2: And that's when the news went from bad to worse. 303 00:19:29,560 --> 00:19:31,480 Speaker 2: It was too late to call in a fixer and 304 00:19:31,600 --> 00:19:34,359 Speaker 2: killed the story before it hit the papers. And they 305 00:19:34,359 --> 00:19:37,520 Speaker 2: were beyond simply paying someone aw for scaring someone into 306 00:19:37,800 --> 00:19:41,880 Speaker 2: running with the breaking news. The photographers already had their pictures, 307 00:19:41,880 --> 00:19:44,880 Speaker 2: the reporters already had filed their stories, and as soon 308 00:19:44,920 --> 00:19:47,480 Speaker 2: as the sun rose in Hollywood, the morning editions would 309 00:19:47,560 --> 00:19:50,600 Speaker 2: lead with unflattering shots of Mitcham being led into the 310 00:19:50,600 --> 00:19:54,359 Speaker 2: police station next to headlines that read Bob Mitcham, three 311 00:19:54,400 --> 00:19:57,159 Speaker 2: others jailed after dope raid and a man in the 312 00:19:57,160 --> 00:20:01,439 Speaker 2: grip of demon drugs use opted to go with in 313 00:20:01,560 --> 00:20:05,879 Speaker 2: house counsel RKO's lawyer Jerry Geesler, the one of the 314 00:20:05,920 --> 00:20:08,760 Speaker 2: same who had gotten Charlie Chaplin acquitted of violating the 315 00:20:08,800 --> 00:20:13,440 Speaker 2: Man Act and mobster Buggsy Siegel acquitted of murder. Geesler 316 00:20:13,520 --> 00:20:17,679 Speaker 2: argued that Mitcham's indictment alone was extremely confusing. Mitcham and 317 00:20:17,720 --> 00:20:20,960 Speaker 2: the others were being charged with quote, possession and conspiracy 318 00:20:21,000 --> 00:20:25,600 Speaker 2: to possess flowering tops and leaves of India hemp hold up. 319 00:20:25,800 --> 00:20:28,440 Speaker 2: Geesler said, the way the thing was written was far 320 00:20:28,480 --> 00:20:30,879 Speaker 2: from the simple language that indictments were supposed to be 321 00:20:30,920 --> 00:20:34,479 Speaker 2: written in. Second of all, the last he knew hemp 322 00:20:34,680 --> 00:20:37,480 Speaker 2: was used to make rope, and that remark got a 323 00:20:37,520 --> 00:20:40,680 Speaker 2: few people laughing in the courtroom. But just like at 324 00:20:40,680 --> 00:20:44,399 Speaker 2: Mitcham's vagrancy trial and Savannah, the judge was not among 325 00:20:44,440 --> 00:20:47,119 Speaker 2: the amused. Neither was the judge amused with all the 326 00:20:47,160 --> 00:20:50,359 Speaker 2: fan mail that Mitcham continued to receive while he awaited trial. 327 00:20:50,880 --> 00:20:53,840 Speaker 2: It was brought into the courthouse by the armful, and 328 00:20:53,880 --> 00:20:56,760 Speaker 2: the public was rooting for Mitcham, demon drugs and all. 329 00:20:57,440 --> 00:20:59,520 Speaker 2: Mitcham and lylah Leeds didn't need to get the judge 330 00:20:59,560 --> 00:21:02,000 Speaker 2: of the reasons to not be happy, because their fate 331 00:21:02,160 --> 00:21:05,560 Speaker 2: rested squarely in the judge's hands. In order to have 332 00:21:05,600 --> 00:21:08,560 Speaker 2: the charge of possession dropped, they have both agreed to 333 00:21:08,600 --> 00:21:11,879 Speaker 2: waive a jury trial and have their charge of conspiracy 334 00:21:11,920 --> 00:21:16,280 Speaker 2: to possess decided solely by the testimony of the arresting officers. 