Trafic d'opium

This is an important movie in regards to the history of Republic Pictures. Starting in 1957, Republic technically didn't make films anymore, but released or distributed films made by independent companies. But only one of these independent companies was made up of personnel from the original Republic Pictures, Ventura Productions. The Man Who Died Twice was the last film of seven or eight made by Ventura (December 1957), released by Republic in June 1958. So technically, this was the last real Republic Production, with Republic regulars at the helm: Joseph Kane, director, Jack Marta, director of photography, Bob Mark, makeup supervision, Rudy Ralston, Producer, etc. The two top stars were Republic stalwarts, Rod Cameron and Vera Ralston. It has a good story, is paced well, as usual, by Kane (named by Gene Autry to be the John Ford of B movies) and photographed beautifully in black and white and Republic's wide screen process, Naturama, by Marta. It is Vera Ralston's last film and Kane's last film for Republic. He moved on to directing westerns on TV and then in the mid 60s did some directing and 2nd unit directing for films. Republic collapsed in mid 1959, more valuable for the land its studio was sitting on and for its film library. Do your best to try and see the 70 minute film. It has a great supporting cast headed by Mike Mazurki (who appeared with Vera and John Wayne in 1945's Dakota from Republic, also directed by Kane).

"The Man Who Died Twice" is a film that, according to IMDB, sat on the shelf for many months after it was completed. Often, this means that the studio had little faith in the movie and it is a stinker. But in this case I suspect that it's because the studio was in serious financial trouble and soon was sold. Less than a decade later, it closed completely.

The film is a crime film but not one I'd categorize as film noir exactly. It does have some very tough and nasty crooks...but not the same dialog and camera work as you'd expect in noir.

Bill (Rod Cameron) has arrived to see his brother...only to learn he's dead as well as several others. The police soon approach him and ask him to help with their investigation, as Bill is himself a policeman from another part of the country. He agrees...and much of it is to determine whether or not the brother's wife (Vera Ralston) is involved as well in the drug trade.

The film has one big deficit...Vera Ralston. She was the studio chief's girlfriend (and later wife) and he insisted in starring her in many films...even though she really couldn't act and had a very thick accent. Here, her accent seems odd...especially since she's a lounge singer.

Apart from Ralston, however, the film is great. The script is very tough and features an interesting duo of psychopathic enforcers. It also has a few nice twists that keep it interesting. Overall, a good film...even with Ralston.

There is no shortage of action at the outset of 'The Man who Died Twice', even if the clapped out jalopy in which T. J. (Don Megowan) plunges to his death, is clearly different from the sleek, modern car he's seen driving moments earlier. Maybe Republic's budget didn't stretch beyond wrecking anything other than a wreck.

Immediately afterwards, a man falls from T. J.'s balcony, shots are fired, whilst his widow (Vera Ralston) falls into a swoon and passes out. Ralston is oblivious to the reality that a cache of highly sought after drugs is stashed in her apartment. In fact she drifts through most of the movie ensconced in her own bubble of blissful oblivion, answering 'I don't know' to every question. Had anyone ventured to prod, 'Do you know ANYTHING?' she would still have responded with, 'I don't know!'

There is nothing intrinsically WRONG with 'The Man who Died Twice', but as the movie continues, there is a seen it, heard it, bought the tee-shirt vibe to much of the narrative. The drugs, which certain people will stop at nothing to lay their mitts on, the looming threat of......The Syndicate (yawn), T. J.'s brother (Rod Cameron), who just happens to be a cop, appearing on the scene and his target, two sluggish, slack-stomached heavies, who resort to venting violence against an elderly lady and her pet cat, to prove that they haven't lost their touch.

The movie muddles and meanders to the distinct slosh of water being trodden. Like grizzled prog-rockers digging in for some extensive soloing, which may have been ground breaking at the turn of the '70's, but sounds tedious and over indulgent today, film noir, like almost anything else, had its time, place and sell-by date. Thanks to astute directors and imaginative writers, the genre provided some of cinema's greatest moments, over more years than we had any right to expect, but as the 1950's drew to a close, there was barely a dead horse left to flog.

Rod Cameron comes to town to discover his brother is dead and his widow, Vera Hruba Ralston, is being consoled by Mike Mazurki. The local cops tell him his brother was involved in the local drug trade, so Cameron agrees to stay on and help them crack the case.

It's Miss Ralston's last film appearance. Not entirely coincidentally, Herbert J. Yates was tossed out of his chairmanship of Republic Pictures. Nominally it was because of the strain of a shrinking market for B pictures and his unwillingness to release the Republic library to television. Miss Ralston almost certainly had a great deal to do with it. He tried to make her a star, a second Sonja Heinie, and had married her in 1952, but as an actor, she was a good ice skater, with a thick accent, no acting ability, and a middle-aged appearance. The fact that Republic spent a lot of money on her vehicles, and they didn't appeal to the public may have had something to do with the disappearance of husband and wife from the Republic lot.

And so might some foolish decisions in writing. While Cameron and the supporting cast, including Louis Jean Heydt, are pretty good, the big plot twist is given away by the title.

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.