Robert Mitchum and Keely Smith in Thunder Road (1958)
Vitals
Robert Mitchum as Lucas “Luke” Doolin, moonshine driver and Korean War veteran
Rillow Valley, Tennessee, Fall 1957
Film: Thunder Road
Release Date: May 10, 1958
Director: Arthur Ripley
Wardrobe Credit: Oscar Rodriguez
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Today would have been the birthday of Robert Mitchum, born August 6, 1917 in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Now one of my favorite actors, the first Mitchum movie I had ever seen was Thunder Road, the Southern-set moonshine drama that Mitch developed, produced, and performed on the soundtrack.
My introduction to Mitchum—now one of my favorite actors—was by way of Thunder Road, the Southern-set moonshine drama I had been determined to see after growing up as a fan of The Dukes of Hazzard. Twenty years before the Duke boys painted the General Lee, Mitchum’s Lucas Doolin tore through the mountains of Tennessee in his souped-up Fords, evading syndicate gunmen and revenue agents while romancing a local nightclub singer, Francie (Keely Smith).
At the time, Smith was at the height of her nightclub fame through the act with her then-husband Louis Prima, also lending her voice to a few tunes in Thunder Road. One of these, “The Whipporwhill”, was co-written by Mitchum as was the movie’s theme, “The Ballad of Thunder Road”. After all, the deep-voiced Mitch was a singer in his own right, having recorded a unique calypso album earlier in the year… but we’ll get to that later.
Thunder Road was a passion project for Robert Mitchum, who had developed the story in addition to producing, acting, and contributing on the soundtrack. He had originally intended the role of Lucas’ younger brother to go to Elvis Presley, going so far as to hand-deliver a script to the singer. Unfortunately, Colonel Tom Parker’s characteristically exorbitant demands for his client’s pay forced Mitchum to look elsewhere, eventually tapping the talents of his own son James Mitchum, making his credited screen debut playing his father’s brother. (Two decades later, James Mitchum would return to this type of material in the 1975 B-movie Moonrunners, which—due to its plot, setting, themes, characters, and Waylon Jennings narration—has been cited as a direct precursor to The Dukes of Hazzard.)
What’d He Wear?
I’ve previously documented Lucas Doolin’s hard-wearing road clothes, consisting of a dark windbreaker, striped button-down shirt, and chinos, but we also briefly see Lucas comfortably in repose for an evening with Francie as she urges him not to continue his dangerous work.
Without being intricately aware of what lined the closets of good ol’ boys during the late ’50s, I was always a little surprised to see Luke clad in this unique one-piece pullover shirt similar to those popularly worn by Harry Belafonte, the “King of Calypso” himself. I can only deduce that the costume decision was more linked to Mitchum—then going through his own calypso phase—than anything intentional to reflect Southern sartorial culture at the time.
The shirt has a broad one-piece collar, above a plunging V-neck a little deeper than the traditional “Johnny collar”. The wide sleeves are continuous with the shirt body with no seams (raglan, set-in, or otherwise), hanging almost like baggy trouser legs, ending a few inches above each wrist.
Luke’s light-colored flat front trousers are made from a pin-waled corduroy cotton cloth, styled with side pockets, jetted back pockets, and turn-ups (cuffs), which were a prevailing trend on men’s trousers during the ’50s.
Lucas wears his regular watch on his left wrist, occasionally slipping up under the open cuff of his left sleeve. Though we don’t see it enough to determine if it’s one of the Rolex watches that Mitchum was known to enjoy wearing in real life, we can at least sense that it’s the same watch he wears through the rest of Thunder Road.
Mitchum appears to be wearing the same style of shirt on the cover of the Calypso—Is Like So… album cover, leading me to believe it could be the same shirt. After all, production of Thunder Road began in September 1957, just six months after the album was recorded and certainly enough time to realistically assume Mitchum had cycled the shirt through his laundry to make the transition from album cover to silver screen. If it is the same shirt, the cloth is a light cornflower blue with three narrow white bands around the waist hem and each cuff.
What to Listen to
Calypso music’s rich history dated to 17th century Trinidad, emerging in its modern form two centuries later and often used to communicate news or protest corruption. The genre began reaching mainstream audiences in the 1930s with recordings made by prominent calypso artists like Attila the Hun, Lord Invader, Lord Kitchener, and Roaring Lion, though it wasn’t until two decades later when it would become a global sensation.