335 00:21:17,560 --> 00:21:20,800 Speaker 2: Robin Ford and Vicki Evans, on the other hand, demanded 336 00:21:20,840 --> 00:21:25,240 Speaker 2: a jury trial, and they were both acquitted. Robert Mitcham 337 00:21:25,240 --> 00:21:30,200 Speaker 2: and Lyla Leeds were not so lucky. On Wednesday, February ninth, 338 00:21:30,280 --> 00:21:34,480 Speaker 2: nineteen forty nine, the judge returned his verdict. He concluded 339 00:21:34,480 --> 00:21:38,040 Speaker 2: that Mitcham was quote psychologically ill equipped for his sudden 340 00:21:38,160 --> 00:21:43,040 Speaker 2: rise to fame unquote, and that maybe, just maybe it 341 00:21:43,119 --> 00:21:46,439 Speaker 2: was time for Robert Mitcham to care about something for once, 342 00:21:47,040 --> 00:21:49,600 Speaker 2: like the kind of example he was setting for America's 343 00:21:49,640 --> 00:21:53,040 Speaker 2: impressionable youth, or the fact that he was walking around 344 00:21:53,080 --> 00:21:57,800 Speaker 2: committing crimes on a regular basis with no consequence until 345 00:21:57,880 --> 00:22:02,960 Speaker 2: now the buck stopped here. Robert Mitchen would have plenty 346 00:22:02,960 --> 00:22:05,399 Speaker 2: of time to start to give a fuck while he 347 00:22:05,480 --> 00:22:12,840 Speaker 2: was serving a year in jail. We'll be right back 348 00:22:13,040 --> 00:22:22,080 Speaker 2: after this word. We're were. Robert Mitcham put on the chaps, 349 00:22:22,160 --> 00:22:24,880 Speaker 2: the bandana, and the boots and then looked at himself 350 00:22:24,920 --> 00:22:28,520 Speaker 2: in the mirror. The reality of the situation began to 351 00:22:28,600 --> 00:22:31,359 Speaker 2: sink in he was going to be an actor. He 352 00:22:31,440 --> 00:22:34,160 Speaker 2: was about to shoot a scene for his very first picture, 353 00:22:34,640 --> 00:22:37,480 Speaker 2: A heavy and a hop along. Cassidy flicked no less 354 00:22:38,240 --> 00:22:41,040 Speaker 2: and here he was getting his makeup done and beginning 355 00:22:41,040 --> 00:22:43,920 Speaker 2: to look like a real cowboy. He just needed one 356 00:22:43,920 --> 00:22:48,600 Speaker 2: more thing, my hat. But the cowboy hat was sticky. 357 00:22:48,800 --> 00:22:52,119 Speaker 2: Mitcham couldn't figure out exactly what was on it, so 358 00:22:52,160 --> 00:22:54,840 Speaker 2: he asked the prop guy standing next to him, what 359 00:22:55,040 --> 00:22:57,800 Speaker 2: gives with the sticky hat, and the prop guy took 360 00:22:57,840 --> 00:23:01,560 Speaker 2: a look. Shit, he said, it still got blood on it. 361 00:23:03,960 --> 00:23:06,440 Speaker 2: As he scraped the blood off the hat with the penknife, 362 00:23:06,560 --> 00:23:09,760 Speaker 2: the prop guy explained that the actor that Mitcham was 363 00:23:09,800 --> 00:23:11,840 Speaker 2: replacing in the movie, he had been pulled off a 364 00:23:11,880 --> 00:23:14,719 Speaker 2: wagon during the filming of a stunt, and the reins 365 00:23:14,800 --> 00:23:18,080 Speaker 2: were wrapped around his hands and the horses just kept 366 00:23:18,160 --> 00:23:20,720 Speaker 2: yanking on the reins this way and that, which meant 367 00:23:20,760 --> 00:23:23,280 Speaker 2: the wagon rolled over the guy again and again, and 368 00:23:23,359 --> 00:23:25,560 Speaker 2: he bled like a son of Avich from his head 369 00:23:25,640 --> 00:23:28,200 Speaker 2: mostly and that's why there was blood on the half. 370 00:23:28,720 --> 00:23:33,240 Speaker 2: It was a dead man's hat. Like all of Robert 371 00:23:33,280 --> 00:23:36,120 Speaker 2: Mitcham's stories, the one about getting his big break by 372 00:23:36,119 --> 00:23:39,680 Speaker 2: replacing a deceased actor was dramatic as hell and probably 373 00:23:39,720 --> 00:23:43,760 Speaker 2: only partially true. What was true was that Mitcham was 374 00:23:43,840 --> 00:23:47,720 Speaker 2: friendly with William Boyd, the actor who played hop Along Cassidy, 375 00:23:48,119 --> 00:23:51,360 Speaker 2: and that friendship landed Mitcham the first opportunity to make 376 00:23:51,400 --> 00:23:55,359 Speaker 2: a career in Hollywood, and