Lightning Strikes Twice (1951 film)

Once a wealthy rancher, young Richard Trevelyan (Richard Todd) is now on a Texas prison's death row. But he wins a new trial, which ends in a hung jury when a lone juror holds out. He is set free.

Actress Shelley Carnes (Ruth Roman) is on her way to a Texas dude ranch for a rest. Along the way, she meets rich ranchers J.D. (Frank Conroy) and Myra Nolan (Kathryn Givney) and ends up being loaned their car. Lost in a storm, she encounters Trevelyan by chance. He becomes spooked when he learns she knows J.D. and Myra.

The dude ranch is closed when Shelley gets there. Liza McStringer (Mercedes McCambridge), who runs it with younger brother String (Darryl Hickman), explains that she was the juror who let Trevelyan off. Now she's being shunned by neighbors and friends.

Shelley bonds with the troubled String, so she is invited to stay a while. She learns that Loraine, the late wife of Trevelyan and murder victim, was a wicked woman, loathed by many. There is reason to believe Loraine once had an affair with J.D., Trevelyan's business partner through the ventures he inherited from his father.

Shelly goes looking for Trevelyan, and finds him brooding on a cliffside. There are sparks, but no fire. She leaves, troubled.

Returning the car, Shelley spends a night with the Nolans and is introduced to Harvey Turner (Zachary Scott), a woman-hungry neighbor who immediately makes a play for her. He too speaks ill of Loraine, suggesting he was lucky to have escaped her clutches.

Later Harvey kidnaps Shelly, bringing her to a mysterious rendezvous with Trevelyan; it turns out the men are best friends, and Trevelyan had asked the favor. This time the couple cannot resist each other, and hurriedly marry. Liza appears, uninvited, at their intimate reception, accuses Trevelyan of being the murderer, and leaves in a state.

That night, Shelley's fears get the best of her, and she flees back to the safety of the dude ranch. There, Liza confesses in a murderous rage that it was she, jealous and wanting Trevelyan for herself, who had killed Loraine after the tramp (who indeed had been involved with J.D. when his secretary) had bedded Harvey. She is stopped from strangling Shelley by Trevelyan and Harvey's arrival. Liza and String manage to flee in their car.

Pursued by police, she plunges the car over a cliff, but lives long enough to confess to a priest. It turns out Trevelyan had been right all along: everybody did lie at his trial. And he evidently had been telling the truth when he said he did not know how his wife had died.

Tevelyan gets a reassuring pat from the local sheriff. The couple leave the scene in his car, Shelley kissing him repeatedly as they head together toward their honeymoon.

• Ruth Roman as Shelley Carnes
• Richard Todd as Richard Trevelyan
• Mercedes McCambridge as Liza McStringer
• Zachary Scott as Harvey Turner
• Frank Conroy as J. D. Nolan
• Kathryn Givney as Myra Nolan
• Rhys Williams as Father Paul
• Darryl Hickman as String
• Nacho Galindo as Pedro

Warner Bros had owned the rights to the book since 1945.[3]

Virginia Mayo was originally cast in the female lead.[4]

The music score repeatedly echoes a passage from La valse by Maurice Ravel.

In February 2020, the film was shown at the 70th Berlin International Film Festival, as part of a retrospective dedicated to King Vidor's career.[6]

Shown on the Turner Classic Movies show 'Noir Alley' with Eddie Muller on February 18, 2023.

• Lightning Strikes Twice at the American Film Institute Catalog
• Lightning Strikes Twice at IMDb
• Lightning Strikes Twice at AllMovie
• Lightning Strikes Twice at the TCM Movie Database
• Lightning Strikes Twice information site and DVD review at DVD Beaver (includes images)
• Lightning Strikes Twice film scene on YouTube