Robert Mitchum was cast as Preacher Harry Powell -- the itinerant minister who had "Love" tattooed on one hand fingers and "Hate" on the other. At one time, Laurence Olivier was mad for the Preacher's part. Gregory originally wanted Olivier to do it. "The whole performance would have taken on a different sound and form." But Gregory couldn't wait two years for Larry to complete other projects. Robert Mitchum was very eager for the part of the preacher. When he auditioned, a moment that particularly impressed Charles Laughton was when Laughton described the character as "a diabolical shit." Mitchum promptly answered, "Present!" Laughton liked Mitchum for the role. "So, I'm stuck with him," Gregory said. "I had taken out a loan for $700,000 to make the picture. I had scheduled a starting date to start filming the feature using that money. We were paying interest on the bloody money. On one side of the business, it's an absolute hierarchy of bookkeeping, and on the other, it is a bunch of children playing around in the mud building mud castles. It's timing is ridiculous." Mitchum was one of the first Hollywood nonconformists, before Marlon Brando or James Dean. In the late 1940s Mitchum did two months in county jail for possession of marijuana. In the interview, Gregory continued, "You know, all these people today want to know -- if -- Mitchum was a wonderful guy. Bob was awful. He'd be drunk. He'd urinate on the set. I had to hire a policeman to go by his house in the morning to make sure he was up and ready to go to work. I was from another mold. You pay people a lot of money and you have a right to get back what you paid them for. Mitchum didn't behave that way. It was all a lark all the time...fun fun fun. I don't know what Mitchum's range was as an actor. I consider him a lucky man. He played himself and was very effective in the part." Mitchum worried Charles to death. Gregory thought Mitchum tired Laughton who went into a long lapse after the film was completed. "Charles didn't even want to read a book. He started going to a doctor and got shots. It took a lot out of Charles." Laughton used to say to Gregory: "That goddamn Mitchum: he's got so much stuff." And: "That son of a bitch. Why is he the way he is?" Laughton had to pull to get out of Mitchum what he got out of him. James Gleason, a veteran character actor, played Uncle Birdie. Mr. Gleason was an old pro. The difference between Gleason and Mitchum was night and day; Lillian Gish was wonderful. At their initial meeting, Lillian Gish asked Charles Laughton why he wanted her for the part; he replied, "When I first went to the movies, they sat in their seats straight and leaned forward. Now they slump down, with their heads back, and eat candy and popcorn. I want them to sit up straight again." Shelley Winters was the widow Harper. Gregory said, "Shelley was filled with all that Strasberg baloney. I call it the armpit school of acting. Production designer Hilyard Brown said Shelley would hold up in the bathroom, preparing for her role. Charles Laughton would say, 'Come on, Shelley. You're in the mood. Let's shoot it!' ".