that break came years after 377 00:23:55,440 --> 00:23:58,879 Speaker 2: Mitcham rode the rails out to California following his escape 378 00:23:58,880 --> 00:24:02,720 Speaker 2: from the Chain Gang out West. He worked more odd 379 00:24:02,800 --> 00:24:06,280 Speaker 2: jobs and at the age of twenty, married Dorothy Spence, who, 380 00:24:06,320 --> 00:24:08,919 Speaker 2: through sickness and health in more than a few instances 381 00:24:08,960 --> 00:24:12,160 Speaker 2: of his infidelity with famous co stars like Shirley Maclain, 382 00:24:12,440 --> 00:24:16,840 Speaker 2: would remain Mitcham's wife until death did them part. When 383 00:24:16,880 --> 00:24:20,000 Speaker 2: Mitcham got the call to do the hop Along casting movie, 384 00:24:20,040 --> 00:24:22,680 Speaker 2: he and Darth He had two kids and were dead 385 00:24:22,760 --> 00:24:26,800 Speaker 2: broke for richer or poorer, indeed, they needed the bread 386 00:24:27,840 --> 00:24:31,800 Speaker 2: the opportunity delivered and then son. Mitcham made seven hop 387 00:24:31,880 --> 00:24:35,160 Speaker 2: Along movies in total before learning a contract with RKO, 388 00:24:35,800 --> 00:24:38,600 Speaker 2: and just a few years later, in nineteen forty five, 389 00:24:38,960 --> 00:24:42,679 Speaker 2: he landed his first and only Academy Award nomination for 390 00:24:42,760 --> 00:24:45,879 Speaker 2: his supporting role in the Story of g I. Joe, which, 391 00:24:46,119 --> 00:24:49,639 Speaker 2: despite its title, was actually a potent anti war movie 392 00:24:49,680 --> 00:24:52,800 Speaker 2: made at a time when most war movies were glorified 393 00:24:52,840 --> 00:24:56,600 Speaker 2: recruitment reels. The toy and cartoon of the same name 394 00:24:56,880 --> 00:25:01,200 Speaker 2: wouldn't come until decades later. At twenty seven years old, 395 00:25:01,600 --> 00:25:05,080 Speaker 2: Robert Mitcham was starting to get noticed in Hollywood, but 396 00:25:05,160 --> 00:25:12,600 Speaker 2: not always for the right reasons. One evening, as Mitcham 397 00:25:12,680 --> 00:25:15,199 Speaker 2: sat on the front steps of his house, wishing that 398 00:25:15,280 --> 00:25:18,040 Speaker 2: the cigarette he was smoking was a little wackier and 399 00:25:18,119 --> 00:25:20,800 Speaker 2: a little less to back here, a man came out 400 00:25:20,800 --> 00:25:24,119 Speaker 2: of the shadows. First he was walking up the block, 401 00:25:24,400 --> 00:25:27,040 Speaker 2: and then he was jogging, and then he was sprinting, 402 00:25:27,440 --> 00:25:30,880 Speaker 2: sprinting right up the walkway to Mitcham's place. The guy 403 00:25:31,000 --> 00:25:33,800 Speaker 2: turned on a flashlight and showed it directly at Mitcham's mug. 404 00:25:34,200 --> 00:25:37,479 Speaker 2: Mitcham was blindsided. He stood up and stumbled back as 405 00:25:37,520 --> 00:25:40,399 Speaker 2: the man leaped towards him, and then Mitcham did what 406 00:25:40,480 --> 00:25:44,159 Speaker 2: came naturally. He cocked back his arm and punched the 407 00:25:44,200 --> 00:25:50,719 Speaker 2: bastards straight in the nose. How was Robert Mitcham supposed 408 00:25:50,720 --> 00:25:53,000 Speaker 2: to know the guy was a cop? The motherfucker never 409 00:25:53,000 --> 00:25:55,600 Speaker 2: said that he was. And furthermore, that goddamn flashlight was 410 00:25:55,640 --> 00:25:58,480 Speaker 2: busy burning a hole straight through his sleepy peepers. The 411 00:25:58,480 --> 00:26:01,120 Speaker 2: guy could have been a homicidal mania for all Mitcham knew. 412 00:26:02,880 --> 00:26:06,480 Speaker 2: Suddenly there was another cop on Robert Mitchim's lawn. Turns 413 00:26:06,480 --> 00:26:09,399 Speaker 2: out they