The Chance of a Lifetime (1943) DVD-R

Starring Chester Morris, Erik Rolf, Jeanne Bates, Richard Lane, George E.
Stone, Lloyd Corrigan
Directed by William Castle

Print: black/white
Runtime: 65 min.
Genre: drama
Print Quality: B

This lively entry in the "Boston Blackie" series finds Blackie (Chester
Morris) acting as spiritual leader of a group of ex-convicts. The plan is for
the former inmates to redeem themselves by working in a defense plant.
Only problem: some of the cons (Douglas Fowley, Arthur Hunnicutt et. al.)
have no intention of going straight and are planning a major robbery.
Predictably, suspicion falls upon the only honest one (Erik Rolf) in the
bunch -- and upon Blackie, who is himself a previous "guest of the state."
Chance of a Lifetime represents the first directorial effort of William
Castle, who later claimed that, saddled with a hopeless project, he made
the film "work" by re-arranging the reels in the editing room (it sure
doesn't look like it was put together that way!)