User Reviews

These are the last spoken words in this movie, before it ends rather abruptly. They characterize the whole affair accurately. Second Chance is a beautiful movie, the locations in Mexico look superb and made me yearn for my next holiday, despite the faded colors. In the middle there is a long sequence of a typical fiesta with fireworks and a surprisingly lascivious and suggestive dance scene – just for the fun of it. The action moves on to a spectacular old suspension railway which I also found impressive and entertaining.

Unfortunately the story development is not good. It looks like nobody could decide what kind of movie this should be. It starts out like a film noir, then becomes a dreamy romance before turning into a classic, full fledged disaster flick with a suspended cable car full of different characters (look how all passengers assemble on the rear platform without the whole thing keeling over as I expect it should). Every part is OK in itself, but the different pieces do not tie together well.

Anybody who is interested in old movies, where locations, objects and events may or may not have symbolic significance will like this Technicolor movie made by RKO studios in its last stages of existence.

Picture this scene, it's a rainy Saturday afternoon in England, circa 1962, the televised horse racing on BBC has been cancelled and a voice-over informs us that "We are unable to bring you the scheduled programme, instead the film ... will be shown". It would usually be REBECCA, HIGH NOON or SECOND CHANCE. I got to love these three movies, which I would always associate with bad weather at Doncaster. SECOND CHANCE was the only movie in which screen tough guy Robert Mitchum played a prizefighter, and he really looked the part. Mitchum had experience as a boxer, official and unofficial. In November, 1951, he was on location filming ONE MINUTE TO ZERO and was involved in a brawl with the heavyweight boxer Bernie Reynolds, who fought Rocky Marciano and Joe Baksi. Mitchum proved he was a tough guy off the screen as Reynolds was taken to hospital while Mitchum walked away without a scratch.

The boxing match in SECOND CHANCE was filmed at the Plaza de Toros Bullring in Cuernavaca, Mexico, and was beset with problems, mainly due to the heat. Mitchum's screen opponent was Abel Fernandez, who had recently retired from the ring due to a near fatality. This was his film debut, which coincidentally had the story of an American boxer barnstorming the South American circuit trying to regain his nerve after a ring fatality in New York. Unfortunately for Mitchum, Fernandez occasionally forgot he was in a movie fight and not a pro fight, he knocked out Mitchum three times during the arduous all-day shoot in the boiling sun. Mitchum eventually flattens his movie opponent, and then goes over to his corner and enquires, "You okay, Rivera?" - no trash talking or histrionics back then in the fight game. Opponents showed respect. Fernandez later appeared in THE HARDER THEY FALL, but got type-cast playing Indians in television westerns before landing a leading role in the TV hit "The Untouchables".

The bad guy in SECOND CHANCE is another ex-boxer Jack Palance, who also fought Joe Baksi. Method actor Palance got carried away in his fight scene with Mitchum aboard the cable car, but Mitchum retaliated and Palance vomited after taking a right hand in the stomach. Palance frightened the life out of me when I was a child, the menacing voice, sinister grin, almost plastic facial features and intense air of menace about him are well served in this 3-D action thriller. Every time Palance makes an entrance, "Bad Man" music plays, as if we couldn't work out that he is a psychopath, hissing and virtually spitting evil every time he's in a scene with Linda Darnell. For someone so athletic, Palance never seems to be able to catch up with the fleeing Darnell, who is wearing very high heels on cobblestones. Palance is hindered in his chase by the local peasants, who conveniently always seem to get in his way, as he knocks their wares over. Palance confesses to Darnell that he's always had the hot's for her, and would be willing to forget about silencing her if she goes away with him (but wouldn't Spilato then send another hit-man to get them both?)

The climax aboard a stationary cable car thousands of feet in the air is very exciting, but recently came back to haunt me while on holiday in Matlock, Derbyshire. The wife and I were sitting hundreds of feet in the air in a cable car, which had come to a deliberate halt so the tourists could enjoy the marvellous view, when I suddenly thought of what happened to the cable car in SECOND CHANCE. I immediately had a panic attack which would have made Woody Allen look brave, unlike the plucky English couple in the cable car, who look like they have wandered into this movie from the set of THE LADY VANISHES. I love the way health and safety hadn't yet been invented in 1950's films. Mr. Woburn, a harmless middle-aged pipe smoking genial gent, scampers up the steps of the disabled cable, and climbs on top of it - 70,000 feet up - to survey the severity of the situation. He doesn't even blink at the possibility of losing his balance, and he still has his pipe in his mouth. When Linda Darnell collapses, Mrs. Woburn immediately takes over and asks the conductor for the First Aid kit, which seems to consists of just one item, the smelling salts, which she coincidentally needed.