were there to investigate a disturbance, but they 414 00:26:09,440 --> 00:26:13,280 Speaker 2: had the wrong address. Didn't matter now Robert Mitchum had 415 00:26:13,320 --> 00:26:16,160 Speaker 2: hit the wrong guy, the cop. He had punched out 416 00:26:16,200 --> 00:26:19,320 Speaker 2: a retaliatory blow, first with his fist and next with 417 00:26:19,359 --> 00:26:21,520 Speaker 2: the butt of his gun, and the other cop pulled 418 00:26:21,520 --> 00:26:24,160 Speaker 2: out his billy club and went to town broke two 419 00:26:24,160 --> 00:26:30,439 Speaker 2: of Mitcham's ribs with one blow. The judge told Mitcham 420 00:26:30,480 --> 00:26:32,440 Speaker 2: he was going to jail for one hundred and eighty 421 00:26:32,520 --> 00:26:36,000 Speaker 2: days for clocking a police officer on duty. One hundred 422 00:26:36,040 --> 00:26:38,960 Speaker 2: and eighty days. Fuck, that was half a year, a 423 00:26:39,000 --> 00:26:42,159 Speaker 2: lifetime in Hollywood, especially with a career that was just 424 00:26:42,240 --> 00:26:45,800 Speaker 2: taking off. He'd never recover. And he had Dorothy and 425 00:26:45,840 --> 00:26:47,840 Speaker 2: two young kids that I wanted to worry about, and 426 00:26:47,920 --> 00:26:51,040 Speaker 2: he couldn't do time, not now. And this wasn't Savannah, 427 00:26:51,080 --> 00:26:52,840 Speaker 2: and he wasn't a kid. He had a sink on 428 00:26:52,880 --> 00:26:55,159 Speaker 2: his feet something before the gavel came down and the 429 00:26:55,200 --> 00:26:59,520 Speaker 2: sentence was final. I'm sorry, Judge, Mitcham said, I just 430 00:26:59,560 --> 00:27:03,520 Speaker 2: can't do that. Why not the judge ass because, well, 431 00:27:03,720 --> 00:27:08,560 Speaker 2: your honor, because I'm joining the army. Either the judge's 432 00:27:08,600 --> 00:27:11,960 Speaker 2: heart grew three sizes that day with patriotic pride, or 433 00:27:12,200 --> 00:27:15,840 Speaker 2: he called Mitcham's bluff. Instead of being led off to 434 00:27:15,920 --> 00:27:18,919 Speaker 2: a jail cell, Robert Mitcham was led to the draft 435 00:27:18,960 --> 00:27:22,080 Speaker 2: board to enlist by the same two cops who had 436 00:27:22,160 --> 00:27:28,000 Speaker 2: arrested him in the first place. Mitcham avoided jail time 437 00:27:28,040 --> 00:27:30,879 Speaker 2: that day, but with his reefer bust a few years later, 438 00:27:31,160 --> 00:27:34,520 Speaker 2: he wasn't so lucky. He was recast in a new role, 439 00:27:34,920 --> 00:27:37,520 Speaker 2: not in a major Hollywood movie, but as a real 440 00:27:37,560 --> 00:27:41,320 Speaker 2: life inmate of the La County Jail, prisoner number nine one, 441 00:27:41,400 --> 00:27:44,800 Speaker 2: two three four. He hung his head and worked the 442 00:27:44,840 --> 00:27:47,880 Speaker 2: mop on the dirty floor. It didn't even make a difference, 443 00:27:48,119 --> 00:27:51,720 Speaker 2: It just made the dirt wet and pushed it around. Still, 444 00:27:51,960 --> 00:27:54,520 Speaker 2: he went through the motions, did as he was instructed. 445 00:27:55,040 --> 00:27:57,720 Speaker 2: Morning had broken and thus the warden was wasting no 446 00:27:57,760 --> 00:28:00,919 Speaker 2: time breaking in the man who was now famous inmate 447 00:28:02,359 --> 00:28:06,760 Speaker 2: February nineteen forty nine, Robert Mitcham was only a few 448 00:28:06,840 --> 00:28:09,919 Speaker 2: days into his jail term for the reef Robust. He 449 00:28:09,960 --> 00:28:11,760 Speaker 2: didn't think he could make it for three hundred and 450 00:28:11,800 --> 00:28:15,840 Speaker 2: sixty five days, and thankfully he wouldn't have to. The 451 00:28:15,960 --> 00:28:19,600 Speaker 2: judge wound up suspending