TinsHeadline Touches You

Huievest Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

Livestonth I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

Staci Frederick Blistering performances.

Gatto Nero I recently re-watched this classic on it's own. Because the 1st time I watched it was back-to-back with the original, "High Sierra". Big mistake. The original one with Bogart & Lupino is one of my all-time favorites and watching this remake right afterwards did not help me appreciate it the way it deserves to be.This remake actually is good on it's own merit. The original will always be the "better" version for me but this remake is not bad at all. Let me break it down...Palance's take on 'Mad' Dog Earle was very good. Palance is no Bogie, but he gave the role his own unique touch. And besides, who better than Palance, at the time, to take the role that Bogart made his own. With his sinister visage, Palance brought a different take on Mad Dog than Bogart's. I really got to see this second time around as I revisited this film.Winters take on 'Marie' was not bad either. Lupino I believe did it better but Winters held her own. I especially liked her Samba dance moves. And her 'I wanna die' scene. She had okay chemistry with Palance. But I feel Bogart & Lupino had more.Lori Nelson's take on 'Velma' was right on par with Joan Leslie's. And you can actually believe Palance falling for her rather than Winters 'Marie'Lee Marvin's take on 'Babe' was not bad but Alan Curtis was better. Curtis had the handsome bad boy look and Marvin just looks bad and mean. Curtis you could believe got Lupino out of a club but Marvin taking Winters, nah. Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez plays 'Chico'. A very Mexican stereotype role. In the original, his was named 'Algernon' and it was played by Willie Best in a very black stereotypical role. I really dislike the scene where Lee Marvin's 'Babe' kicks 'Chico' and makes him fall and thinks it's funny. Gonzalez really has nothing to do but be a servant to Palance and his gang and not much else.Lon Chaney Jr. as 'Big Mac'. Great casting. He did a great take on the role made famous by Donald McBride. It was so great to see Chaney and Palance together. Earl Holliman as 'Red'. Not bad but Arthur Kennedy's was way better. Holliman played 'Red' like a good ole dumb country boy while Kennedy's was like a grown-up Dead End Kid, like a Billy Halop. But still it was nice to see Holliman and Marvin want-to-be gangsters.Perry Lopez as 'Mendoza'. It was okay but Cornel Wilde's was way much better. The scene where Palance tells a "bedtime story" of what happens to guys who talk to much was handle way much better with Bogart and Wilde.Howard St. John as 'Doc Banton' was very good. Actually just as good as Henry Hull's take on it. I especially like the way Howard looks at Palance when he talks about 'Velma'. Howard's look is priceless.Ralph Moody as 'Pa'was really good also. Almost just as good as Henry Traver's take. I really liked his scenes with Palance talking about 'Velma'James Millican as 'Jack Kranmer'. It was really good. Almost as slimy as Barton MacLane's 'Jake Kranmer'. But I prefer MacLane's. Richard Davalos as 'Lon Preisser' was not that bad. You can see Nelson's 'Velma' falling for Davalos pretty boy. In the original, played by John Eldredge, the spelling was 'Lon Preiser'In the part of 'Pard', the dog in this one was cute but Zero in the original was way, way much better.Now as for the unbilled bit parts, these are the ones that stood out for me: Nick Adams as the 'Bellboy' who is so nervous he can't stop shaking the tray with cups on it was memorable. Paul Brinegar as the bus driver who says the funny line "Just like a woman, doesn't know whether she's coming or going." Mae Clarke as Mabel Baughman, really concerned about her daughter and who and what is Palance is all about. Hugh Sanders as her husband was somewhat wasted in a very small bit role. A very young Dennis Hopper has a funny scene as Winter's dance partner. Hopper is drunk and horny and is pushed down by an angry Palance as he gets to frisky and comfortable with Winters. Hopper would have a better and bigger role that same year along with Nick Adams , in the now famous cult film, "Rebel Without a Cause." Dub Taylor as 'ED' the gas station attendant talking briefly with Palance was a nice one. and a couple of Three Stooges foils were also on board. Big Mickey Simpson and Robert Williams. Williams had a more showy and longer role than Simpson's. All in all, a great film just for the cast alone. Don't miss it. Just don't see it back-to-back with the original.

bkoganbing Unless you count the western version of this story that Warner Brothers did with Joel McCrea in 1948 entitled Colorado Territory, I Died A Thousand Times is the second version and updated remake of Humphrey Bogart's classic High Sierra. Whole scenes are lifted word for word and other than a bow to the updated technology of the Fifties, like the use of helicopter by law enforcement in the final shootout.If you are a fan of Bogey than you know exactly how this is all going to end. Jack Palance is a stellar substitute for Bogart and in the Ida Lupino part steps Shelley Winters as the hard luck girl brought along by Palance's two confederates Lee Marvin and Earl Holliman who attachs herself to Palance. Unfortunately Palance realizes too late that Winters is who he is meant for.Ironically Palance as the star here would in 16 years in Monte Walsh wind up in support of Lee Marvin as their box office positions had changed considerably. Warner Brothers didn't water down this remake an iota right down to the casting of bit players. And a good bonus is the color cinematography. Fans of the original will not be disappointed.

LeonLouisRicci Beginning in the Early Fifties Movie Studios discovered that they needed something, anything to pry Audiences from their Living Rooms and that Hypnotic Box called Television. It was not going to be an easy task. Well, they decided, we at least can give them Color and widen the Screen to seemingly endless Vistas.So they thought adding WarnerColor and Cinemascope was enough to cheat a little and remake a virtual Scene by Scene, Line by Line Movie called High Sierra (1941), a famously popular Bogart Movie Directed by Raoul Walsh. Despite a strong Cast it was not to be. Most of the Players are unremarkable and some like Lee Marvin are totally wasted barely registering. The whole thing seems uninspired and has very little Life and if you have seen the original this one will make you feel a little cheated. Its not Bad it just has no reason to exist.

MartinHafer Roy Earle is a professional criminal--one of the toughest and best at his job. When he is unexpectedly released from prison, it is because someone big wanted a big heist and they pulled strings to get him. On his way to the location of his new partners up in the Sierras, he meets a very poor family and befriends them. He also later befriends a cute little dog. Both these acts of kindness are very atypical for such a hardened man and, sadly, BOTH end up causing him nothing but grief in the end. I am a film purist when it comes to remakes. My opinion has always been that if the original film is great, it shouldn't be remade--remakes are only for films with SERIOUS flaws that can corrected in the remake. So, I am a VERY difficult sell for a film like "I Died a Thousand Times", as it's a remake both of the classic Bogart picture "High Sierra" as well as Joel McCrea's "Colorado Territory"==and both films have a higher IMDb rating as well."I Died a Thousand Times" turns out to be an extremely well made film--mostly because it is practically an exact copy of "High Sierra" and because Jack Palance was quite nice in the lead. The only major differences is the wonderful color film stock--it looks great because of the wonderful mountain locations. As for the acting, it's about on par with the original. So, if it offers no real major advantage, why not just see the original--especially since it stars Humphrey Bogart and Ida Lupino and is a classic. This 1955 version could have become a classic--if the story had been original. Good but see the original!