Passion sous les tropiques

These are the last spoken words in this movie, before it ends rather abruptly. They characterize the whole affair accurately. Second Chance is a beautiful movie, the locations in Mexico look superb and made me yearn for my next holiday, despite the faded colors. In the middle there is a long sequence of a typical fiesta with fireworks and a surprisingly lascivious and suggestive dance scene – just for the fun of it. The action moves on to a spectacular old suspension railway which I also found impressive and entertaining.

Unfortunately the story development is not good. It looks like nobody could decide what kind of movie this should be. It starts out like a film noir, then becomes a dreamy romance before turning into a classic, full fledged disaster flick with a suspended cable car full of different characters (look how all passengers assemble on the rear platform without the whole thing keeling over as I expect it should). Every part is OK in itself, but the different pieces do not tie together well.

Anybody who is interested in old movies, where locations, objects and events may or may not have symbolic significance will like this Technicolor movie made by RKO studios in its last stages of existence.

When characters in a film get into a cable car, you know it's only a matter of time before PING! the cable snaps. Strand by strand, of course, for maximum

tension (ha ha). Mitchum the boxer and Darnell the ex-moll on the run take

the fateful cable car up to a little Mexican hilltop town whose inhabitants have created a totally cardboard experience for tourists. The architecture is

"hacienda style" and lady guests can buy pseudo flamenco costumes in the

"vibrant, bustling" street market. Any Mexican not employed in the hotel,

selling peasant tat, or playing unctuous Mariachi music is out in the plaza

waving a balloon and shouting for joy, or performing a sinuous dance of no

particular origin. It reminds me of the many embarrassing ads on British TV

featuring funny Europeans. Then the main cast members climb aboard that

cable car and it becomes a lifeboat movie and you can write the script

yourself. Two cheers, though, for the feisty British middle-aged couple ("My

wife can help - she was a nurse's aide in London during the Blitz!").

Mitchum is brilliant as usual but Darnell is a little clumsy in the love scenes and speaks as though she was dubbing her lines.

This film is typical but enjoyable Mitchum/Darnell film noir with the added twist of 3-D. Rudolph Mate best known for his work as a cinematographer directed the film and the visuals are outstanding. I only wish we had a second chance to see it in 3-D.

Second Chance (1953)

To really enjoy this movie you have to know its place in the RKO filmmaking world. And you'd probably have to see it in 3D as it was originally intended. You won't get too far with the meandering plot that doesn't create tension, or romance, or even curiosity. We are made to simply watch and wait for something to happen.

Of course, something does happen, and in a big way, near the end, something completely separate from the intended plot. And even in 2D you get the drama and the dizzying depth of it all. And you get to watch three very big stars in expensive Technicolor--producer Howard Hughes really laid it all out for this one. Robert Mitchum looks good as both lonely man wooing the girl and as a boxer (briefly). Linda Darnell is the woman every man wants, apparently (especially Hughes, by the way). And Jack Palance is like a piece of wreckage, wired up and angry and with a face to sink a thousand ships.

The setting is interesting, too, all shot on location in Mexico, except some reshooting of the boxing scene (oddly enough, because it looks so authentic). Mitchum and Palance both got into some local fistfighting, and traded blows once during filming. When the movie came out, even though it has hardly any plot (other than surviving the final disaster scene), it was a success. Good thing, because RKO was financially reeling, and would in two years be bought by a rubber company and by the end the of the decade was the first of the Majors (the big 5 Hollywood studios) to completely go under.

So, don't expect much and you'll find lots of little things to enjoy. And maybe they'll get the Technicolor goosed up properly in a re-release someday, complete with 3D effects.

Linda Darnell and Robert Mitchum are two people in love and looking for a "Second Chance," a 1953 film also starring Jack Palance. I chose to see this film because Darnell, Mitchum, and Palance are three of my screen favorites - Darnell for her looks and association with some of my favorite films, Mitchum just because I love him, and Palance because he can be quite interesting.

The movie concerns a gangster's ex-girlfriend Claire (Darnell) being pursued by a gunman named Cappy (Palance) as she runs away to avoid testifying against her ex-boyfriend. Though it seems like Cappy is stalking her, he really wants her for himself. In Mexico, Claire meets a down but not quite out prizefighter Russ (Mitchum) and the two fall in love. He wants her to go away with him to his next fight and then to New York, where he intends to fight in Madison Square Garden and make a comeback.

I found this film fairly routine, dull, predictable and in the beginning, somewhat confusing. The star is really Mexico. Shot in color, the scenery is incredible. The last scenes on the cable car were very exciting and then tension really built.

Mitchum looks great but is somewhat lethargic - that sullen sexuality of his can become merely passive, and it does here. Darnell is beautiful and has the more dramatic role, which she handles well. Palance plays a somewhat bizarre character - a killer in love with his proposed victim - and it's not one of his better performances. It's probably the role, which isn't fleshed out - every time we see him he's threatening Claire in one manner or another.

This movie is okay but the end and the scenery are well worth seeing. Unfortunately, I didn't see it in 3D, and you won't either.