Mitcham and lylah Leeds's original sentence, 452 00:28:20,000 --> 00:28:23,560 Speaker 2: instead placing them both on probation for two years, along 453 00:28:23,560 --> 00:28:27,199 Speaker 2: with a sixty day jail term. Sixty days was still 454 00:28:27,320 --> 00:28:29,399 Speaker 2: a load of horseship, but it was better than a 455 00:28:29,400 --> 00:28:35,479 Speaker 2: goddamn year. Hey, Mitcham, I'd just sleep last night. Mitcham 456 00:28:35,520 --> 00:28:37,639 Speaker 2: lifted his head to see the guy who had asked 457 00:28:37,640 --> 00:28:41,120 Speaker 2: the question standing there, holding a pencil in a small 458 00:28:41,160 --> 00:28:43,680 Speaker 2: pad of paper in his hand. Another guy next to 459 00:28:43,800 --> 00:28:46,640 Speaker 2: him was holding a camera, and the flashball went off. 460 00:28:49,200 --> 00:28:51,880 Speaker 2: Who the fuck let these guys in here, Mitcham thought 461 00:28:51,920 --> 00:28:55,880 Speaker 2: to himself, A reporter and a photographer inside the county jail. 462 00:28:56,360 --> 00:28:59,520 Speaker 2: Somebody must have made that happen. A handshake of greased 463 00:28:59,520 --> 00:29:03,200 Speaker 2: palm and understanding. Mitcham wasn't stupid. He knew it was 464 00:29:03,240 --> 00:29:05,160 Speaker 2: more than just a couple of guys sniffing around for 465 00:29:05,240 --> 00:29:09,000 Speaker 2: tabloid fodder. It was likely worse, there were another couple 466 00:29:09,040 --> 00:29:12,080 Speaker 2: pairs of eyes watching Mitcham's every move, everything he did, 467 00:29:12,120 --> 00:29:14,320 Speaker 2: everything he said. They wanted to catch him when he 468 00:29:14,360 --> 00:29:17,600 Speaker 2: slipped bloke the hand slap of a sentence he'd received 469 00:29:17,640 --> 00:29:19,920 Speaker 2: and then boom, make him do two big ones up 470 00:29:19,960 --> 00:29:25,440 Speaker 2: in Quinton. These guys were sent there by someone, maybe LAPD, 471 00:29:25,880 --> 00:29:29,000 Speaker 2: maybe the Sheriff's department. Geesler was putting his money on 472 00:29:29,120 --> 00:29:33,880 Speaker 2: Paul Barreman, Mitcham's former manager. Mitcham had recently fired Barman 473 00:29:34,000 --> 00:29:36,880 Speaker 2: after accusing him of stealing all but fifty eight dollars 474 00:29:36,880 --> 00:29:41,280 Speaker 2: from his bank account. Barman maintained his innocence. Perhaps now 475 00:29:41,320 --> 00:29:44,760 Speaker 2: he was settling the score, and that wasn't all with Barman. 476 00:29:45,080 --> 00:29:47,360 Speaker 2: The snake had also been by the Leeds' manager at 477 00:29:47,360 --> 00:29:52,479 Speaker 2: one point. Geesler was sure that was no coincidence. Mitcham 478 00:29:52,600 --> 00:29:56,040 Speaker 2: thought back to that night in Laurel Canyon, how Vicky Evans, 479 00:29:56,080 --> 00:29:59,080 Speaker 2: the roommate, hadn't touched the stuff which he had opened 480 00:29:59,120 --> 00:30:02,760 Speaker 2: the door to let the n arcs in. Mitcham stuffed 481 00:30:02,760 --> 00:30:05,160 Speaker 2: the mop back in the bucket of SuDS. He told 482 00:30:05,200 --> 00:30:07,080 Speaker 2: the guy with the camera to not get any photos 483 00:30:07,080 --> 00:30:09,440 Speaker 2: of him with the cell bars in the background. Didn't 484 00:30:09,480 --> 00:30:11,200 Speaker 2: want his kids to see it in the paper and 485 00:30:11,200 --> 00:30:13,800 Speaker 2: get upset, And then he told the guys to scram 486 00:30:13,840 --> 00:30:16,120 Speaker 2: He wanted to be left alone, and he needed to 487 00:30:16,120 --> 00:30:19,320 Speaker 2: get back to work, and didn't feel much like talking anyway. 