MovieChat Forums > The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1973) Discussion > 'Hell, I'm almost 51 years old!'

'Hell, I'm almost 51 years old!'

posted 13 years ago by JayCeezy
3 replies | jump to latest

What a line. And the follow-up, "That's your reason, what's mine?" Eddie Coyle/Robert Mitchum is explaining why he can't do any more prison time.

Anyway, his mouth moved like a Japanese dubbing. Wow. I had to rewind a few times, but what Coyle/Mitchum is saying is, "...almost 45 years old!" LOL! According to his bio, he was 55 when this was filmed. But he looks 65, with all the hard liquor, cigarettes and showbiz knocks.

Great movie, recently saw Peter Yates' 'Bullit' and both are really fun noir-action films.

[–] bookrefuge 13 years ago

Hey, that’s quite an observation. I just checked my copy of the novel, and in the novel Coyle DOES tell Foley he’s almost 45. After shooting the scene, they must have decided Mitchum looked too old for 45, split the difference, and dubbed in “51.”

[–] pablo-taylor 12 years ago

By 1970's standards Mitchum did not look 65 in Eddie Coyle he was in great shape during this period and still convincingly taking lead roles in movies like The Yakuza, Farewell My Lovely and Ryan's Daughter. I can think of actors who actually were 45-ish at the time and looked much older.

It wasn't really until the 1980's that his lifestyle started to catch up with him and he seemed to age dramatically over a short space of time.

[–] WarpedRecord 11 years ago

Thanks for the necessary perspective, pablo-taylor. I think Robert Mitchum was in great shape here for any age, and 51 seems about right here. I also noticed that the lips didn't match the words when he gave his age.