Bullet Points: Trackdown (1976)

Robert Mitchum had two Hollywood legacies. First and foremost was his body of work that spanned more than five decades. Mitchum’s filmography includes such classic films as 1945’s Story of G.I. Joe, 1955’s The Night of the Hunter, 1962’s Cape Fear, 1976’s Midway, 1988’s Scrooged (my personal favorite) and 1991’s Cape Fear.

But Robert Mitchum’s other Hollywood legacy may not be as well known… I am speaking of his progeny Chris and James Mitchum. Neither Chris nor James achieved the notoriety of their father but both followed in their father’s footsteps and kept busy in the acting game for multiple decades.

In this installment of Bullet Points, I will take a look back at James Mitchum in 1976’s Trackdown…

• Bye Bye Big Sky: Betsy Calhoun (Karen Lam) is a 17 year old girl living in Montana with her mother, who is driving her crazy and her older brother Jim (James Mitchum, Stickfighter), who has done his best to keep the peace between the two most important women in his life. But when Jim goes out of town for a few days on ranching business, Betsy bolts to Los Angeles and she quickly finds out she’s not in Kansas Montana any more.

• The Chuchosen One: When Betsy arrives in town she finds herself on Hollywood Boulevard and she quickly catches the eye of a street gang, who use Chucho (Erik Estrada, Light Blast) to help them steal Betsy’s purse and suit case. Chucho owed the gang some money and was promised his debt would be erased if he distracted Betsy, allowing the gang to swoop in and steal her stuff. Chucho does it… Betsy’s world falls apart… but Chucho falls in love and is lining up a secretary job for her, taking her dancing and letting her stay at his place until she gets on her feet.
• Gang Bang: Unfortunately for Betsy and Chucho, the street gang decides that they don’t just want Betsy’s stuff… they want Betsy. Chucho gets a phone call in the middle of the night and he goes outside to confront the gang, they beat the crap out of him, then go up to his apartment and have their way with Betsy.

• Big Brother is Watching: When Betsy first arrived in Los Angeles, she did call her brother to let her know where she was, so it is no surprise when Jim Calhoun and his cowboy attire make their way to the City of Angels. Jim is there for one reason, to track down his sister and bring her home. Jim’s first stop in L.A. is the missing persons bureau where he meets a dead end dealing with Sergeant Miller. Jim is eventually directed to a home for troubled women run by Lynn Strong (Cathy Lee Crosby, Ablaze)… Lynn ends ups becoming Jim’s guide to L.A. as she helps him with his search for his sister.
• Out of the Frying Pan: Betsy’s world is about to be turned upside down yet again… after the gang is done with her, they drug her up and sell her to Johnny Dee, a nefarious criminal in Los Angeles who runs girls with the help of his right hand woman, Barbara (Anne Archer, Green Ice). Barbara takes Betsy to her swanky apartment, cleans her up and even buys her a whole new wardrobe… then she delivers the hard sell on the world’s oldest profession and convinces Betsy to give it a try. Betsy finds herself swept up in her new life as she is making more money in one night than she had seen in her entire life, but things take a turn when Betsy has a client who is into the “rough stuff” and when Betsy attempts to defend herself, she ends up severely beaten…

• Dee-Day: Meanwhile back to our rancher Jim Calhoun, Jim and Lynn get word that Betsy was seen out and about with Chucho. So Jim and Lynn track down Chucho and he eventually tells Jim about the gang that took Betsy and that trail eventually leads Jim to Johnny Dee! Despite Lynn and Chucho’s best efforts to prevent Jim from taking the law into his own hands, Jim goes ahead and does it anyway and the result is the action level really ramps up including Jim driving his truck through one of Johnny Dee’s properties and some elevator shaft action as Jim tries to get to Johnny Dee’s secure penthouse office.

Trackdown was the first time I had the pleasure of watching James Mitchum in a starring role and I do mean pleasure. Mitchum brought the all important believability to the role of Jim Calhoun. Mitchum doesn’t exactly jump off the screen, but the storyline being what it was, with Jim Calhoun being a stranger in a strange land helped him stand out and all eyes were on what he was going to do next to find his beloved sister.

It wasn’t easy but I was able to track down some Trackdown Bonus Bullet Points…

• If You Ever: …wanted to see some cross-dressers attempt to mug Jim Mitchum in an alley, then Trackdown is the movie for you.
• The Name Game: Not to be confused with the 1950’s TV series Trackdown starring Robert Culp as a Texas Ranger or 1983’s TV movie Trackdown: Finding the Goodbar starring George Segal and Paulie Walnut’s favorite, Shelly Hack.
• Pick Up Line: If Trackdown is to be believed, mistaking a beautiful woman for the younger sister of a famous Hollywood actress is a sure fire pick up line.
• If You Ever: …wanted to see Tony Burton portray a cross-dresser, then Trackdown is the movie for you.