The Last Time I Saw Archie (1961)

No one will ever rate The Last Time I Saw Archie as one of Robert Mitchum's greatest films. But it does and Mitchum does have a certain droll quality that makes it passably amusing, at least to me.This is believe it or not a true story based on the memoir of screenwriter William Bowers played here by Jack Webb who produced and directed the film, on another film person, one Arch Hall, Sr. In real life Hall spent several years trying to make his son Arch Hall, Jr. a film star. He in my opinion topped Ed Wood in the making of bad films that starred his son. If what I saw in the film was any indication of what he was in real life, the senior Hall had to be one of the greatest conmen that ever lived to have wheedled out money from people to produce what he did. Such classics as Eegah and The Choppers are on his list of film credits.Mitchum plays Hall and from the day he and Webb join the Army Air Corps, Mitchum displays a genius for conning everybody around. People do need at least one confidante in life and Webb kind of falls into the role. Around the same time there was a British film called On The Fiddle which starred a pre-James Bond Sean Connery and there is a lot of similarity.Any film that has such funny people as Don Knotts, Joe Flynn, Harvey Lembeck,Robert Strauss and Louis Nye is definitely worth a look. None of these guys do their best work in The Last Time I Saw Archie, but still they help moves this film along, especially Lembeck and Strauss as a couple of dimwitted sergeants who are the chief victims of Mitchum's roguish ways. France Nuyen and Martha Hyer nicely decorate the film in the two female roles of size. Production values were lacking, according to Lee Server's definitive book on Robert Mitchum it only had a four week shooting schedule and it looked like it was mostly shot on a television sound stage. Still it does give us a few chuckles.But now after seeing this again for the first time in about 35 years and after seeing some of Arch Hall's work on screen I think there definitely is an Oscar winning film here. Johnny Depp, I hope you read this review.

This is an amazingly odd film--one very few people would expect to have been directed by and co-starring Jack Webb. Yes, it's THE Jack Webb--you know, Sgt. Joe Friday from DRAGNET. Here, his character is a lot less stiff and formal. In fact, the soldier he plays is a friend to one of the laziest and least patriotic soldiers in WWII--the title character ("Archie") played by Robert Mitchum. The film seems to have been a comedy about Archie's experiences in the Army Air Corps and his many slick ways he went about shirking.The problem with this film is three-fold. First, the whole idea of a person serving in this war who was totally selfish and a user isn't exactly something most people want to see. You just can't connect with or care about Mitchum at all in the film. In fact, you may find yourself wanting to bust his character in the mouth! Second, if you are waiting for Archie to get his comeuppance, then you may as well stop waiting. Like real life, Archie is a bull-crap shoveler and this seems to result in him consistently being rewarded. Again, few people will want to be reminded of this. Third, while I like much of what Jack Webb did, his forte was certainly NOT comedy. In fact, when I think of Webb I just can't imagine his making a comedy--and evidently, after seeing this film, neither could the American public.Overall, the movie isn't terribly funny but at least it's different enough that it might hold your attention until the end. But it's only a time-passer--something you wouldn't expect with the cast assembled for this film.

As a huge Jack Webb fan and a huge Arch Hall (Sr. & Jr.) fan, I had long awaited the opportunity to see Jack Webb's portrayal of the life of Arch Hall Sr. I was a bit disappointed, though, when I discovered that the movie was a comedy about Arch's army career, not about his production of film greats like `Eegah' and `The Choppers.' This movie doesn't even mention his extensive prewar career making B-Westerns, preferring to imply that he had `no past.'That said, however, Robert Mitchum does an excellent job of portraying Arch, as recollected by his wartime buddy Bill Bowers (adeptly portrayed by Jack Webb himself). According to Ray Dennis Steckler, Mitchum spent time studying the real Arch Hall, learning how to make every move speak of laziness and a drive to get somebody else to do the work. Steckler (who worked with Arch on `Eegah' and `Wild Guitar') says Mitchum did him to a `T.'Bowers clearly romanticized his old friend quite a bit - if the real Arch Hall had been that good at manipulating circumstances to his favor, he would have become a Hollywood powerhouse, not a director of low-budget (if wonderful) schlock films. Nevertheless, watching Mitchum work people as Arch is enormously entertaining. I think this movie would appeal to anybody who has been in the service and dealt with the kind of ludicrous conditions that are familiar there. Mitchum as Arch gets to turn the whole system of controlled chaos to his advantage.It's too bad Don Knotts didn't get more scenes, I started laughing as soon as he appeared on the screen. Everyone in the cast shows excellent comedic sense, and Jack proves (once again) that he was not just the straight man from Dragnet - he was a visionary and talented artist with considerable range.

I had to note that the title character is none other than the producer of the Bad Film classics Wild Guitar, Eegah (also director) the Thrill Killers, and the Choppers. He is also the Dad of "star" Arch Hall Jr. Another great Webb film, and the only one he did with Mitchum. Webb should be better known for his film and radio work.