488 00:30:20,200 --> 00:30:22,160 Speaker 2: He was too busy thinking about what he was going 489 00:30:22,240 --> 00:30:24,720 Speaker 2: to do to that weaselex manager when he got back 490 00:30:24,760 --> 00:30:47,920 Speaker 2: out on the outside. Howard Hughes used his connection with 491 00:30:47,960 --> 00:30:52,440 Speaker 2: the sheriff to get them private room, no guards, no cameras, 492 00:30:52,520 --> 00:30:57,200 Speaker 2: just the movie tycoon in his Incarcerated Star Robert Mitcham 493 00:30:57,240 --> 00:31:00,920 Speaker 2: sat across the table from Hughes and county issued overalls. 494 00:31:01,720 --> 00:31:05,880 Speaker 2: Hughes kept a sanitary distance. He felt relatively safe in 495 00:31:05,920 --> 00:31:09,360 Speaker 2: the privacy of the office, unlike outside on the farm, 496 00:31:09,400 --> 00:31:13,040 Speaker 2: where the prisoners milled about carrying god knows what diseases. 497 00:31:13,760 --> 00:31:16,800 Speaker 2: Hughes shuddered to think people just gave him the goddamn 498 00:31:16,840 --> 00:31:22,160 Speaker 2: he me Geebies. Mitcham had done a week total at 499 00:31:22,240 --> 00:31:25,280 Speaker 2: La County Jail before Jerry Geesler was able to finagle 500 00:31:25,320 --> 00:31:28,400 Speaker 2: a transfer to Castaic, an hour north on the Sheriff's 501 00:31:28,400 --> 00:31:31,040 Speaker 2: wayside Honor Farm, where he was now serving out the 502 00:31:31,120 --> 00:31:35,240 Speaker 2: remainder of his sentence. Mitcham appreciated the break that Hughes 503 00:31:35,480 --> 00:31:39,360 Speaker 2: visit loud nine hours a day making cement blocks did 504 00:31:39,360 --> 00:31:42,200 Speaker 2: a fucking number on your back. Hughes was there on 505 00:31:42,240 --> 00:31:45,600 Speaker 2: a good willnession, keeping his altar you go Happy despite 506 00:31:45,720 --> 00:31:49,480 Speaker 2: current circumstances, and making known that RKO had his back. 507 00:31:50,360 --> 00:31:54,200 Speaker 2: In fact, Hughes came bearing good news. Mitcham's stock was 508 00:31:54,240 --> 00:31:57,680 Speaker 2: continuing to go up Rea for Madness, and all his 509 00:31:57,840 --> 00:32:00,400 Speaker 2: latest pictures, Blood on the Moon and Reached and the 510 00:32:00,440 --> 00:32:03,640 Speaker 2: Stranger were doing bang up business at the box office. 511 00:32:04,400 --> 00:32:07,560 Speaker 2: Rachel and the Stranger in particular was shaping up to 512 00:32:07,640 --> 00:32:11,400 Speaker 2: be RKO's biggest movie of the year thanks to Mitcham's 513 00:32:11,400 --> 00:32:15,360 Speaker 2: Devil May Care profile. And that was all well and good. 514 00:32:15,480 --> 00:32:19,200 Speaker 2: But Robert Mitcham needed more than good news. He needed 515 00:32:19,240 --> 00:32:22,480 Speaker 2: fifty thousand dollars to pay his legal fees and then 516 00:32:22,560 --> 00:32:25,160 Speaker 2: some more dough to buy a nice house for his family. 517 00:32:26,000 --> 00:32:29,480 Speaker 2: Hughes said he'd front Mitcham the money, no problem. Money 518 00:32:29,560 --> 00:32:32,000 Speaker 2: was one thing that was never a problem for a 519 00:32:32,040 --> 00:32:35,480 Speaker 2: guy like Howard Hughes, and because he liked Mitcham so 520 00:32:35,680 --> 00:32:39,120 Speaker 2: damn much, Hughes would only charge Mitcham five percent interest 521 00:32:39,200 --> 00:32:42,720 Speaker 2: on the loan. Hughes left Mitcham at wayside on her 522 00:32:42,840 --> 00:32:46,400 Speaker 2: firm with one final gift, a brown paper bag full 523 00:32:46,480 --> 00:32:55,800 Speaker 2: of vitamins. Those were on the house. After sixty days 524 00:32:55,840 --> 00:33:01,120 Speaker 2: in County lockup. Freedom tasted pretty damn good. Tequila tasted 525 00:33:01,200 --> 00:33:05,440 Speaker 2: even better. Robert Mitcham