Out of the Past - Trivia, Questions and Fun Facts

[discussimdb]

Fan of Out of the Past or just want to share your movie knowledge? This topic is dedicated to all trivia and questions related to Out of the Past

[scarlett]

One of the memorable lines of the film, "Baby, I don't care," was used by author Lee Server as the title of his 2001 biography of Robert Mitchum.

[kyle]

Humphrey Bogart read the script and, seeing the similarities between this and The Maltese Falcon (1941), wanted to play Jeff. However, Warner Bros. didn't buy the material and RKO produced this movie.

[kyle]

French visa # 7991.

[jamie]

The title comes from the song used as background music throughout the movie: "You Keep Coming Back Like a Song." The title is also the last line; the line before it is: "From out of the past, where forgotten things belong."

[leo]

PCA director Joseph I. Breen rejected early drafts of the script in which "Kathie" is shown living with both "Whit" and "Jeff" without being married. Noting in a June 12, 1946, letter that "such a brazen portrayal of gross illicit sex is in violation of the Code," Breen strongly recommended that the novel not be filmed. However, after changes had been made in two different scripts, Breen softened his objections and stated that, as long as Kathie does not appear to be living with Jeff, the story would be approved. In the film, Kathie and Jeff's living arrangements are left rather vague. Breen also objected to Jeff's "deliberate suicide" at the end, but agreed that his demise was morally necessary.

[gerald]

Jane Greer's first scene in the movie with Robert Mitchum was the famous kissing scene on the beach. Recalling the shooting of the scene, she said, "I'm looking at Bob and I see he has something on his mouth and it looked funny. Finally I got courage enough to say, 'Excuse me, Bob, but they've done something with your makeup; I think they messed it up. Your lips, that brown lip liner, or whatever it is, is smeared." Mitchum said, "What are you talking about?" He yelled for the makeup man. "They bring him a mirror," said Greer, "he takes a look into the mirror, and he says, "Oh, honey, that's just chawin' tabbacky." Bob wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and resumed kissing position. Greer thought, "Well, this movie is going to be different."

[elmer]

At age 15, Jane Greer was struck with facial palsy and lost all movement on the left side of her face. She gradually recovered, but it has been speculated that this contributed to her "patented look" - an enigmatic expression that would later lead RKO to promote her as "The woman with the Mona Lisa smile."

[albert]

In the mid-1970s producer Jerry Bick, who had already produced the neo-noir films The Long Goodbye (1973) and Farewell, My Lovely (1975), the latter starring Robert Mitchum as Philip Marlowe, announced plans for a new adaptation of "Build My Gallows High." He had a screenplay and a director lined up, but the project fell through.

[javier]

Dickie Moore plays "The Kid" despite barely being younger than the main actresses in the movie. For instance, there is only one year between him and leading lady Jane Greer, and less than five months between him and Virginia Huston.

[bernice]

Robert Mitchum and Jane Greer were teamed again for the RKO noir film The Big Steal (1949). While at first glance it might seem like a natural follow-up to the success of this film, Mitchum and Greer were paired up again only after very trying circumstances. Originally Lizabeth Scott, on loan from Paramount and Hal B. Wallis, was to star opposite Mitchum in the film, which had been set to start production in October of 1948. On August 31, however, Mitchum was arrested in Los Angeles on marijuana possession charges. Howard Hughes had acquired RKO just a month prior and decided to rush production and start shooting The Big Steal (1949) as soon as Mitchum was out on bail. Then Scott dropped out of the film, so Greer was brought in only at the last minute. Later, production on the film was halted for two months as Mitchum served his sentence. Daniel Mainwaring worked on the script for the film, which was directed by Don Siegel.

[brent]

Circa 1990, AMC had a similar format to TCM's. Debbie Reynolds hosted a presentation of "Out of the Past" guesting Jane Greer. Miss Greer recounted numerous fond memories of Robert Mitchum and his brotherly, protective attitude towards her. In contrast, she had nothing to say about notorious skirt-chaser Kirk Douglas.

[carl]

In terms of developing her character, Jane Greer got helpful but minimal direction from Jacques Tourneur. "Zzjjane, do you know what ahm-pahs-eeve mean?" he asked the actress. "Impassive? Yes." "No 'big eyes', no expressive. In the beginning you act like a nice girl. But then, after you kill the man you meet in the little house, you become a bad girl. Yes? First half, good girl. Second half, bad." "I get you," she said. That was his direction, Greer recalled. "But I did throw in a few big eyes anyway. I couldn't help myself." Tourneur also discussed with her his plan for the character's wardrobe, something typical of his films' subtle, insidious visual design. "At first you wear light colors. After you kill the man, darker colors. In the end, black."

[bessie]

The story takes place in Bridgeport, CA. Robert Mitchum was born in Bridgeport, CT.

[ava]

When asked in later years about the confusing storyline, Robert Mitchum's standard response was that "two or three pages were lost in the mimeo department."

[jessica]

In November 1945 J. Robert Bren was announced as producer, although Warren Duff, who is credited on screen in that capacity, had already been slated to produce.

[sylvia]

Jane Greer recalled that the laconic Robert Mitchum projected an equally cavalier attitude off camera. She got the impression that he came to the set unprepared, in order to give a more spontaneous performance. She explained, "I remember him saying 'What are the lyrics?' to the script person. 'I never know the lyrics,' he'd say, and she would give him the lines. I said, 'You don't learn your lines beforehand?' and he'd said, 'Naah.' Gosh, I learned mine a week ahead of time. I thought that might be part of why he seemed so much more spontaneous, why he was so easy and underplayed. I decided I'd do that, not be letter-perfect. So I tried learning my lines under the dryer in the morning. I hoped I'd look as though I was thinking. But I blew take after take, and he was letter-perfect. Well, I figured out later that, of course, he knew the lines."

[jesse]

Two lines from this film ("Do you wanna talk business or do you wanna play house" and "I'm tired of gettin' pushed around") were sampled in an early house music track entitled "Tired of Getting Pushed Around." It was the only song released by 2 Men, a Drum Machine and a Trumpet, which was comprised of two of the three members of the band Fine Young Cannibals (who took their name from the film All the Fine Young Cannibals (1960)).

[bernice]

Robert Mitchum told Roger Ebert he smoked so much that when the camera was rolling and Kirk Douglas offered him a pack and asked, "Cigarette?" Mitchum, realizing he'd carried a cigarette into the scene, held up his fingers and replied, "Smoking." His improvisation saved the take and they kept it in the movie.

[brent]

Jane Greer reported that wardrobe department once dressed her and sent her to set in an outfit that was incomplete: the back side wasn't finished. The dressers knew only her front side would be filmed in this particular scene, so they justified saving the time and expense of completing the outfit. Greer explained her acquiescence to this as something along the lines of "I was 22 years old. I was just happy to be in a movie. I wasn't going to complain." Mitchum, however, threw a rod. "This is the leading lady of the film! Take this dress and don't come back until it's finished, etc.," Greer recalls him saying. Ultimately the dress was finished before the scene was filmed.