Oscar Profile #44: Thomas Mitchell

Born July 11, 1892 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Thomas Mitchell was the youngest of seven children of Irish immigrants. His father was a journalist and one of his brothers became a member of President Eisenhower’s cabinet. The first person to win an Oscar, Emmy and Tony, he began acting in 1913 and was at one time part of Charles Coburn’s company of actors.

Although he had made his screen debut in 1923’s Six Cylinder Love, he did not become a recognizable screen talent until Frank Capra’s Lost Horizon in 1937 in which he played a crooked banker. That same year he gave memorable performances as Beulah Bondi’s son and Fay Bainter’s husband in Leo McCarey’s Make Way for Tomorrow and as a drunken doctor in John Ford’s The Hurricane, for which he received his first Oscar nomination. It was his five films in 1939, however, that made him one of the most acclaimed versatile actors of his day.

First up was John Ford’s Stagecoach in which he again played a drunken doctor, this time wining the Oscar for his performance, no doubt helped by his portrayals of Cary Grant’s buddy in Only Angels Have Wings; James Stewart’s friend in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington; Vivien Leigh’s father in Gone With the Wind and the King of the Beggars in The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

He again appeared in five films in 1940, most memorably as the father of the shipwrecked family in Swiss Family Robinson; as Martha Scott’s father in Our Town and as the lively Irish sailor in The Long Voyage Home.

He had almost completed filming William Dieterle’s The Devil and Daniel Webster in 1941 when an on-set accident caused a fractured skull. He was replaced by Edward Arnold, and his scenes were re-shot. He can still be seen in some long shots.

In many films throughout the 1940s, his best roles were probably as Gregory Peck’s friend in The Keys of the Kingdom and as James Stewart’s Uncle Billy in It’s a Wonderful Life.

Memorable as the town’s mayor in 1952’s High Noon, he was much on TV in the 1950s and won an Emmy in 1952 for Best Comedy Actor for his various appearances.

In 1953 he starred on Broadway as the doctor who misdiagnoses the title character in Hazel Flagg, the musical version of the Carole Lombard-Fredric March screen comedy classic, Nothing Sacred, in which he played Charles Winninger’s old role. Although clearly a supporting character, Mitchell had been top-billed over the lesser known Helen Gallagher in the title role. He became the first actor to win a Tony for a musical in which he didn’t sing, dance or do anything remotely musical. He also became the first person to win acting’s triple crown of Oscar, Emmy and Tony.

Toward the end of his life, Mitchell was back in films, most notably opposite Bette Davis in 1961’s Pocketful of Miracles, Frank Capra’s remake of his own 1933 classic, Lady for a Day.

His last role was on stage in Columbo, a role forever associated with his Oscar nominated Pocketful of Miracles co-star Peter Falk, who made the role his own on TV beginning in the 1970s.

Thomas Mitchell died December 17, 1962 at the age of 70, two days after his Hunchback of Notre Dame co-star, Charles Laughton.

ESSENTIAL FILMS

STAGECOACH (1939), directed by John Ford

Ford’s classic, with a screenplay by Dudley Nichols from Ernest Hacox’s short story, revitalized the western and made a star of John Wayne. It also provided some of the screen’s best character players a chance to shine in unexpected ways. Claire Trevor, Andy Devine, Louise Platt, John Carradine, George Bancroft, Berton Churchill, Donald Meek, Tim Holt and Tom Tyler all remain vividly etched in our collective consciousness, but best of all is Thomas Mitchell as the drunken doctor who rises to the occasion in the first of five unforgettable characters he gave us in 1939.

THE LONG VOYAGE HOME (1940), directed by John Ford

Dudley Nichols pieced together several of Eugene O’Neill’s plays from the early 1900s and updated them to give the film a then contemporary appeal. John Wayne, riding his initial success, is actually quite believable as a Swede, one of the few times he attempted an accent. Ian Hunter has perhaps the role of his career as a suspected spy and Mildred Natwick makes a stunning screen debut as a prostitute and brothers Barry Fitzgerald and Arthur Shields shine in important roles, but it again Thomas Mitchell who steals the show as a bigger-than-life Irish sailor.

THE KEYS OF THE KINGDOM (1944), directed by John M. Stahl

A.J. Cronin’s story of a Scottish missionary priest in China gave Gregory Peck the role that made him a star in only his second film. There are wonderful supporting turns by Rose Stradner as a haughty nun, Benson Fong as a faithful servant, Vincent Price as an arrogant bishop, James Gleason and Anne Revere as kindly Protestant missionaries and more, but the most memorable character may once again well be Thomas Mitchell as Peck’s best friend, an atheist doctor who gives his life in the aid of his friend and his Church.

IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE (1961), directed by Frank Capra

There is no question that this is James Stewart’s film from beginning to end, but helping him along the way are some marvelous supporting players, including Donna Reed as his wife, Lionel Barrymore as his nemesis and Henry Travers as his guardian angel. Beulah Bondi, who played Stewart’s mother in various incarnations from the 1920s to the 1970s, is once again his mother here, and Thomas Mitchell, who played her son in Make Way for Tomorrow, is her brother-in-law this time around as absent-minded Uncle Billy.

POCKETFUL OF MIRACLES (1961), directed by Frank Capra

Frank Capra’s remake of his own Depression Era comedy, Lady for a Day drew deservedly mixed reviews from the critics, most of whom agreed with Bette Davis’ gripe that producer/star Glenn Ford spent too much screen time on then girlfriend Hope Lange’s showgirl character and not enough on the emotional heart of the story involving Davis as down on her luck Apple Annie and newcomer Ann-Margret as her convent bred daughter. Thomas Mitchell plays Annie’s friend, the judge, played by Guy Kibbee opposite May Robson in the original.