I Died a Thousand Times (1955)

I love this movie so much

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Okay, so Roy (Jack Palance) gets out of prison (pardoned), heads right back into a life of crime and plans a heist with two dumb bunny hoods along with a moll (Shelley Winters) who he really doesn't want around. There's so many reasons NOT to pull the heist, it's ludicrous to believe they would. In the middle of the heist planning, Roy falls for a "good girl", a cripple who does not return his affections. Then Roy, a well-known, recently freed criminal pulls a heist in full daylight without any disguise or efforts to conceal his identity. Then everyone runs off and Roy runs around in full daylight most of the time planning his escape. Remember, he didn't disguise himself at the robbery! Let's not forget the pooch that is inevitably going to interfere with the plans for either a successful heist or escape? Seriously?

I Died a Thousand Times is directed by Stuart Heisler and adapted to screenplay by W.R. Burnett from his own novel High Sierrra. It stars Jack Palance, Shelley Winters, Lori Nelson, Lee Marvin, Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez, Lon Chaney Junior and Earl Holliman. A CinemaScope/Warnercolor production, cinematography is by Ted McCord and music by David Buttolph. It will always be debatable if remaking the excellent High Sierra (Raoul Walsh 1941) was needed or wanted by a 1950s audience? Especially since Walsh had himself already remade it as a Western with 1949 film Colorado Territory, but taken on its own terms, with great production value and Burnett's personal adaptation taken into consideration, it's a very enjoyable film. Set up is simple, it's one last heist for Roy "Mad Dog" Earle (Palance) before going straight, but as his attempts to break free from his emotional loner status fall apart, so does the heist and his future is written in blood up in the mountains. Heisler and Burnett put Earle up front for character inspection, easing in sympathetic tones whilst ensuring he remains a big physical threat. The air of fatalism is pungent enough and the finale is excitingly staged by Heisler. Cast performances are more than adequate if not comparing to the likes of Bogart and Lupino, while the Warnercolor is gorgeous and the photography around the Alabama Hills in Lone Pine is superb. While not in the same league as High Sierra, that doesn't mean this is a wash out, more so if you haven't seen Walsh's movie. If you have, like me (it's one of my favourite Bogart performances), then comparisons and a feeling of deja vu will obviously infiltrate your viewing experience. But there is more than enough here to make it worth your time regardless. 7/10

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.

The problem with this movie with such a beautiful title is that it is a remake ,nay a re-remake, if we remember that Raoul Walsh remade his "High Sierra " as a western ," Colorado Territory", which almost surpassed the original Film Noir.The most interesting side of the screenplay (in the three versions)is the Roy/Vilma relationship ,which reminds you of one of king Lear's daughter.Vilma is one of those rare characters whose behavior is thoroughly unpredictable :who could believe that the sweet tender romantic girl watching the stars in the sky at night would turn into the vulgar gal dancing the night away with her snob new pals?In "Colorado territory" ,Vilma (Julie Ann)even tries to give her benefactor away to the marshal to get the reward !Vilma ,as far the hero is concerned,means a conventional life ,with a housewife ,all that Mary (Shelley Winters) can't give to him;the actress is as good as usual but Ida Lupino was more moving in "High Sierra".Jack Palance,cast against type ,does a good job too,but it is not easy to take ona Humphrey Bogart's part.