Robert Mitchum’s Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison performance is one of the most restrained and tender of his career. Rather interestingly, the 1957 war drama could have looked dramatically different if the role of U.S. Marine Corporal Allison had been played by other Old Hollywood legends — legends who almost got this part.
Before Mitchum became Corporal Allison, both John Wayne and Kirk Douglas were connected to the role during the project’s long and complicated journey to the screen.
Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison eventually became an unusually intimate World War II picture built largely around the chemistry between Mitchum and Deborah Kerr. Yet several years of rights deals, changing directors, and proposed stars preceded the iconic film that audiences know today.
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John Wayne Intended to Play Allison Before Kirk Douglas Entered the Picture
According to the American Film Institute, producer Eugene Frenke purchased the rights to Charles Shaw’s novel in July 1952. Financing difficulties later forced him to give up the rights temporarily. This led to John Wayne and producer Robert Fellows attempting to acquire the property by December 1953, with Wayne intending to play Allison himself.
Of course, that version never happened. Frenke eventually regained control of the rights to Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison, and Wayne was subsequently replaced by Kirk Douglas. Then, rights to the novel got complicated yet again when Paramount entered negotiations for the property. William Wyler was even slated to direct at one point!
After Charles Feldman later acquired the rights, 20th Century-Fox bought the film rights to the novel by June 1954. 20th Century-Fox had plans to develop the movie as a Clark Gable vehicle — which is very interesting for us Old Hollywood fans to think about. Anthony Mann was also attached to direct at this time, though John Huston eventually took over.
Finally, with Huston on board, production of Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison officially began in August 1956.
Throughout these years, before Mitchum was ever considered for the part, none other than John Wayne, Kirk Douglas, and Clark Gable were connected to the movie!
Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison Needed Robert Mitchum Opposite Deborah Kerr
Fans of this classic film know that it needed both Mitchum and Kerr to succeed. Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison is set during World War II and follows Allison as he reaches an isolated South Pacific island after being stranded at sea. There, he discovers Sister Angela (Kerr), an Irish nun who has also been left behind. Their precarious situation becomes even more dangerous when Japanese forces arrive on the island.
From there, Huston’s iconic film is less interested in conventional combat spectacle — and much more intrigued by the relationship between two people whose lives are governed by very different forms of commitment.
Mitchum as Allison was especially effective casting. At this point in his career, Mitchum had shown that he could project menace in an almost effortless way, thanks to his roles in movies like Out of the Past and, most crucially, The Night of the Hunter.
However, his performance in Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison is remarkable because he holds back. Though Allison can be rough, Mitchum plays the marine’s growing attachment to Sister Angela with respect, vulnerability, and awkwardness — and not the swagger that so many know Mitchum can pull off.
Of course, the chemistry between Kerr and Mitchum is no joke. The two developed a genuine rapport together during the shooting of this film. In fact, they became such great friends that Mitchum reportedly tended to Kerr’s sore feet after many difficult takes!
Robert Mitchum Made Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison a Classic
It’s hard to imagine this film with anyone else in Allison’s spot, save Mitchum. Wayne or Douglas could certainly have supplied the role with star power — as could Gable, though his career wasn’t what it once was by the time the 1950s rolled around — but each would have brought substantially different screen presences to this film. Mitchum’s wonderful performance here is the contrast between his rather imposing exterior and Allison’s emotional uncertainty and vulnerability.
The finished result of Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison worked. Perhaps it still would have with Wayne or Douglas… but perhaps not. Perhaps this film needed the combined efforts of Huston, Mitchum, and Kerr.
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Hit the comments below with your own opinions about Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison! Do you think this movie would have worked with John Wayne, Kirk Douglas, or Clark Gable as Allison? Or was Mitchum the irreplaceable choice? Comment all your thoughts below!
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