Lightning Strikes Twice
© 1951 Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Actress Shelley Carnes goes to a dude ranch in Texas for a vacation after a strenuous run on the road playing Desdemona. She runs into a rainstorm as she’s driving towards the ranch and gets lost. She gets help from Richard Trevelyan. Until recently, her well-turned-out good Samaritan was on death row for murdering his wife. He’s only free because one juror in his appeal trial declined to convict him. Shelley falls in love with the taciturn rancher, completely convinced of his innocence. But on their wedding night, she hears details of the crime that cause her to wonder. Is Richard Trevelyan the Othello of Texas? … Among the emblems of the Texas lifestyle lovingly presented in Lightning Strikes Twice – Stetsons, BBQ, and wild horses – the rough landscape features prominently. The camera revels in the vast expanses, open spaces that at first evoke fear in Shelley. But then she is drawn into a close web of rival women who are the real source of danger. Ultimately, Vidor’s romantic thriller bears a greater resemblance to a melodrama than to a film noir.
With
- Ruth Roman
- Richard Todd
- Mercedes McCambridge
- Zachary Scott
- Frank Conroy
- Kathryn Givney
- Rhys Williams
- Darryl Hickman
- Nacho Galindo
- Franklin Parker
Crew
Director | King Vidor |
Screenplay | Lenore Coffee |
Dialogue | Felix Jacoves |
Story | Margaret Echard A Man Without Friends (1940) |
Cinematography | Sid Hickox |
Editing | Thomas Reilly |
Music | Max Steiner |
Sound | Charles Lang Jr. |
Art Director | Douglas Bacon |
Costumes | Leah Rhodes |
Assistant Director | Frank Mattison |
Henry Blanke |
Produced by
Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc. (A Warner Bros.–First National Picture)
Additional information
Print: British Film Institute, London