was dos Vaso's deep when he 526 00:33:05,560 --> 00:33:11,560 Speaker 2: visualized it the revenge. First, he was going to go 527 00:33:11,600 --> 00:33:14,560 Speaker 2: to the hardware store. He was going to buy three things, 528 00:33:15,040 --> 00:33:19,719 Speaker 2: a corn cob, a can of gasoline, and a whip. Next, 529 00:33:19,760 --> 00:33:21,560 Speaker 2: he was going to head over to that snake ex 530 00:33:21,640 --> 00:33:25,959 Speaker 2: manager of his, Paul Bernan's place, unannounced, used the element 531 00:33:25,960 --> 00:33:29,720 Speaker 2: of surprise to his benefit. Then he would douse the 532 00:33:29,760 --> 00:33:32,840 Speaker 2: corn cob in gasoline, shove the goddamn thing up the 533 00:33:32,880 --> 00:33:37,080 Speaker 2: backstabbing X manager's asshole, and light it on fire. As 534 00:33:37,080 --> 00:33:39,640 Speaker 2: that little prick ran the length of Sunset Boulevard and 535 00:33:39,680 --> 00:33:42,080 Speaker 2: the dead and knight howling in pain while his dirty, 536 00:33:42,120 --> 00:33:45,520 Speaker 2: rotten fink ass went up in flames. Mitcham would chase 537 00:33:45,600 --> 00:33:47,760 Speaker 2: him with the whip and beat him bloody raw with it. 538 00:33:50,280 --> 00:33:54,280 Speaker 2: Solid fucking planet, no shit. That really was Robert Mitchum's plan. 539 00:33:55,000 --> 00:33:57,800 Speaker 2: At least it was until the tequila buzz wore off 540 00:34:00,640 --> 00:34:04,680 Speaker 2: in the morning. Robert Mitcham's cooler had prevailed. Probably a 541 00:34:04,680 --> 00:34:07,160 Speaker 2: good idea not to wind back up in the clink 542 00:34:07,520 --> 00:34:10,600 Speaker 2: having just been released, and all probably an even worse 543 00:34:10,640 --> 00:34:14,440 Speaker 2: idea to exact psychotic revenge while serving his two year probation, 544 00:34:15,160 --> 00:34:17,880 Speaker 2: and the only thing he should be punching was the clock. 545 00:34:18,400 --> 00:34:20,200 Speaker 2: He needed to get back to work and put some 546 00:34:20,239 --> 00:34:23,880 Speaker 2: food on the table, so instead Mitcham told the cops 547 00:34:23,880 --> 00:34:26,680 Speaker 2: about how Berman had made his hard earned money disappear 548 00:34:26,719 --> 00:34:29,640 Speaker 2: when he was in the actress employ turns out the 549 00:34:29,680 --> 00:34:31,960 Speaker 2: guy was already up for grand theft for ripping off 550 00:34:31,960 --> 00:34:35,759 Speaker 2: another poor bastard lyla leads. The actress who rented the 551 00:34:35,800 --> 00:34:39,040 Speaker 2: house where the marijuana bust happened and who also once 552 00:34:39,080 --> 00:34:43,280 Speaker 2: employed Barman as her manager, offered testimony on Barman's character 553 00:34:43,360 --> 00:34:46,440 Speaker 2: as well, and it wasn't good because the guy was 554 00:34:46,480 --> 00:34:49,120 Speaker 2: no good and the state said Berman to San Quentin 555 00:34:49,280 --> 00:34:54,719 Speaker 2: to atone for his sins. Robert Mitcham was satisfied he 556 00:34:54,760 --> 00:34:58,320 Speaker 2: didn't need proof of Paul Berman's involvement and is getting pinched. 557 00:34:58,680 --> 00:35:00,759 Speaker 2: If the guy did it well, he was sitting in 558 00:35:00,760 --> 00:35:04,799 Speaker 2: a jail cell. Now good enough, Lylah leads. However, she 559 00:35:04,960 --> 00:35:08,480 Speaker 2: kept squawking that the bust was a frame job, a setup, 560 00:35:08,920 --> 00:35:12,640 Speaker 2: and the district attorney was actually listening. Lilah suggested that 561 00:35:12,680 --> 00:35:16,400 Speaker 2: her roommate, Vicky Evans she may have been involved. She 562 00:35:16,560 --> 00:35:18,520 Speaker 2: was the only one who didn't smoke Reefer that night 563 00:35:18,560 --> 00:35:20,840 Speaker 2: of the bust. She had conveniently opened the door and 564 00:35:20,920 --> 00:35:24,000 Speaker 2: let the lapd waltz right in. But why does she 565 00:35:24,080 --> 00:35:28,080 Speaker 2: do it? For whom? The DA looked Lilah in the eyes. 566 00:35:28,600 --> 00:35:32,880 Speaker 2: Are you saying your roommate double crossed you? Lylah's attorney 567 00:35:32,960 --> 00:35:37,480 Speaker 2: leaned over and whispered two words in her ear no comment. 