Robert Blake

What a long, and strange, career Robert Blake had. To find his movie beginning you have to go back to 1939! He was a member of the Our Gang, a beloved group of mischievous little kids. He then moved on to play Red Ryder’s Indian sidekick Little Beaver, in something like 30 westerns. 

In 2005 he was indicted for murdering his wife, Bonnie. And although he was acquitted, a civil jury later found him liable for her death to the tune of 30 million dollars. 

He lived to be 89. His film resume’ as an adult is astonishing. I’m cherry picking the best ones. Many people will remember him from his popular TV show Baretta (1975-78). He made cockatoos famous! Here are his best movies:

In Cold Blood (1967) is the movie version of Truman Capote’s true crime novel about the murder of an entire family in Kansas. Blake is convincingly creepy as Perry Smith, one of the two ex-cons who walked into the Clutter home looking for a non-existent safe. They find nothing of real value, but murder the entire Clutter family, the father, mother, daughter and son. The killers were later executed and the movie takes you right to the end. Folks, this is not an upper!

Lost Highway (1997) is an incredibly weird film, even for David Lynch. I’m not going to summarize the plot; actually I can’t ! I’m including it here because the film is about a man who is convicted of murdering his wife. Something that Blake was accused of some years later. He plays the Mystery Man and I’ll leave it to people smarter than I to figure this thing out!

Pork Chop Hill (1959) is one of the best movies about the Korean War. (There aren’t really very many). Robert Blake has a nice turn as Pvt. Velie. The American troops are assigned to assault heavily defended Pork Chop Hill as peace negotiations are dragging on. They are bogged down and getting slaughtered, but the brass refuses to send reinforcements or authorize a retreat. 

Electra Glide In Blue (1973) features Robert Blake as Arizona lawman John Wintergreen, a motorcycle cop with ambition to move up to the homicide unit. When he is busted back down to patrolling the highways, he solves a murder that has baffled the other police. Later while on patrol he stops a hippie but lets him off with a warning. When the man drops his license, Wintergreen tries to return it to him. The car’s passenger shoots the officer for no apparent reason. 

In Town Without Pity (1961) Robert Blake has to pull out all his acting chops as he portrays an American GI in Germany who participates in the rape of a German teenager. Blake somehow manages to make this character at least somewhat sympathetic. He is the only one of the four defendants with any regrets and he tries to defuse the situation. 

All of the films in this article are for grown-ups.