To me, this movie is perfection.

best movie i've ever seen.

A Masterpiece!

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

Robert Mitchum played in some wonderful noir-romances during the late 40s to about the mid-1950s. Films like "His Kind of Woman", "Out of the Past" and "Macao" heated up the screen and were terrific entertainment. "Second Chance" is in that same tradition, though it didn't deliver quite the same level of film. It wasn't quite as thrilling, the noir-like cinematography was gone and the romance seemed far less steamy or as believable. It's still watchable...but is a bit of a disappointment.The film is set in Mexico. Linda Darnell plays a woman who is being pursued by an assassin (Jack Palance). Into the middle of this arrives a boxer (Mitchum) who falls hard for her and won't let anyone, even a psychopathic killer, get in his way. It all ends with a very memorable scene aboard a cable car.My biggest problem with the film was not the pretty color cinematography. The problem was the romance. It never got particularly hot but what really bothered me is how fast it all occurred. There was no real buildup nor was there any sort of chemistry between them. Too bad the film wasn't slightly rewritten and didn't co-star Jane Russell--a 'broad' who was a great co-star with Mitchum.

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.

Second Chance finds Robert Mitchum as a boxer picking up fights in Mexico with manager Roy Roberts hoping for a comeback in America. He runs into Linda Darnell who is a Virginia Hill like mob moll who the Senate Racketeering Committee wants to testify. She's fled to Mexico, but the syndicate boss whose girl friend she was doesn't want her testifying. He sends hit man Jack Palance after Darnell to make sure she doesn't testify.But Palance has his own ideas concerning Linda and his jealousy is aroused when he sees her being drawn to Mitchum. She at first is just looking for protection, but romance soon takes over with them and jealousy just rules Palance.For Mitchum and Darnell Second Chance was pretty routine stuff, but Palance really dominates in his scenes. When Second Chance was hitting theaters Palance was already well known for the killer role he played in Shane. Although Second Chance gives him quite a bit more dialog, Jack still conveys a chilling meanness that you don't forget.The film was shot in 3-D and it was one that Howard Hughes personally produced. Even without the 3-D on television the final sequence involving all the principal players in a cable car accident will leave you breathless.Second Chance is a nicely constructed adventure tale with some good location cinematography in Cuernavaca and Tasco in old Mexico. The film holds up well after almost 60 years and definitely recommended for fans of Mitchum, Darnell, and Palance.

One might expect more from a film from the early 50's with both Robert Mitchum and Jack Palance instead of this travelogue like tepid suspenser. Set somewhere in Latin America (probably Peru because people are buying tickets to Lima), Mitchum is a prize fighter who's doing the South American circuit. His "A" level of talent and fame is a bit high for this particular movie which is definitely in the "B" range, and that doesn't necessarily make it one of those forgotten masterpieces. It even manages to practically waste another standout actor, Jack Palance, who plays a hit man in love with runaway Linda Darnell. As with any questionable outcome, the possibilities were there to make something memorable, but they apparently were allowed to slip by, notwithstanding the interesting locations. The cable car finale, instead of being the film's exciting climax, is basically its worst part, with the best stuff coming in bits and pieces with Darnall and Palance sharing the scenes.