Interesteg What makes it different from others?

Breakinger A Brilliant Conflict

Myron Clemons A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

Scotty Burke It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

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.

Spikeopath I Died a Thousand Times is directed by Stuart Heisler and adapted to screenplay by W.R. Burnett from his own novel High Sierrra. It stars Jack Palance, Shelley Winters, Lori Nelson, Lee Marvin, Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez, Lon Chaney Junior and Earl Holliman. A CinemaScope/Warnercolor production, cinematography is by Ted McCord and music by David Buttolph. It will always be debatable if remaking the excellent High Sierra (Raoul Walsh 1941) was needed or wanted by a 1950s audience? Especially since Walsh had himself already remade it as a Western with 1949 film Colorado Territory, but taken on its own terms, with great production value and Burnett's personal adaptation taken into consideration, it's a very enjoyable film. Set up is simple, it's one last heist for Roy "Mad Dog" Earle (Palance) before going straight, but as his attempts to break free from his emotional loner status fall apart, so does the heist and his future is written in blood up in the mountains. Heisler and Burnett put Earle up front for character inspection, easing in sympathetic tones whilst ensuring he remains a big physical threat. The air of fatalism is pungent enough and the finale is excitingly staged by Heisler. Cast performances are more than adequate if not comparing to the likes of Bogart and Lupino, while the Warnercolor is gorgeous and the photography around the Alabama Hills in Lone Pine is superb. While not in the same league as High Sierra, that doesn't mean this is a wash out, more so if you haven't seen Walsh's movie. If you have, like me (it's one of my favourite Bogart performances), then comparisons and a feeling of deja vu will obviously infiltrate your viewing experience. But there is more than enough here to make it worth your time regardless. 7/10

Gibbs52 Okay: So it wasn't as good as High Sierra and Palance and Winters are not Bogart and Lupino. But the idiot henchmen in this remake were Earl Holliman and Lee Marvin. Big Mac was played by Lon Chaney Jr. and Palance did a great job and was scarier than Bogie was. I grew up with Holliman and Marvin and the movie was also in color. I guess the best way to put it is this. If you demand the greatest actors and a different script for a remake this is not a movie for you. I (a huge Bogart fan) thought Palance played this role better than Bogie. Better because he was made for it.Put it like this. Who would you rather run into in a dark allay? Palance or Bogie? And since when is Shelly Winters a slouch? I really enjoyed this movie even though it didn't have a great director. I recommend it for Jack Palance fans and hope you enjoy it. Remember. Holliman and Marvin were extremely unintentionally funny in this movie. Gibbs

eliepoliti A real classic, ten out of ten! Every actor is perfect, the screenplay is a haunting succession of suspenseful scenes. Scenes in car and scenes in the mountains are breathtaking. Wonder if this film is already out in DVD, because it must be seen in Widescreen version. Saw this film in the late fifties, maybe three or four times, and never since then forgot it.I remember it was one of the first Warner like cinemas cope features, process called Warnerscope which gave a very neat cinematography. Shelley Winters and Jack Palance deserved an Oscar for their performances.The only thing I could criticize is not having been directed by someone like, say Nicholas Ray, to increase its rhythm and tension.