Double Jeopardy

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.

Robert ("King Kong") Armstrong gets this very dull Republic Pictures movie off to a promising start playing a drunken low-life who gives his wife Gale Robbins a hard time. Unfortunately, it's all downhill after that opening reel.

The script by Don Martin (when I see that name I immediately think of the great Mad Magazine cartoonist, but this writer offers nothing in the way of entertainment) is bland, with an uninteresting central premise of John Litel as a real estate developer with a dark secret. His daughter is played by the great B-movie superstar Allison Hayes, who should be cast as a femme fatale but is wasted here as a "good girl".

She's going to marry lawyer Rod Cameron. Instead of a film noir hero, he is almost a Dudley Do-Right goody two-shoes hero, so boring I simply was waiting for him to earn his paycheck with a tiny bit of acting. Worse yet, Jack Kelly as a one-dimensional bad guy is preposterous casting of that so likable future Maverick who did so many cool & smooth leading roles on TV for series like Kraft Suspense Theatre.

The "who cares?" quotient for this picture is nearly 100%.

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.

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.