Second Chance (1947) Poster

(1947)

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5/10
Neither particularly good nor bad.
planktonrules27 October 2023
"Second Chance" is a low-budgeted B-movie about some jewel thieves as well as an informer who might be in their midst. However, some of the gang members are beginning to suspect and are determined to silence this person if they can identify them.

The movie is okay. It's moderately interesting but fails to be any better for two main reasons. First, the love affair between the two leads makes little sense and happens way too quickly. Second, the ending also doesn't make a lot of sense. Overall, it's about what you'd expect in a B...mild entertainment but a few plot holes here and there because the movie was made so quickly and efficiently.
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6/10
A Chance To Get Out
boblipton11 May 2023
Kent Taylor is present when Louise Curry tells the jeweler that the diamond she's looking at isn't the million-dollar stone he thinks. The jeweler calls the cops, and detective sergeant Larry Blake has them strip-searched, and then let go. He then starts to sweat other members of the gang -- because Taylor is part of a jewel-stealing gang, and Miss Curry an independent thief. As they go on their ways, they realize they're in love. Is this a chance to get out and live a decent life?

After 20th Century-Fox shut down its B division, producer Sol Wurzel continued to produce more of the same for distribution by the company. Usually the quality suffered, but not here, with a good script, decent direction by James Tinling, and some fine character actors, including Ann Doran, Paul Guilfoyle, Betty Compson (in her next-to-last movie appearance), and Edwin Maxwell. Although I found the ending a bit off, this is mostly a nicely realized film about two people hoping for a better life.
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6/10
One chance left.
morrison-dylan-fan19 November 2019
Warning: Spoilers
Having spent most of the night having to install programs into a new laptop after a family member broke the last one,I decided to end the night with a Noir viewing. Checking Noir files waiting to be opened,I spotted this title with a swift run time, which led to me giving it it's first chance viewing.

View on the film:

Arm-barring anyone who tries to take her down (!) Louise Currie gives the stand-out performance as Summers, thanks to Currie shaking Summers Caper glamour with the quick-wit of a Femme Fatale. One step behind Summers, Kent Taylor brings out a devilish cad flavour as Wolf, who finds his eye on the diamond prize being distracted from the sight of Summers. Shining for a trim 63 minutes, director James Tinling & cinematographer Benjamin H. Kline neatly pair the elegance of Summers and Wolf's thieving Caper with heavies in the underworld and the force waiting round to give neither of them a second chance.
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An acceptable flick.
searchanddestroy-127 July 2009
Warning: Spoilers
Not a masterpiece, as you can guess from James Tinling. But a rare gem very hard to find. A little film noir, short, a bit talkative but not boring. A pretty well done B picture. The topic is not unusual, predictable at the most. Diamond thieves vs an insurance investigator and cops. Not forget the gal, of course. Kent Taylor plays here a diamond thief and Louise Currie the insurance investigator impersonating a jewel thief too. She tries to convince him to quit a gang of dangerous gangsters who intend to pull a big diamond heist.

You can guess the following...

James Tinling's films are not very interesting, but he was a B movies director whose features deserve to be seen again.
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4/10
Not a great story
blanche-223 September 2021
Dull, dull story of two people (Kent Taylor and Louise Currie) who meet at a jewelers' and silently conspire to steal a $30,000 diamond. She is actually an insurance investigator.

Talky and boring. I did enjoy Louise Currie's performance, however. She was a new find for me.
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