Double Jeopardy is a Republic crime drama that seldom makes even the most inclusive lists of film noir, even though, in all its grunginess, it's a little better than many that do make the cut. Its director, R. G. Springsteen, churned out umpteen dozen forgotten horse operas (and his most notorious credit was The Red Menace). That doesn't inspire confidence, but he does more than a passable job on a passable story.
`Stumblebum' Robert Armstrong hasn't worked for years, but manages keep himself in whiskey and occasionally to pay rent on the one-room flat he and his unfaithful wife (Gale Robbins) share with the $500 bucks he gets every month from a mysterious stranger. Meanwhile, on the much better side of the tracks, the stranger (John Litel) is putting together the financing for a new housing development but, to the bafflement of his lawyer and future son-in-law (Rod Cameron), won't consider low-interest government loans.
Their two worlds, existing in uneasy truce, collide when Robbins, conspiring with her used-car-salesman lover (Jeff Calder), goads Armstrong into strong-arming Litel for a big payoff (when he gets it, the adulterous couple plan run off to Mexico together). But in the deserted canyon where blackmailer and victim had their rendezvous, Armstrong's body is found inside a wrecked car; Litel is charged with his murder. Cameron starts sniffing around to find the truth in what the police think is an open-and-shut case.
There's a fair amount of crummy atmosphere in this low-rent, late noir, abetted by a seasoned cast of Hollywood B-movie veterans (Minerva Urecal as a meddlesome landlady and Dick Elliott as Calder's boss Happy Harry also appear). It's no Double Indemnity, but it passes the time.