Fortunately timed to coincide with the height of interest in tropical culture, tiki drinks, and exotica, Harry Belafonte’s recording of “Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)” from his 1956 album Calypso launched the genre’s popularity to unprecedented levels, and the album itself became the first calypso record to sell more than a million copies.
Mitchum encountered true calypso during the production of Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison in Tobago when he met Lord Invader and Mighty Sparrow, and interest grew in the actor recording his own calypso album.
Robert Mitchum’s 1957 album Calypso—is like so…
Released by Capitol Records in March 1957, Calypso—is like so… consists primarily of twelve classic calypso tracks where Mitchum incorporated the traditional intonations and slang, followed by a rockabilly rendition of the roaring ’20s hit “My Honey’s Lovin’ Arms” and “The Ballad of Thunder Road”, adding another layer of overlap between Mitch’s two passion projects of the late ’50s.
“The Calypso—is like so… album cover art would have taken Pacific Theater vets back to the days of being an off-duty serviceman lounging about at a night establishments, with native ladies sauntering up to them to dance and party,” wrote David Gasten for his This Is Vintage Now review. “The cover art glows red like a tropical sunset, and Mitchum is posing with a glass and a bottle of booze, looking as though he is already a bit tipsy. The brunette model posing with him is dark-skinned, but looks as though she could pass for being a dark-skinned American girl moreso than an island girl, continuing the tradition of blending exotic fantasy with the familiarity of home that made Exotica and Tiki Culture the distinct, one-of-a-kind experience that it still is today.”
Of the album itself, Gasten concludes: “Between the entertaining stories in the West Indian accent, the fantastic and memorable hooks, and the jubilant party atmosphere in the music, the album never gets tiring to listen to.”
(The title Calypso Is Like So would also be used for Bruno Collet’s 2003 animated short film which IMDB describes as “Robert Mitchum lives in a deserted movie set.”)
What to Imbibe
A 1950s bottle of Dagger Punch Brand Jamaica rum. Source: Mixology.Recipes.
We don’t see the label of the bottle poured for Luke’s drink he enjoys as he settles in for an evening with Francie, but the cover of Calypso—is like so… prominently depicts Mitchum with a goblet of straight rum, likely poured from that bottle of Dagger Punch Brand Jamaica rum aside him on that rattan table, as he gives the photographer a knowing look.
According to a Worthpoint listing for a set of branded bar glasses:
Dagger Rum was a legendary brand of dark Jamaican rum produced by J. Wray & Nephew for a hundred years and distributed throughout the world until the late 1950s when it was finally dropped. Three Dagger 10-year-old rum, according to noted mixologist Beachbum Berry, had a “sandalwood nose, and an impossibly rich, smooth, layered taste redolent of apple, citrus and charred wood.” He added that “It puts the current dark Jamaican offerings on the market to shame, nothing in the Appleton or Meyers’s portfolio even comes close.” Dagger Rum was used to create some of the finest tiki cocktails of the 30’s through the 50’s. In July 1953, an ad was run in Cosmopolitan Magazine for Dagger aficionados to purchase this set of 8 Dagger Brand “Cloke & Dagger” glasses. Shortly thereafter, the line folded.”
So what is that evocative-sounding cocktail? Drunken Tiki tracked down a recipe for the Cloke & Dagger that the brand itself had advertised after its short-lived importation to the American market in 1953:
A wonderful new summer cooler—you’ll love it! Here’s the secret formula: 1 oz. Dagger Jamaica Rum. Fill with cola. Add a twist of orange peel or 3 dashes of orange bitters, and a sprig of mint, if desired.
Robert Mitchum, wearing his Thunder Road shirt in an unused photo for the Calypso—is like so… cover shoot, circa 1957.
How to Get the Look
Robert Mitchum’s passion projects of the late 1950s overlapped as he brought calypso-informed sartorial sensibilities to a scene in Thunder Road, dressing in the laidback style from the cover of his calypso album which, in turn, featured the rockabilly track he recorded as the film’s theme.
- Cornflower blue pullover “calypso” shirt with wide one-piece collar, deep V-neck, and continuous long sleeves
- Light pinwale corduroy flat front trousers with side pockets, jetted back pockets, and turn-ups/cuffs
- Analog watch with light-colored dial on dark leather strap
Do Yourself a Favor and…
Check out the movie.
The Quote
Honey, things aren’t so bad as they actually are.
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