I Died a Thousand Times
After aging criminal Roy Earle is released from prison he decides to pull one last heist before retiring — by robbing a resort hotel.
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- Cast:
- Jack Palance , Shelley Winters , Lori Nelson , Lee Marvin , Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez , Lon Chaney Jr. , Earl Holliman
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Reviews
You won't be disappointed!
the audience applauded
At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.
Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.
This film, a remake of the Bogie classic "High Sierra" was excellent because it deals with a deep character study.As usual, Shelley Winters was wonderful. She is especially at the top of her game when she plays nervous, frustrated individuals calling out for attention while totally lost in her environment.Winters was equally matched by a tremendous Jack Palance performance. As vicious as he is depicting, the man shows some heart by taking an interest in a crippled girl only to be spurned for his efforts. Seething after this, he has no regrets whatsoever about the life of crime he has chosen.It is interesting how Palance describes the up and coming criminal as not having what it takes. He comes from the old school. Ironically, Roy Earl (Palance) knew what it would take to make a successful heist; but at the same time he knew what pitfalls would ultimately lead to disaster. He is himself a victim when his robbery attempt goes awry through no fault of his own.
To begin with, I haven't seen HIGH SIERRA in years, though I do remember most of it. Therefore, I was able to watch it with an objective eye, not constantly comparing the two films.It does offer panoramic vistas of the mountains and the desolate surroundings. I think the leads, particularly the love triangle of sorts (Marie is involved in two) are to me what sets it's apart from HIGH SIERRA.SPOILER AlERT We know that Marie (a very good Shelley Winters) is a fallen angel. She's a dance hall girl who's run off to the mountain cabin resort with Babe (Lee Marvin) as the gang Red (Earl Holliman) awaits the right time to pull off it's caper once Roy (Jack Palance) arrives and assumes leadership. But Marie isn't going to be anybodies girl, she's the prize of the Alpha Male of the bunch. Even though he repeatedly tells her he doesn't want her around, lust finally wins out.In the second triangle, Marie finally meets her rival, the presumed virginal Velma, a young woman whom Roy's opened up a new life for but springing for surgery to correct a club foot. Though Velma's previously rejected him and he's on the lam, he drops in one more time. Interesting that Velma is dancing up a storm with her young friends and Marie begins to wiggle around suggesting this is the proper way to dance (and maybe do other things)? Velma is Roy's embodied fantasy, a life he's longed for while languishing for years in prison. Though, her second rejection is callous, the second time a woman tells you to get lost usually is. He fools himself into believing he can have her and provide that kind of life. He rejects, then warms to Marie because she's a reflection of him...cheap, unrefined, desperate and living for the moment.Palance reveals both Roy's foolish sentimentality and his vicious streak. When he confronts Babe for slapping Marie, he takes great pleasure in beating the daylights out of him. This act, just like in the animal world, where the strongest males will fight over who gets the female(s) confirms not only Roy's place, but Marie's too. Palance is more brutal than Bogie (who's Roy was only violent when necessary). Palance will back hand a man, rather than speak to him.These factors I feel were better expressed here.
This is a remake of High Sierra with Humphrey Bogart and Ida Lapino. Not quite as good as the original, although it has obviously talented, and great actors. It makes you wonder why they would remake a classic like High Sierra with minimal changes just 14 years later. One interesting difference between the original and this movie... In High Sierra Willie Best plays a stereotypical comical black man (Algernon) in a servile role at the camp. The remake had a comical Hispanic (Chico) played by Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez. Both are incredibly insulting by current standards. It makes you wonder about the changes in the culture from 1941 to 1955.
I wanted to see it because of two reasons. One, it was the remake of High Sierra with Bogart, two, the Bogart part was played by Jack Palance, whom can play dramatic roles with some subtility, as in The Big Knife.But now I wonder why they decided to shoot this remake. The film follows the same plot as Hig Sierra; only here, the actors don't care, the director is lost in his thoughts, and who knows what the producer was thinking. Jack Palance is getting bored looking at Shelley Winters and Shelley Winters is asking herself what she's doing in this film. I don't even want to compare her to Ida Lupino in the same role. And of course, they had to use the dog story again! They surely could have come up with some different ideas. Perhaps the color makes it nice to see the same location where they shot High Sierra, but that definitely doesn't add any quality to the film.It's a waste of time if you've seen High Sierra before. Otherwise, why not see a pseudo-film noir. As for me, I'd rather die than see it one more time...