Out of the Fast Lane

You'd run but you know you can't hide
Your punishment won't be denied
No wedding bells loom
You're heading for doom
You're done. Time to go for a ride.



Virginia Huston, Robert Mitchum, and Jane Greer in Out of the Past (Jacques Tourneur; 1947).

Out of the Pasture

This private detective for hire
Decided he'd better retire
But the past pulled him back
Where it's nasty and black
Now his licence is set to expire.


Robert Mitchum as Jeff Bailey starts one of many cigarettes in Out of the Past (Jacques Tourneur; 1947),

Out of the Gas

Though he's tough as they come, super cool
Sure enough, he's played somebody's fool
She looks hot, but she's ice
And she's not very nice
Looks hot, cold as ice
One last puff, time to plumb the black pool.

Jane Greer and Robert Mitchum in Out of the Past (Jacques Tourneur; 1947).

Look Out For the Past

The past, it won't let you alone
Die cast, your fate's set, can't atone.
Once fallen, you're stuck
And all out of luck
"Lived fast, no regrets" set in stone.

Surly Hack with Donald B. Benson

Jane Greer and Robert Mitchum in Out of the Past (Jacques Tourneur; 1947).

Student Groans

Faith degreed in the school of H Hughes
PHD'd in the paying of dues
But when class was dismissed
The poor lassie was pissed
So high-keyed, she was seeing chartreuse.



Faith Domergue goes ballistic in Where Danger Lives (John Farrow; 1950); with Robert Mitchum.

Faith Front

Howard Hughes liked his men to be lusty
To enthuse them his women were busty
A voluptuous chest
In a D-cup impressed
But the news is tycoons aren't trusty.

David Cairns

Robert Mitchum and Faith Domergue in the film noir Where Danger Lives (John Farrow; 1950), a movie made at RKO, the studio owned by millionaire Howard Hughes.

The Naked Cape

Be wary, you shapely young ladies,
Of scary escapees from Hades
Uncultured and savage,
Like vultures they ravage,
These hairy and apish Max Cadys.



Poor Barrie Chase falls prey to Robert Mitchum in Cape Fear (J. Lee Thompson, 1962). The film feels as primitive as it's antagonist.

Rated X-Mas

It's Christmas, and under the tree
The gift he would love ain't "pc"
For comfort and joy
You know he'd enjoy
Unzipping the young Janet Leigh.


In Holiday Affair (Don Hartman, 1949), Robert Mitchum wants to get Janet Leigh under the mistletoe -- or anywhere else for that matter. Here's wishing all of you your very own  Bob or Janet to unwrap.  A very merry Christmas from all of us at Limerwrecks! 

Grease Monkeyshines

When fleeing from bullet-barrage
the place to hole-up's a garage
So try not to panic
Become a mechanic:
You'll be safe till at least the montage

David Cairns


David reminds us that Impact, The Killers, and Out of the Past all feature heroes who lie low by working in gas stations. Top: Robert Mitchum and Paul Valentine chat about old times in Out of the Past (1947); Above: Ella Raines gets greasy in Impact (Arthur Lubin, 1949). Image source: hal0000; Lost in the Frame.

Plum Tuckered Out of the Past

Defenseless, they're under the spell
of this menacing mademoiselle
But trying to keep her
they meet the grim reaper
and end up together in hell

Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer and Kirk Douglas in Out of the Past (Jacques Tourneur, 1947). No, we'll never tire of Out of the Past, but for the present we're moving on.

Chin Musical

In dimples this duo is dueling
Where drool from some damsel is pooling
Each well-chiseled chin
juts out but tucks in
The shaving alone must be grueling



Kirk Douglas and Robert Mitchum in Out of the Past (Jacques Tourneur, 1947). This was inspired by the top photo and post at Orange Crate Art. And it reminds me of a scene in Strangers When We Met: Kim Novak playfully muses that it must be difficult for Douglas to shave his dimple, and Kirk tells her he uses a tiny pair of scissors. Here's an earlier limerick referring to the famous Douglas chin.

Out of the Passion

The two of them make quite a pair
Their future's a grave that they'll share
He looks in her eyes
and knows that she lies
But "Baby," says Jeff, "I don't care."

Kathie (Jane Greer) and Jeff (Robert Mitchum) can't escape each other in Out of the Past (Jacques Tourneur, 1947).

Sold Out of the Past

To Kathie, Jeff Bailey's succumbing
At his future, his nose he is thumbing
And so he devises
their early demises,
'cause that way he knows when it's coming

Jeff (Robert Mitchum) and Kathie (Jane Greer) beat it Out of the Past (Jacques Tourneur, 1947).

Fate Accompli

The finish is coming--and fast
It's fate, and it's going to last
Look over your shoulder
There's no growing older
Your future was set in the past

Jane Greer and Robert Mitchum peer into the darkness in Out of the Past (Jacques Tourneur, 1947).

Little Miss Moffat

The men are attracted like flies
by bedrooms they see in her eyes
They're sadly mistaken,
and when they awaken,
it isn't Miss Moffat who dies

Like a seductive spider, Kathie Moffat (Jane Greer) spins her web in Out of the Past (Jacques Tourneur, 1947). Image source: hal0000

Past Away

The moll of a gambler named Whit,
this doll took his money and split
He sent a detective,
who lost his perspective,
The lot of them shared an obit

Fabulous femme fatale Jane Greer plays both Robert Mitchum and Kirk Douglas (Whit Sterling) in Out of the Past (Jacques Tourneur, 1947). Image: Greer, just after being slapped by Douglas.

All Bets are Off-Putting

He's risking it all on a bet
on back-stabbing, two-faced brunette
And spinning the wheel
could mean his last meal
when the game is called Russian Roulette



Kathie Moffat (Jane Greer ) and Jeff Bailey (Robert Mitchum) let it ride at the roulette table: Out of the Past (Jacques Tourneur, 1947). Jeff: That's not the way to win. Kathie: Is there a way to win? Jeff: There's a way to lose more slowly. Image source: Hollywood Pictures and antiquegamblingchips.com.

Over and Out of the Past

Staying clear of the well-beaten track,
they ran--but they couldn't unpack
Wherever they went,
it wouldn't relent--
the past kept on pulling them back

Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer and Paul Valentine in Out of the Past (Jacques Tourneur, 1947).
A tag-line for the film read: "A man - Trying to run away from his past... A woman - Trying to escape her future."

Route of the Past

He wandered down Mexico way
and stopped in a quiet cafe
Though sent there to get her
he fell when he met her
while knowing that someday he'll pay



Jeff Bailey (Robert Mitchum) finds Kathie Moffat (Jane Greer) irresistible in Out of the Past (Jacques Tourneur, 1947). Kathie lies to Jeff, then asks if he believes her. Jeff replies, "Baby, I don't care."

Racket Bluster

A canary who who murdered "da boys"
loved danger but didn't like noise
She lived on a diet
of strict peace and quiet
A silencer's one of her toys



She hates the racket, get it? No, Lizabeth Scott is not a hit-woman in The Racket (John Cromwell, 1951), she's a nightclub singer caught between racketeer Robert Ryan and crusading police captain Robert Mitchum. In addition to the credited director, Mel Ferrer, Tay Garnett, Nicholas Ray and Sherman Todd all shot scenes for controlling producer Howard Hughes. It's a remake of a Hughes produced film of the same name from 1928.