The seven deadly sins of Hollywood (1957)

THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS OF HOLLYWOOD porary writers but because he was reported to have kicked somebody, punched somebody or pushed somebody off a pier into the sea. I said, "You seem to have got yourself into a few fights ofT screen as well." "Yes," said Mitchum, "I have followed the pattern." He went on to explain, " My screen roles have caused a great deal of personal trouble. People assume that if a character is sixteen feet tall on the screen, he will be sixteen feet tall in the street." I said, "I suppose people come up to you and say, 'Show me how tough you really are'?" "Yes," he said, "except they don't bother to talk. They just dump a tray on your head." It was really quite wrong to assume that he was a tough guy by inclination as well as by profession. "Yes," he admitted, "I was a boxer once when I was about eighteen. But I was not strong or tough. I was thin and nimble. I strongly disapproved of being struck, so I moved quickly. I sadly submit to the punishment I get on the screen. But, oh no, I couldn't face up to that sort of treatment off the screen. Do I keep fit? I take a deep breath. Nothing more arduous." If he was really such a gentle soul why, I asked, had he got this reputation of being a Hollywood rebel? "I suppose," he said, "it's because I decline invitations and don't send flowers to the columnists, and don't give Christmas gifts to the producers. In Hollywood it is the norm to pay general obeisance to the structure. I have no reason to do that. I work just as much, and I get paid just as much. For the past seven years I've had no opportunity to choose my pictures. I had to take what was given me. It's been a matter of being able to fill out the jacket they give you by pushing out your 118