His Kind of Woman (1951)

This deliciously over-the-top, noirish thriller, with large doses of comedy, has lived more in legend for me than in actual viewing for a long time. I saw it once as a kid, and then again this week, courtesy of Turner Classic Movies. It holds up well... with Robert Mitchum and Jane Russell perfectly paired with their dark, heavy-lidded, curled-lip good looks and their insouciant cool.



The plot is interesting: A gambler, played by Mitchum, is drawn into a plot whereby a notorious off-shore gambler is making his return to the U.S., but needs a new "face" to avoid detection. Russell is the dame, and she gets to sing a couple of songs too. A great supporting cast includes Raymond Burr, Jim Backus and Vincent Price, who has a great time chewing the scenery as a Hollywood star who decides to transfer his action hero persona into real life.

It's directed by John Farrow (Mia's father) with costumes by Howard Greer. I mention the latter credit as Jane Russell's dresses are so gorgeous, and she looks so gorgeous in them. When I was growing up, watching old movies with my folks, the costumers, make-up artists and composers were always our favourite credits, because we had learned to recognize the names and would always call them out. "Ben Nye!" "Max Steiner!" "Edith Head!" "Adrian!" Yes... a strange family in some ways. Hee hee.



Mitchum and Russell were to be paired again the following year for Macao (1952), which has one of the great taglines: "A sultry chanteuse, a hunk on the lam and a fortune in stolen gems." I'm sold!

What I don't get is why Mitchum and Russell didn't make more films together...