IMDb RATING
5.9/10
1.4K
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Mobster Vic Spalato's girlfriend Claire is in hiding in Mexico and she's willing to testify for a US Senate investigation committee, if she can make it back to the US alive.Mobster Vic Spalato's girlfriend Claire is in hiding in Mexico and she's willing to testify for a US Senate investigation committee, if she can make it back to the US alive.Mobster Vic Spalato's girlfriend Claire is in hiding in Mexico and she's willing to testify for a US Senate investigation committee, if she can make it back to the US alive.
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This film is typical but enjoyable Mitchum/Darnell film noir with the added twist of 3-D. Rudolph Mate best known for his work as a cinematographer directed the film and the visuals are outstanding. I only wish we had a second chance to see it in 3-D.
When characters in a film get into a cable car, you know it's only a matter of time before PING! the cable snaps. Strand by strand, of course, for maximum
tension (ha ha). Mitchum the boxer and Darnell the ex-moll on the run take
the fateful cable car up to a little Mexican hilltop town whose inhabitants have created a totally cardboard experience for tourists. The architecture is
"hacienda style" and lady guests can buy pseudo flamenco costumes in the
"vibrant, bustling" street market. Any Mexican not employed in the hotel,
selling peasant tat, or playing unctuous Mariachi music is out in the plaza
waving a balloon and shouting for joy, or performing a sinuous dance of no
particular origin. It reminds me of the many embarrassing ads on British TV
featuring funny Europeans. Then the main cast members climb aboard that
cable car and it becomes a lifeboat movie and you can write the script
yourself. Two cheers, though, for the feisty British middle-aged couple ("My
wife can help - she was a nurse's aide in London during the Blitz!").
Mitchum is brilliant as usual but Darnell is a little clumsy in the love scenes and speaks as though she was dubbing her lines.
tension (ha ha). Mitchum the boxer and Darnell the ex-moll on the run take
the fateful cable car up to a little Mexican hilltop town whose inhabitants have created a totally cardboard experience for tourists. The architecture is
"hacienda style" and lady guests can buy pseudo flamenco costumes in the
"vibrant, bustling" street market. Any Mexican not employed in the hotel,
selling peasant tat, or playing unctuous Mariachi music is out in the plaza
waving a balloon and shouting for joy, or performing a sinuous dance of no
particular origin. It reminds me of the many embarrassing ads on British TV
featuring funny Europeans. Then the main cast members climb aboard that
cable car and it becomes a lifeboat movie and you can write the script
yourself. Two cheers, though, for the feisty British middle-aged couple ("My
wife can help - she was a nurse's aide in London during the Blitz!").
Mitchum is brilliant as usual but Darnell is a little clumsy in the love scenes and speaks as though she was dubbing her lines.
These are the last spoken words in this movie, before it ends rather abruptly. They characterize the whole affair accurately. Second Chance is a beautiful movie, the locations in Mexico look superb and made me yearn for my next holiday, despite the faded colors. In the middle there is a long sequence of a typical fiesta with fireworks and a surprisingly lascivious and suggestive dance scene just for the fun of it. The action moves on to a spectacular old suspension railway which I also found impressive and entertaining.
Unfortunately the story development is not good. It looks like nobody could decide what kind of movie this should be. It starts out like a film noir, then becomes a dreamy romance before turning into a classic, full fledged disaster flick with a suspended cable car full of different characters (look how all passengers assemble on the rear platform without the whole thing keeling over as I expect it should). Every part is OK in itself, but the different pieces do not tie together well.
Anybody who is interested in old movies, where locations, objects and events may or may not have symbolic significance will like this Technicolor movie made by RKO studios in its last stages of existence.
Unfortunately the story development is not good. It looks like nobody could decide what kind of movie this should be. It starts out like a film noir, then becomes a dreamy romance before turning into a classic, full fledged disaster flick with a suspended cable car full of different characters (look how all passengers assemble on the rear platform without the whole thing keeling over as I expect it should). Every part is OK in itself, but the different pieces do not tie together well.
Anybody who is interested in old movies, where locations, objects and events may or may not have symbolic significance will like this Technicolor movie made by RKO studios in its last stages of existence.
Rather dire star-vehicle for Robert Mitchum and Linda Darnell. Gangster's girl in South America, anxious to turn herself over to the police and release incriminating evidence to Washington officials against her boyfriend, instead finds herself on the run from the mobster's murderous stooge (whom she's also apparently been involved with!). She uses a smitten professional boxer from the States to get the thug off her tail, but he's relentless and they all end up in a crippled cable car suspended perilously over the valley. Muddled script by Oscar Millard and Sydney Boehm, from D.M. Marshman Jr.'s original treatment, makes a particular mess of the relationship between breathless Darnell and good-guy Mitchum (she's such a complete blank anyway, it's confounding why Mitchum would even give her the time of day). The climax is well-directed (if visually unconvincing), there's a colorful wedding celebration with fireworks, and Jack Palance is a menacing heavy. ** from ****
This was a very confusing movie. Like the summary says, Clair Sinclair (Linda Darnell) is on the run from a hitman (Jack Palance) and the local prizefighter (Robert Mitchum) helps her out.
However, there were so many plot points that came up but never lead to anything, I started to think that this movie must have been cut from its original length. Or, it was just not very well edited. Anyway, half of the movie is pretty watchable, but there are so many pointless scenes and unexplained loose ends, I find it hard to rate this higher than 5/10.
Robert Mitchum is pretty good (very handsome in this one) but Jack Palance completely over does the bad guy act. Linda Darnell does a good job, especially when she has to run UPHILL in high heels on the cobblestone streets of San Cristobal. Get this, Jack Palance is after her, seems to know every turn she takes, but he CAN'T CATCH HER!
It was only after I watched this that I found out it was a 3-D movie, which could explain some of the scenes (like the fiesta and the aerial tram), but most of the movie is so run of the mill, I can't see why they would make it in 3-D.
However, there were so many plot points that came up but never lead to anything, I started to think that this movie must have been cut from its original length. Or, it was just not very well edited. Anyway, half of the movie is pretty watchable, but there are so many pointless scenes and unexplained loose ends, I find it hard to rate this higher than 5/10.
Robert Mitchum is pretty good (very handsome in this one) but Jack Palance completely over does the bad guy act. Linda Darnell does a good job, especially when she has to run UPHILL in high heels on the cobblestone streets of San Cristobal. Get this, Jack Palance is after her, seems to know every turn she takes, but he CAN'T CATCH HER!
It was only after I watched this that I found out it was a 3-D movie, which could explain some of the scenes (like the fiesta and the aerial tram), but most of the movie is so run of the mill, I can't see why they would make it in 3-D.
Did you know
- TriviaRobert Mitchum and Jack Palance were former professional boxers. Also, the real-life Mexican boxer Abel Fernandez (Rivera) made his screen debut in this film.
- GoofsWhen Linda Darnell's character is in the telegraph office, she is shown to have been completing a telegram to a crime commission, in tidy cursive script. In close-up, the misspelled word 'commision' is visible.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Robert Mitchum, le mauvais garçon d'Hollywood (2018)
- How long is Second Chance?Powered by Alexa
Details
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $2,000,000
- Runtime
- 1h 22m(82 min)
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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