Look closely at the fiesta dance sequence. Everybody seems to have overdosed on Happy Pills, except for just one extra, the 18 year old George Chakiris. He is observing a very sensual display of illicit dancing, with an expression that reads, "I could do that - if only the producers had given me a second chance!" Still toiling in bit parts in Hollywood musicals, it would be another decade before George got his chance to shine, in WEST SIDE STORY.

The best part of the movie is the Linda Darnell-Jack Palance chase sequence, up and down the cobbled streets of a Mexican village. Bizarrely, Palance appears to be moving in quick motion, while Darnell and all around her are walking in normal motion. You'll think twice about getting in a cable car after seeing this enjoyable 1950's flick, the only thing I didn't like was the dismal pastel Technicolor used.

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.

The producers could have skipped the first hour, which is just filling time until the tram trip climax. And what a nail-biter that teetering-over-the-abyss is-- very well done in the special effects department. My only regret is the Palance-Mitchum face off, which should have been a bigger doozy than it is, considering it was for the broad-shoulders championship of Hollywood. Then too, both guys remain immaculately dressed the whole 90-minures—not what you'd expect of tough guys south of the border.

The first part, unfortunately, is pretty listless, except when poor Doc Adams, oops!, I mean Milburn Stone gets it in the gut. Looks like the producers knew they were short on substance, so they filled the Technicolor screen with a bunch of local color. Still, there's a lot of rather aimless walking around to and fro. And, oh yes, I almost forgot Mitchum's big boxing match that looks like it was filmed in a bull ring. Good thing he finally decided to use his power-house right, otherwise there might have been no story. And what a topical plot device putting the lovely Darnell across the border to escape a crime commission. Audiences no doubt connected that with the Kefauver Commission, so much in the news at the time.

On the acting front, Mitchum is his usual laid- back self, while, unfortunately, Darnell isn't given much to work with. At the same time, director Mate's non-use of close-ups denies Palance the skull-like menace that would otherwise fill in needed drama. Anyway, don't expect much until a climax that almost makes up for all that earlier dithering around.

Linda Darnell and Robert Mitchum are two people in love and looking for a "Second Chance," a 1953 film also starring Jack Palance. I chose to see this film because Darnell, Mitchum, and Palance are three of my screen favorites - Darnell for her looks and association with some of my favorite films, Mitchum just because I love him, and Palance because he can be quite interesting.

The movie concerns a gangster's ex-girlfriend Claire (Darnell) being pursued by a gunman named Cappy (Palance) as she runs away to avoid testifying against her ex-boyfriend. Though it seems like Cappy is stalking her, he really wants her for himself. In Mexico, Claire meets a down but not quite out prizefighter Russ (Mitchum) and the two fall in love. He wants her to go away with him to his next fight and then to New York, where he intends to fight in Madison Square Garden and make a comeback.

I found this film fairly routine, dull, predictable and in the beginning, somewhat confusing. The star is really Mexico. Shot in color, the scenery is incredible. The last scenes on the cable car were very exciting and then tension really built.

Mitchum looks great but is somewhat lethargic - that sullen sexuality of his can become merely passive, and it does here. Darnell is beautiful and has the more dramatic role, which she handles well. Palance plays a somewhat bizarre character - a killer in love with his proposed victim - and it's not one of his better performances. It's probably the role, which isn't fleshed out - every time we see him he's threatening Claire in one manner or another.

This movie is okay but the end and the scenery are well worth seeing. Unfortunately, I didn't see it in 3D, and you won't either.

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.

SECOND CHANCE is a routinely-plotted thriller with an above-average setting (the glorious mountain top terrain of Mexico) and a decent cast to lift it above the norm for the genre. I should also note that it was originally released in 3D in 1953 as part of the short-lived 3D boom in movies, although watching it 'flat' there aren't many (or any) eye-popping sequences that stand out as in the likes of HOUSE OF WAX, for example.

