I Died a Thousand Times is a scene-by-scene remake of High Sierra, starring Jack Palance, Shelly Winters.and Lon Chaney Jr.
I Died a Thousand Times (1955) starring Jack Palance, Shelly Winters, Lon Chaney Jr.
Product Description
Based on the Humphrey Bogart star making classic High Sierra, I Died a Thousand Times brings vivid Warnercolor richness and the enveloping expanse of CinemaScope to the gritty saga of old-timer Roy “Mad Dog” Earle (Jack Palance), just released from prison and leading nervous small-timers (Lee Marvin and Earl Holliman) on a resort heist fated not to go like clockwork. Soft-hearted Earle is so drawn to a crippled girl (Lori Nelson) that he pays for curative operation. But when things go wrong, it’s a brassy dime-a-dance girl (Shelley Winters) who stands beside him. Veterans Lon Chaney and Mae Clarke and newcomers Dennis Hopper and Richard Davalos are featured in the top-flight cast. With a taut script by High Sierra novelist W.R. Burnett and a heart-pounding manhunt finale, I Died a Thousand Times is a rousing, memorable thriller.
Editorial review of I Died a Thousand Times courtesy of Amazon.com
I Died a Thousand Times is a scene-by-scene remake of the 1941 crime-drama classic High Sierra. JACK PALANCE steps into the old Humphrey Bogart role as Roy “Mad Dog” Earle, the ageing bank robber who intends to pull off one last heist before retiring. Sprung from prison by likeable crime boss Big Mac (Lon Chaney Jr.), Earle is commissioned to mastermind the robbery of a resort hotel. His partners in crime include the hotheaded, immature Babe (LEE MARVIN) and Red (EARL HOLLIMAN), as well as “inside man” Mendoza (Perry Lopez). Also along for the ride is Marie (Shelley Winters), a dance-hall girl whom Babe has picked up.
Marie falls in love with Earle, but he has eyes only for Velma (Lori Nelson), the club-footed daughter of a farmer (Ralph Moody) whom Earle had earlier befriended. Intending to use his share of the loot to finance Velma’s operation, Earle goes through with the robbery, only to be thwarted by the ineptitude of his partners, the treachery of the late Big Mac’s successors, and, finally, the fickle Velma. With the faithful Marie by his side, Earle makes a desperate escape into the High Sierras, but fate is still against him.
Essentially an itinerary of what has previously “clicked” in High Sierra, I Died a Thousand Times makes a few concessions to changing tastes and mores; the stereotype comedy-relief character played by black actor Willie Best in the original film, for example, has been replaced by the more “acceptable” (at least by 1950s terms) stereotyped Mexican played by Gonzales-Gonzales. While the 1955 film cannot match the excellence of its 1941 role model, I Died a Thousand Times works
Cast of characters
- Jack Palance (The Silver Chalice) … Roy Earle / Roy Collins
- Shelley Winters (A Patch of Blue) … Marie Garson
- Lori Nelson (Revenge of the Creature) … Velma
- Lee Marvin (The Dirty Dozen) … Babe Kossuck
- Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez … Chico
- Lon Chaney Jr. (The Wolf Man (1941)) … Big Mac (as Lon Chaney)
- Earl Holliman (Forbidden Planet) … Red
- Perry Lopez (McLintock!) … Louis Mendoza
- Richard Davalos … Lon Preisser
- Howard St. John (Strait-Jacket) … Doc Banton
- Olive Carey … Ma Goodhue
- Ralph Moody … Pa Goodhue
- James Millican … Jack Kranmer
- Bill Kennedy (Destination Tokyo) … Sheriff
Additional Cast
- Nick Adams (Our Miss Brooks [movie]) … Bellboy (uncredited)
- Mae Clarke (Frankenstein 1931) … Mabel Baughman (uncredited)
- Myrna Fahey (The Fall of the House of Usher) … Margie (uncredited)
- Dennis Hopper (Gunfight at the O.K. Corral) … Joe (uncredited)
- Gil Perkins (The Red Skelton Show) … Slim (uncredited)
- Dub Taylor (The Rescuers) … Ed (uncredited)