Second Chance

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 ****