The story opens with some excellent and suspenseful chase sequences in which put-upon heroine Linda Darnell is being hunted through the streets by the vengeful Jack Palance. It turns out that she's a witness ready to testify against a mob boss and he's the bodyguard sent to bring her home. You know the story by now, but what makes this fun is an ultra-laconic Robert Mitchum as a boozy boxer who Darnell ends up hooking up with.

Sadly the middle part of the film gets a little tedious with some drawn-out romance scenes and the great Palance left skulking in the background. However, things pick up for an extended, disaster-fuelled climax set in and atop a broken cable car. There are some great fight scenes and stunts which make full use of the taut scenario. SECOND CHANCE isn't the greatest film out there, but it's certainly a distinctive and memorable one.

A film with Robert Mitchum and Jack Palance and they slug it out in a cable car at the end of the film! Sounds like exciting stuff.! Unfortunately the film is heavy going up to the final climax. Jack Palance feels it necessary to shoot someone in an early scene and then the film just plods along with little excitement. Worth watching for the final exciting action.

This was a very confusing movie. Like the summary says, Clair Sinclair (Linda Darnell) is on the run from a hitman (Jack Palance) and the local prizefighter (Robert Mitchum) helps her out.

However, there were so many plot points that came up but never lead to anything, I started to think that this movie must have been cut from its original length. Or, it was just not very well edited. Anyway, half of the movie is pretty watchable, but there are so many pointless scenes and unexplained loose ends, I find it hard to rate this higher than 5/10.

Robert Mitchum is pretty good (very handsome in this one) but Jack Palance completely over does the bad guy act. Linda Darnell does a good job, especially when she has to run UPHILL in high heels on the cobblestone streets of San Cristobal. Get this, Jack Palance is after her, seems to know every turn she takes, but he CAN'T CATCH HER!

It was only after I watched this that I found out it was a 3-D movie, which could explain some of the scenes (like the fiesta and the aerial tram), but most of the movie is so run of the mill, I can't see why they would make it in 3-D.

Rather dire star-vehicle for Robert Mitchum and Linda Darnell. Gangster's girl in South America, anxious to turn herself over to the police and release incriminating evidence to Washington officials against her boyfriend, instead finds herself on the run from the mobster's murderous stooge (whom she's also apparently been involved with!). She uses a smitten professional boxer from the States to get the thug off her tail, but he's relentless and they all end up in a crippled cable car suspended perilously over the valley. Muddled script by Oscar Millard and Sydney Boehm, from D.M. Marshman Jr.'s original treatment, makes a particular mess of the relationship between breathless Darnell and good-guy Mitchum (she's such a complete blank anyway, it's confounding why Mitchum would even give her the time of day). The climax is well-directed (if visually unconvincing), there's a colorful wedding celebration with fireworks, and Jack Palance is a menacing heavy. ** from ****

A standard tale of a woman in jeopardy and on the run aided by a handy tall, dark and handsome stranger but the stars make it worth checking out. Robert Mitchum and Linda Darnell have an excellent chemistry, a shame that they only made this one film together.

Actually their costarring was not planned, Susan Hayward was originally scheduled to appear but Howard Hughes had a revealing wardrobe in mind to exploit the leading lady's figure in 3-D, Susan found it distasteful and backed out and Linda stepped in. The wardrobe ended up not being used since Hughes wasn't upfront with Linda either and she likewise refused the costuming so between the censors and she he backed down and her clothes are flattering without being overly revealing.

The story may be standard but it is shot in some beautiful locations in gorgeous Technicolor and moves at a good pace with a suspenseful climax. It also has a fine villain in Jack Palance whose granite features were ideally suited to being a bad guy. Probably very impressive in the original 3-D this still has some impressive shots that give you an idea of what the audiences in the 50's saw. A good compact thriller that's worth your time.

Pretty good suspense-noir-romance in 3D, not quite an A and not quite a B, with prizefighter Robert Mitchum agonizing over having killed a rival in the ring (shades of Golden Boy) while he pursues moll Linda Darnell, who is pursued by amorous hit man Jack Palance, all running around streets in unnamed Mexican tourist towns. The racial stereotyping is a bit thick, and the screenplay isn't exactly overflowing with fresh situations or good lines. But there's plenty of local color, and an exciting climax aboard a disabled cable car. The stunts are impressive, Darnell's typically beautiful, and Bob Mitchum doing his sexy-laconic-sarcastic thing was always something to behold.

