RKO's first foray into 3D is a 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 ****

My critical faculties such as they are were severely impaired by what has to be one of the worst prints I have ever viewed, one is tempted to describe it as a tenth-generation print though in reality it was probably no more than a second or third; nevertheless it veered throughout from black and white through sepia to washed-out pastel. This distracted from the storyline which was hardly better and gave the impression that about one third had been cut. Palance, as he was wont to do in those early days, phoned in his menacing heavy though even as I write this I have to acknowledge that this very same year (1953) he scored much more heavily in a similar role - as Wilson, the gunfighter-for-hire in Shane - possibly because George Stevens was able to do what Rudolph Mate was not and get Palance to apply the less-is-more technique to the art of playing the heavy. Linda Darnell's best acting years - if indeed that is not a contradiction in terms - were well behind her and there was virtually no chemistry between her and Mitchum who was, as always, easy to watch. It's just possible that a decent print would help though unlikely.

One might expect more from a film from the early 50's with both Robert Mitchum and Jack Palance instead of this travelogue like tepid suspenser. Set somewhere in Latin America (probably Peru because people are buying tickets to Lima), Mitchum is a prize fighter who's doing the South American circuit. His "A" level of talent and fame is a bit high for this particular movie which is definitely in the "B" range, and that doesn't necessarily make it one of those forgotten masterpieces. It even manages to practically waste another standout actor, Jack Palance, who plays a hit man in love with runaway Linda Darnell. As with any questionable outcome, the possibilities were there to make something memorable, but they apparently were allowed to slip by, notwithstanding the interesting locations. The cable car finale, instead of being the film's exciting climax, is basically its worst part, with the best stuff coming in bits and pieces with Darnall and Palance sharing the scenes.

It's hard to say why the producers of SECOND CHANCE filmed it in 3-D, since that gimmicky device wore out its welcome very quickly. At any rate, without any added frills, SECOND CHANCE is little more than a routine exercise in suspense with some colorful Mexican locales to hold interest when the plot, involving LINDA DARNELL, ROBERT MITCHUM and JACK PALANCE, enters some dull stretches. Given that the story borders on film noir territory, it might have been more sensible to photograph it in classic B&W rather than washed out color.Darnell is the pretty damsel in distress being menaced by Palance and helped by Mitchum, an American boxer who proves himself up to the task of defending her from her jealous ex-boyfriend.A chase with Palance on her trail, is soon interrupted by a cable car ride to a mountain top site and a pause to enjoy a Mexican festival celebrating a wedding, which seems to have nothing to do with the plot but adds some local color. George Chakiris can be seen as a bystander in the background of a Mexican dance sequence.Mitchum looks bored most of the time, Darnell looks ravishingly lovely for all her close-ups and Palance chews whatever scenery is in sight as the villainous thug, all strictly one-dimensional roles.The story finally gets into a higher gear with the cable car sequence at the finale. By that time, interest has wavered throughout and the payoff seems rather tame despite the struggle between Mitchum and Palance on the cable car which has a predictable ending.Both Mitchum and Darnell deserved better material than this at this point in their careers. Nothing memorable here, strictly routine.