The Man Who Died Twice

This is one of those noir films that is salvaged from ignominy by the fine work of actors in minor roles. Rod Cameron, the male lead does a workmanlike job, but leading lady Vera Ralston is almost unwatchable. The script calls for a traumatized woman, but she gives us a helpless and annoying whiner. This would have been a much better film had she been replaced by a Marie Windsor, Caroline Jones, or Jane Randolph. Unfortunately, Ralston was married to the the boss of Republic Pictures, so she managed to mess up a lot of movies before she retired. Fortunately there are several good character actors here including Louis Jean Heydt as police captain Andy Hampton, Mike Mazurki as the lovesick bartender Rak, Jesslyn Fax as the snoopy old lady, and Gerald Milton & Richard Kaplan as the quarrelsome hit men. Its not The Blue Dahlia, but I'd give this film a 6.5 on a scale of ten.