The long climax of this film occurs in a stranded cable car high over the mountains of a fictional Latin American vacationers' paradise; without benefit of the 3-D process in which the movie was originally shot, it seems fairly routine, even for its day. Beyond that, the film can be considered "noir" only by the most generous definition. It's basically a south-of-the-border romantic adventure between prizefighter Robert Mitchum and bad-girl-gone-good Linda Darnell, with Jack Palance as (of course) the heavy. Not a total waste of time if you find it on TV and have not much else to do, but definitely nothing to go out of your way for (and I've seen out-of-print videos going for $70!).

When characters in a film get into a cable car, you know it's only a matter of time before PING! the cable snaps. Strand by strand, of course, for maximum

tension (ha ha). Mitchum the boxer and Darnell the ex-moll on the run take

the fateful cable car up to a little Mexican hilltop town whose inhabitants have created a totally cardboard experience for tourists. The architecture is

"hacienda style" and lady guests can buy pseudo flamenco costumes in the

"vibrant, bustling" street market. Any Mexican not employed in the hotel,

selling peasant tat, or playing unctuous Mariachi music is out in the plaza

waving a balloon and shouting for joy, or performing a sinuous dance of no

particular origin. It reminds me of the many embarrassing ads on British TV

featuring funny Europeans. Then the main cast members climb aboard that

cable car and it becomes a lifeboat movie and you can write the script

yourself. Two cheers, though, for the feisty British middle-aged couple ("My

wife can help - she was a nurse's aide in London during the Blitz!").

Mitchum is brilliant as usual but Darnell is a little clumsy in the love scenes and speaks as though she was dubbing her lines.

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.

My main reason for seeing Second Chance was Jack Palance, a great actor (apart from the odd out-of-kilter-hammy performance, and mostly in films that are not very good in the first place) who particularly excelled in villain roles. Second Chance has its fair share of faults and is not a great film, but has enough to make worth a look.

Palance's performance is also one of the best things about the film. Some understandably feel that he overdid it here but that was most likely to do that Palance was trying (and succeeded) to make much of a role that didn't have very much to it. It is a marvellously creepy performance that is filled with intensity, particularly frightening in the climax. Linda Darnell has perhaps the most dramatic role of the three leads and does a good job with it, she is quite affecting and holds her own against Palance and Robert Mitchum, who is as charismatic as ever.

Another plus is the Mexican scenery, which is absolutely splendid, and is aided by striking photography and colours that are both gritty and vibrant. The film's highlight is the last third, with a crackling climax with the cable car, filled with terror and suspense that one wishes was present earlier in the film. There is also a colourful and fun if also rather overlong fiesta scene and the boxing match has a riveting intensity, its behind-the-scenes story being just as fascinating, the pursuit of Darnell by Palance is also done pretty well.

For all Second Chance's good things, it could also have been much better. The story is what brings it down, while it comes to life in the last third, two thirds of the film apart from is not as compelling and rather routine, its loose ends due to having ideas not explained enough make some of it confusing especially in the first part. It also tries to be too many elements, and while none of them are done terribly they've all been done better and better, the first part 's storytelling could have been clearer and the 'dream-like romance' that dominates the middle act suffers from dull pacing and lacking chemistry, Palance and Darnell's chemistry is pretty good and not very involving, pretty mechanical actually, with her and Mitchum.

Second Chance's script has some intelligent moments but generally is the kind that gets the job done but with not enough excitement, and the same can be said for the direction. Pacing also could have been much tighter, dragging in particularly the middle act.

Overall, routine film but has a great climax, and Palance and the scenery also make it worth a look. 6/10 Bethany Cox

An American crime drama; A story about a successful prizefighter who is at a crossroads in his career and his girlfriend is on the run from a cruel, murderous gangster ex-boyfriend whom she is ready to testify against. This is a straight forward film noir with a simple theme summed up in its title. The cinematography is good, photographed in pastel shades, and in 3-D, with rich and colourful settings, lavish costumes and plush set design, and grand locations at Cuernavaca, Morelos and Taxco, Guerrero in Mexico. The acting by the trio: a rivet-eyed sneering villain Jack Palance, a robust Robert Mitchum, and a sturdy, beautiful Linda Darnell carry the picture well. While the love interest is mechanical and the story is a very routine chase, the finale has some good suspense and well worth the wait.

