Lightning Strikes Twice

Fun overheated histrionics in the desert with two of the more under-appreciated actresses of the 50's.

Ruth Roman is a big city actress looking for a bit of rest in the wilderness and finding little. Right from the get go things in this docile community seem a bit off even though the residents appear friendly. Next thing you know she's neck deep in contretemps with suspected murderers and intrigue! It's all pitched to the higher notes of melodrama but kept grounded by the competence of the cast and no nonsense direction.

The movie is a routine Warners programmer but given some snap by the quality performances of Ruth Roman, subtle and dignified, and Mercedes McCambridge, controlled for most of the film but she gets her chance to do some florid emoting later in the picture.

Professionally done this is enjoyable in an over the top way especially for fans of either actress.

A murder mystery/romance from 1951. Richard Todd has just been released from prison for murder. A witness came forward who gave convincing testimony prompting his parole. Even though he knows he's going to be on the tongues of the gossiping hordes back home who believe he was guilty, he returns home. Into this melodrama comes an actress, played by Ruth Roman (famously for fighting rubber monsters in 1955's This Island Earth), out looking for a dude ranch for much needed R & R. Getting her rental car stuck in the mud during a torrential downpour, she finds herself in a seemingly desolate cottage where Todd has holed up who takes her in for the night & even provides her breakfast the next morn before she makes her way to her destination. Once there, we find out the caretaker, played by Mercedes McCambridge (who will forever be known as the voice of the demon in The Exorcist) & her younger brother, played by future Dobie Gillis star, Darryl Hickman, had a history w/Todd & who claims she witnessed the murder. As her curiosity soon starts to overwhelm her, Roman soon becomes enamored of Todd much to the chagrined of the townsfolk, especially those who knew the murder victim. Once marriage is proposed & consummated, the truth of the past crime soon rears up, putting Roman in doubt of the man she married. Pretty good for the most part, the film only falters (still, for some, in a good way!) when it veers into sheer camp as Roman realizes the potential error in her ways moments after she's exchanged vows & when the killer is revealed, no piece of scenery is safe from excess chewing. Also starring my favorite cinematic sleaze, Zachary Scott, here playing an old friend of Todd's.

Another crazed logic-free over-acted melodrama in the same late Forties/early Fifties hothouse mode of Warners' Beyond The Forest, The Damned Don't Cry and This Woman Is Dangerous, this time sans the stellar fuel tank of Bette Davis or Joan Crawford. Judge this rating accordingly-- if you enjoyed aforementioned pictures, you'll get a kick out this; if not, take shelter. . .stormy weather indeed.

No need to rehash plot revealed by earlier posters, a Texas-set dramatic chile con carne liberally laced with murder, unrequited love and dark secrets set in one of those those only-in-the-movies remote desert communities where people live miles apart in remote rancheros. . .but still show up in gowns and white dinner jackets at swank poolside barbecues that would put Manhattanites to shame.

Although the smoldering-yet-vanilla Richard Todd, underused Ruth Roman and Zachery Scott(in a "hey-it's-a-paycheck" role that comes out of nowhere and getsthere fast) are ostensible stars, show is stolen by cactus-chomping Mercedes McCambridge in (apparently unintentional) schizophrenic role as a butch desert denizen (think of her role in Johnny Guitar, only less feminine) who not only has inexplicable crush on charmless Todd after he has allegedly killed his wife. . .but is nevertheless selected to serve on jury during his murder trial to boot! Things go off-cliff (as does at least one vehicle) from there.

Whatever film lacks in reality, it more than makes up for in implausibility and psychological chaos that would baffle Freud. But rest assured, everyone gets their just deserts(sic). If you're in right frame of mind, a yucca minute.

Definitely worth a look. Immediately following his "Beyond the Forest" and "The Fountainhead" (also Warners), this Vidor film is somewhat less feverish and over-the-top than those two, and accordingly does not pack the same punch, but still has a nice erotic frisson. It's a whodunit with romance--including a rainstorm when the two leads meet in an isolated house. Ruth Roman is lovingly photographed and underscored by luscious Steiner music in this threatened-bride tale. Mercedes McCambridge does some of the same kind of scenery chewing that Davis did in "Forest," while Zachary Scott reprises his charming scoundrel from many Warner's films.

It's lurid and ludicrously plotted. Yet despite, or perhaps because of its overwrought melodrama, it's oddly entertaining, like a Carol Burnett parody of one of those classic "women's pictures". If you can just give in to the absurdities of the story, you might have a good time. The acting is slightly over-the-top, but it suits the material.