Robert Mitchum and the Marijuana Charge

Robert Mitchum Sweeps His Jail Cell

Credit: Bettman/Corbis

Long before Charlie Sheen was making headlines for drug busts actor Robert Mitchum was making the front page as Hollywood's bad boy. During his lifetime, Mitchum would have a few encounters with the law. When Mitchum was just a teenager he had left home to live the hobo lifestyle, hopping trains going cross country. On one occasion in 1932, when Mitchum was sixteen,  the young man hopped off a train at a stop in Savannah to get some food and was arrested for vagrancy. Mitchum was sentenced to serve on a chain gang. 

But, Mitchum was lucky that he was only busted for vagrancy. During his hobo days Mitchum picked up a lifelong habit of smoking marijuana. Sometimes during those long train rides the marijuana helped kill the boredom or when passing through northern states during the harsh winter months, smoking marijuana made the extreme weather conditions tolerable. Mitchum got to the point that during his train travels he could distinguish the different varieties of marijuana one could encounter. When Mitchum would make has way west to Hollywood his interest in marijuana went with him and would be the subject of one of his most notorious scandals. 

By 1948, Mitchum had become a recognizable actor, particularly with  the bobby-soxer crowd who liked the bad boy image that he was beginning to be identified with. On August 31, 1948 an event would take place that would only add to Mitchum's reputation. Mitchum and his friend Robin Ford, a real estate agent, visited a young actress named Lila Leeds and her friend Vickie Evans at a house Leeds rented in Laurel Canyon. The four were taking turns passing around a joint when suddenly a crash was heard at the back of the house. A group of cops had made their way into the home and arrested the group for drugs.

Mitchum and the rest of the party would be tried by Judge Clement Nye. Mitchum pleaded not guilty but  Nye found them guilty, sentencing Mitchum to two years of probation, sixty days of which would be spent behind bars.

Los Angeles Hall of Justice

Above is a photo of the Los Angeles Hall of Justice building in downtown Los Angeles located at 210 West Temple Street. The 14-story building was built in 1922 and housed the Los Angeles County Courts, Los Angeles County Coroner, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office, and the Los Angeles County District Attorney. It was also the primary LA County jail until the 1994, Northridge Earthquake. The building was damaged in the earthquake and has sat abandoned ever since, although there are plans to move back into the building. It really is a nice looking building and is a shame that it is not being used.

The Hall of Justice building was where Mitchum served fifty days in jail but Mitchum isn't the only well known personality to stay there. Bugsy Siegel, Charles Manson, and Sirhan Sirhan (Robert Kennedy's murderer) have all spent time at the Hall of Justice in the jails which were located in the top five floors of the building. In the basement of the building was the City Morgue and is where the autopsy of Marilyn Monroe was performed.

Mitchum also served time at the Sheriff's Honor Farm north of Los Angeles. Most of of Mitchum's day was spent working on the farm making concrete blocks. The actor would wake at 5am, have breakfast, work until a short lunch break and then go back to work until the evening. During Mitchum's jail time, Howard Hughes, who was then in charge of RKO studios where Mitchum was under contract, was preparing Mitchum's post-jail career.

While such publicity would kill the career of many actors Mitchum's star would continue to rise. The negative publicity probably boosted his career and in the eyes of some only reinforced the image they already had of the actor.

Out of the Past (1947) - Film Locations

Main Street, Los Angeles as seen in Out of the Past

In the classic noir film Out of the Past, Robert Mitchum plays a private eye trying to escape his past. In the film, Mitchum's character is taken to many different locations: New York, Mexico, San Francisco and for a short time Los Angeles. We don't see much of the City of Angels but we do get a glimpse of Mitchum driving his car down a stretch of Main Street near the Los Angeles City Hall building. Above is a shot of  Mitchum driving down Main Street in the direction of City Hall. Below is the same view down Main Street today.

Looking down Main Street, Los Angeles

Robert Mitchum drives past Brunswig Drug building.

Brunswig Drug Co building. Main Street, Los Angeles

You can see from the two images above that the Brunswig Drug Co building is still standing. In fact it was refurbished not long ago. Even the church on the right is still standing, however, the buildings inbetween have been demolished since the the time of the film and is now a vacant lot.

The screenshot below is the building that would have stood to the right of the church but this building has also been torn down.

Robert Mitchum driving down Main Street, Los Angeles

Nuestra Senora Reina de Los Angeles

Above is a closer look at Nuestra Senora Reina de Los Angeles, the church seen in the film. The original church was established in another location in 1784. Eventually a new church was built at this location in 1822 and then later rebuilt in 1861 using materials from the original structure. The church stands right in front of the plaza to the famous Mexican market place, Olvera Street, the oldest part of downtown Los Angeles.

UPDATE: August 15, 2010

Just got word that over at Laura's Miscellaneous Musings blog Laura has recently captured some of the Out of the Past film location sites in Bridgeport, California. Check it out here.