I Died a Thousand Times *** (1955, Jack Palance, Shelley Winters, Lori Nelson, Lon Chaney Jr, Lee Marvin, Earl Holliman) – Classic Movie Review 6443

An iconic Fifties cast adds huge allure to the intriguing 1955 cult crime thriller I Died a Thousand Times, the second remake of High Sierra, a film noir shot in CinemaScope and Warnercolor.

Director Stuart Heisler’s intriguing 1955 cult film noir crime thriller film I Died a Thousand Times stars Jack Palance as gunman Roy ‘Mad Dog’ Earle, who is in deep trouble after, at the request of his dying crime boss Big Mac (Lon Chaney Jr), he is snatched from jail to plan one last job with gang members Babe Kossuck (Lee Marvin), Red (Earl Holliman) and Louis Mendoza (Perry Lopez).

The target is a fancy Palm Springs hotel resort. Brassy dance-hall girl Marie (Shelley Winters) falls for Roy, but he is smitten with handicapped innocent young Velma (Lori Nelson) and plans to help her by paying for her foot surgery with his share of the heist.

But the robbery goes awry, and the cops chase him into the mountains, where he faces his inevitable destiny, in Heisler’s somewhat tepid remake of W R Burnett’s 1940 novel, also the basis for 1941’s High Sierra and 1949’s Colorado Territory, both directed by Raoul Walsh, and both much more impressive. I Died a Thousand Times is a scene-by-scene remake of High Sierra, but filmed in CinemaScope and Warnercolor.

Although Palance is well cast, and looks right, he gives a vaguely uncertain and hesitant performance that means he can’t shake off the memory of Humphrey Bogart in High Sierra. That excellent cast of notable support actors doesn’t quite do its accustomed brilliant stuff. And director Heisler somehow can’t stir up enough excitement or tension. Nevertheless, the cast and story are still strong magnetic attractions, and the film stays interesting.

Also in the cast are Pedro Gonzales Gonzales, Howard St John, Ralph Moody, Olive Carey, James Millican, Richard Davalos, Bill Kennedy, Peggy Maley, Dub Taylor, Chris Alcaide, John Stevenson, Mae Clarke, Hugh Sanders, Dennis Hopper, and Nick Adams.

African American actor Willie Best’s comedy-relief character in High Sierra is replaced by a Mexican stereotype played by Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez as Chico.

It is Dennis Hopper’s second film, as Joe (uncredited), while Nick Adams also makes an uncredited appearance as a bellhop.

I Died a Thousand Times is directed by Stuart Heisler, runs 109 minutes, is made and released by Warner Bros, the screenplay is by W R Burnett, based on W R Burnett’s 1940 novel, it is shot in WarnerColor by Ted McCord, is produced by Willis Goldbeck, and is scored by David Buttolph.

It was released on 9 November 1955 in the US.

East of Eden actor Richard Davalos died on March 8, 2016 at 85.

The cast are Jack Palance as Roy ‘Mad Dog’ Earle aka Roy Collins, Shelley Winters as Marie Garson, Lori Nelson as Velma Goodhue, Lee Marvin as Babe Kossuck, Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez as Chico, Lon Chaney Jr as Big Mac, Earl Holliman as Red, Perry Lopez as Louis Mendoza, Richard Davalos as Lon Preisser, Howard St. John as Doc Banton, Nick Adams as Bellboy, Dennis Hopper as Joe, Ralph Moody as Pa Goodhue, Olive Carey as Ma Goodhue, Dub Taylor as Ed, Paul Brinegar as Bus Driver, and James Millican as Jack Kranmer.

© Derek Winnert 2017 Classic Movie Review 6,443

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