Calling all 1950s B-movie lovers: Second Chance is a perfect example of the genre. All three leads are given little to no character development, there's a cheesy bad guy, an instant romance, suspenseful chase scenes in an exotic location known as Mexico, and a random disaster scene.

Linda Darnell is hiding out in Mexico until she's called to testify against a notorious gangster in the United States. Jack Palance, one of the cronies, has found her and wants to intimidate her into keeping her mouth shut. Robert Mitchum is a boxer who gets caught in the middle after he falls in love with Linda in five minutes. That's really all you need to know. Sure, there are beautiful people as the leads, and that's always fun to watch, but this is a total B-movie. If you haven't heard of this movie, there's a good reason for it.

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.

It's hard to say why the producers of SECOND CHANCE filmed it in 3-D, since that gimmicky device wore out its welcome very quickly. At any rate, without any added frills, SECOND CHANCE is little more than a routine exercise in suspense with some colorful Mexican locales to hold interest when the plot, involving LINDA DARNELL, ROBERT MITCHUM and JACK PALANCE, enters some dull stretches. Given that the story borders on film noir territory, it might have been more sensible to photograph it in classic B&W rather than washed out color.

Darnell is the pretty damsel in distress being menaced by Palance and helped by Mitchum, an American boxer who proves himself up to the task of defending her from her jealous ex-boyfriend.

A chase with Palance on her trail, is soon interrupted by a cable car ride to a mountain top site and a pause to enjoy a Mexican festival celebrating a wedding, which seems to have nothing to do with the plot but adds some local color. George Chakiris can be seen as a bystander in the background of a Mexican dance sequence.

Mitchum looks bored most of the time, Darnell looks ravishingly lovely for all her close-ups and Palance chews whatever scenery is in sight as the villainous thug, all strictly one-dimensional roles.

The story finally gets into a higher gear with the cable car sequence at the finale. By that time, interest has wavered throughout and the payoff seems rather tame despite the struggle between Mitchum and Palance on the cable car which has a predictable ending.

Both Mitchum and Darnell deserved better material than this at this point in their careers. Nothing memorable here, strictly routine.

I was reading the reviews on here and generally agree with them regarding the story and acting, but it seems no one has seen this in 3-D. I did a few years ago, the only 3-D movie from the 50s that I've seen as intended. The 3-D makes all the difference. The plot is still nothing special, but from the RKO logo in 3-D with the letters popping out at you to the cable car scene at the end, it is at least visually memorable in 3-D. The scenery in Mexico is especially nice with the depth, and of course the cable car scene is another matter with the 3-D effects. This is well worth seeing if you ever get the chance to see it in 3-D, even with the annoying glasses. There was an intermission when I saw it to give your eyes a rest.

A film of two halves, this one. Cinematographically speaking - it's got lots of gorgeous Mexican scenery, evocative and sultry dancing and a rather enjoyable firework display. The story and acting, however, leave quite a bit to be desired. Linda Darnell is holing up in Mexico, hiding from her mobster boyfriend. When she agrees to testify before an US Senate hearing she must get back to the States, evading his henchman "Cappy Gordon" (Jack Palance) en route. Luckily, she alights of former boxer "Russ Lambert" (Robert Mitchum) who ends up helping her. It is an oddly static film, neither of the male leads have anything like enough charisma to hold the screen and Darnell isn't given much to work with either. There are a few decently menacing scenes on an aerial cable car, but otherwise this is an unremarkable gangster thriller with little jeopardy and a rather sudden ending!

The magic Mitchum and Russell and Mitchum and Greer found in South of the border noirs isn't in the cards for Linda Darnell in this tired pulp. There is hardly any juice in it to go around. Darnell is on the run from a mob kingpins goon (Jack Palance) who displays his cruel handiwork on someone else who crossed the chief earlier in the film. Mitchum is an up and coming boxer (at 32) who takes up with her and comes to her defense.

Darnell was entering the downside of her career and in Second Chance she looks tired and swollen though she can outrun and escape Palance easily. Her scenes with Mitchum lack spark and tension with Mitch showing little enthusiasm himself. The highly anticipated evenly matched climactic battle between Mitchum and Palance never turns into much of a slug fest since the arena is a precarious mountain gondola whose cables are about to give away.

Released in 3-D, which may account for the abysmal high wire theatrics and other heavy handed point blank compositions to go along with the lackluster action and dormant chemistry between the leads Second Chance doesn't deserve one at all.