At the age of 73 Robert Mitchum embarked on one of the most unusual projects
in his career. Probably no one ever associated Mitchum with doing a family
situation comedy. But here he was in a pilot for such a show in A Family For Joe.
The four Bankston kids who lost both parents in a plane crash are about to be split up and they don't want that. They have a grandfather who no one has seen
in 40 years since he walked out on the family. So they go grandpa hunting.
They find Mitchum sleeping in a cardboard box and homeless and when he
saves them from being mugged. He might be just the ticket. And of course
he grows i to the job.
I can't help thinking that Robert Mitchum who actually spent time on a Georgia chain gang and as a hobo on the road in his youth understood this man well.
What you see is Mitchum if he had never followed the life path that led him to
Hollywood, he channeled those experiences good.
One thing that must have given some a jolt is Mitchum of all people warning the oldest kid Chris Furth against the evils of demon weed. His marijuana smoking nearly ended a budding career in 1949. But you nary see a tongue
bulging in the man's cheek.
The show was picked up but did not last. I guess it was a bit too old fashioned
for the 90s. Still it's a pleasant bit of family viewing.