568 00:35:39,760 --> 00:35:44,399 Speaker 2: Two years passed, Robert Mitchum's probationary period came to an end. 569 00:35:44,960 --> 00:35:48,520 Speaker 2: He was back to working regularly, and the rolls poured in. 570 00:35:49,280 --> 00:35:53,000 Speaker 2: He minded his own damn business. Years later, once he 571 00:35:53,120 --> 00:35:56,800 Speaker 2: was free from his RKO contract, he minded his business 572 00:35:56,920 --> 00:36:00,200 Speaker 2: more than most. He founded his own production company. He 573 00:36:00,320 --> 00:36:03,360 Speaker 2: ditched his agent and took only the roles that he wanted. 574 00:36:04,200 --> 00:36:06,239 Speaker 2: Some of the roles would be the greatest of his 575 00:36:06,360 --> 00:36:10,160 Speaker 2: long and storied career. However, the rumors of a frame 576 00:36:10,239 --> 00:36:14,040 Speaker 2: up surrounding his nineteen forty eight arrest never really went away. 577 00:36:14,560 --> 00:36:16,920 Speaker 2: And it wasn't just the names of ex managers and 578 00:36:17,040 --> 00:36:21,640 Speaker 2: struggling dancers that were bandied about. The LAPD was implicated 579 00:36:21,680 --> 00:36:25,680 Speaker 2: more than a few times, specifically, there's zealous need to 580 00:36:25,719 --> 00:36:28,880 Speaker 2: get good publicity out of their war on drugs in Hollywood, 581 00:36:29,200 --> 00:36:33,319 Speaker 2: no matter the cost. So in the interests of all 582 00:36:33,400 --> 00:36:38,200 Speaker 2: parties involved, the arrest was quietly expunged from Mitcham's permanent 583 00:36:38,280 --> 00:36:43,240 Speaker 2: record like it never happened. But there were no front 584 00:36:43,280 --> 00:36:46,719 Speaker 2: page articles to spread the good news. You only got 585 00:36:46,760 --> 00:36:49,880 Speaker 2: space on the front page when you were busted, not 586 00:36:50,200 --> 00:36:54,279 Speaker 2: when you were vindicated, no matter frame job or no 587 00:36:54,880 --> 00:36:58,799 Speaker 2: Robert Mitcham was still caught smoking gauge and he'd keep 588 00:36:58,840 --> 00:37:02,600 Speaker 2: on smoking gauge. He didn't hide that fact. He didn't 589 00:37:02,680 --> 00:37:05,719 Speaker 2: give a fuck. And if you truly don't give a fuck, 590 00:37:06,160 --> 00:37:12,080 Speaker 2: then you ought to be in pictures. I'm Jake Brennan 591 00:37:12,680 --> 00:37:30,239 Speaker 2: and this is hollywood Land. Hollywood Land was created by 592 00:37:30,320 --> 00:37:33,520 Speaker 2: Years Truly and is produced in partnership with Double Elvis. 593 00:37:34,320 --> 00:37:37,000 Speaker 2: Follow like rate and review hollywood Land wherever you get 594 00:37:37,040 --> 00:37:39,360 Speaker 2: your podcasts and get in touch with us on social media. 595 00:37:39,520 --> 00:37:42,640 Speaker 2: At Double Elvis. If you like Hollywood Land, check out 596 00:37:42,640 --> 00:37:45,560 Speaker 2: my other show, the award winning Disgraceland, which looks at 597 00:37:45,560 --> 00:37:47,560 Speaker 2: the world of music through the lens of true crime. 598 00:37:47,640 --> 00:37:56,399 Speaker 2: Just search for Disgraceland or wherever you get your podcasts. Give, 599 00:37:56,800 --> 00:37:57,320 Speaker 2: Give a lo