I Died a Thousand Times (1955)

I Died a Thousand Times is a 1955 American CinemaScope Warnercolor film noir directed by Stuart Heisler. The drama features Jack Palance as paroled bank robber Roy Earle.

I Died a Thousand Times is a scene-by-scene remake of High Sierra (1941), which was based upon a novel by W.R. Burnett and starred Humphrey Bogart as Earle. The same story had also been transformed into the Western Colorado Territory (1949), with Joel McCrea.

Director – Stuart Heisler

Writer – W.R. Burnett (novel “High Sierra”)

Cast –
Jack Palance as Roy Earle aka Roy Collins
Shelley Winters as Marie Garson
Lori Nelson as Velma Goodhue
Lee Marvin as Babe Kossuck
Pedro Gonzalez as Chico
Lon Chaney Jr. as Big Mac
Earl Holliman as Red
Perry Lopez as Louis Mendoza
Richard Davalos as Lon Preisser
Howard St. John as Doc Banton
Nick Adams as Bellboy (uncredited)
Dennis Hopper as Joe (uncredited)
Ralph Moody as Pa Goodhue
Olive Carey as Ma Goodhue
Dub Taylor as Ed (uncredited)
Paul Brinegar as Bus Driver (uncredited)
James Millican as Jack Kranmer

Watch “I Died a Thousand Times” (1955)

Plot

Roy “Mad Dog” Earle (Jack Palance), an aging bank robber, intends to pull off one last heist before retiring.

Sprung from prison by crime boss Big Mac (Lon Chaney Jr.), Earle agrees to plan the robbery of a resort hotel. His partners include the hotheaded Babe (Lee Marvin), easy-going Red (Earl Holliman), and an “inside man” at the hotel, Louis Mendoza (Perry Lopez). Along for the ride is Marie (Shelley Winters), a dance-hall girl whom Babe recently met.

Marie falls in love with Earle, but he is more interested in Velma (Lori Nelson), the club-footed daughter of a farmer (Ralph Moody) whom Earle earlier befriended.

Intending to use his share of the loot to pay for Velma’s needed operation, Earle goes through with the robbery, only to be thwarted by the ineptitude of his gang, the treachery of the late Big Mac’s successors, and the fickle Velma.

With the still faithful Marie by his side, Earle makes a desperate escape into the Sierra Nevada, where a police sniper shoots him down.