Man with Two Lives (1942)

User Rating:

5.4/10   

Director:

Phil Rosen

Writer:

Joseph Hoffman (writer)

Release Date:

13 March 1942 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

His Secret Means DEATH!

Plot:

A man is brought back from death at the same time a vicious criminal dies in the electric chair. However, the man's soul is now taken over by the electrocuted gangster, who embarks on a vengeful crime wave.

Plot Keywords:

Brothers | Midnight | Mobster | Reincarnation | It Was All A Dream

Cast

Edward Norris	...	Philip Bennett
Marlo Dwyer	...	Helen Lengel
Eleanor Lawson	...	Louise Hammond
Frederick Burton	...	Hobart Bennett
Addison Richards	...	Lt. Detective George Bradley
Edward Keane	...	Dr. Richard Clark
Hugh Sothern	...	Prof. Toller
Tom Seidel	...	Reginald 'Reg' Bennett
Elliott Sullivan	...	Eric
Anthony Warde	...	Hugo
Ernie Adams	...	Gimpy
Kenne Duncan	...	Jess Fowler (as Kenneth Duncan)
George Dobbs	...	Tim Martin
Lois Landon	...	Aunt Margaret
Frances Richards	...	Nurse

Also Known As:

Shed No Tears (USA) (working title)
The Man with Too Many Faces (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

65 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #8159)

Quotes:

Hobart Bennett: Two months now. Two months - and his conduct becomes more and more extraordinary. Sometimes I can scarcely believe he's my son.
Dr. Richard Clark: Is he still so brusque?
Hobart Bennett: That's putting it mildly Doctor. I hate to admit this about Philip but he's often downright offensive.

One of TV's first...

I started watching movies on TV around 1948. First one I can recall was The Ghost Goes West (1936). Another early one was The Man With Two Lives. My brother and I, around 11 and 8 years old respectively, watched it a few times because 1) there wasn't much else on that would appeal to us the way execution and "transmigration of souls" would and 2) they repeated it a few times. Even at that age we were not highly impressed, but it was better than the Small Fry Club and Howdy Doody. Another favorite (?) of ours was one in which a doctor, I believe, became afflicted with acromegaly, causing his fingers and other body parts to swell; the tip-off was when he became unable to play the piano. That one was scary enough to give me a healthy respect for dread diseases, and I was confirmed in this years later when, with a college education under my belt, I looked up "acromegaly" in the dictionary and found the film's depiction of it was truthful. Now what was the name of that film....