Double Jeopardy

Some Above Average B-Movie Acting keeps Rather Routine Story Alive while Nothing Much in the Way of Action or Suspense Happens.

Republic Studios Completely Shut-Down Four Years Later in 1959. But at this Point was Still Maintaining a Good Looking Low-Budget Production.

The Voluptuous Allison Hayes is Slightly Miscast as a Bland Daughter/Fiance, with Rod Cameron also Askew from His Rugged Screen Persona Playing a Corporate Lawyer.

Robert Armstrong of "King Kong" (1933) Fame is Hardly Stretching it as an Alcoholic and Blackmailer. Jack Kelly is the Antagonist along with Gale Robbins as a Femme Fatale.

It's All Rather Unremarkable but Passable. But Not Much to Recommend.

Allison Hayes is a Couple of Years from Her Iconic Role as a 50 Foot Woman.

Not in the top 10 of classic film noir but worth watching for 75 minutes.

No cell phones.

The women were not only sensual and elegant but beautiful in those days.

Yes it's a 'B' movie, probably a 'C', but for those who like a cinematic touch of the tawdry and sad underside of life, this movie isn't half bad.

When real estate developer Emmett Devery (John Little) is charged with the murder of his alcoholic, unhappily married, former business associate (Robert Armstrong) who had been shaking him down to keep quiet about past dealings, his lawyer and future son-in-law Marc Hill (Rod Cameron) steps in to prove his innocence. Hill and his fiancé (Allison Hayes) try to unravel an extortion scheme launched by Armstrong and his gold-digging wife (Gale Robbins)

Double Jeopardy was helmed by veteran Republic Pictures director R. G. Springsteen. Springsteen who was better known for directing a string of Republic B-Western programmers, most notably the Rocky Lane series, does a good job in this gritty crime drama. Complete with blackmail, murder and duplicity, Double Jeopardy has the all the elements of later cycle noir. While the director, cast and crew do a nice job, the point A to point B script and short run time doesn't provide for much mystery or suspense.

By the mid 1950's Republic Pictures had been beset with a financial downturn due to the growing popularity television. Republic had dropped the number of productions down to almost half of what it was only a few years before. Bogged down by it's low budget, even by Republic standards, Double Jeopardy, while technically competent, just doesn't ever seem to be able to get much traction, making for a passable but nondescript movie.

5 of 10*

This could have been a better film if some money and more time was given to it. It has a solid story as well as better than passable acting. It's a bit of victim of it's time and studio. Republic Pictures had to cut back as TV was taking more revenue leaving less to go around for the motion picture industry. Republic was hard hit. That said the studio delivers a pretty decent late period noir flick. It feels like it was squeezed for time thus some story and character development is rushed. It gets the basics if it moves predictably fast not leaving a lot for the imagination. Definitely a solid enough story to trump most of it's short comings.