''Man with Two Lives'' is a 1942 American film directed by

Phil Rosen Philip E. Rosen (May 8, 1888 – October 22, 1951) was an American film director and cinematographer. He directed more than 140 films between 1915 and 1949. He was born in Marienburg, German Empire (now, Malbork, Poland), grew up in Ma ...

and written by Joseph Hoffman.

Plot

The story is of a man who is brought back from the dead and whose body is hijacked by the soul of an executed gangster, consequently making the deceased man a high-ranking criminal. At the beginning of the story, the happy couple Phillip Bennett and Louise Hammond are engaged to be married. A major bump on their planned road to the future emerges when sadly Phillip is killed in a traffic accident as they are driving back from their engagement party. The dubious Dr. Clarke, who apparently is known for being able to revive deceased animals, is called on for the purpose of bringing Phillip back to life. By midnight on that very same night as Phillip's demise, the infamous criminal Panino is to receive his capital punishment for his crimes: execution via electrocution. Just minutes before midnight Dr. Clarke performs his resuscitation operation and it is a successful one, but when Panino dies moments later his soul enters Phillip's body. The soul change goes unnoticed however, and Phillip's body is brought home to his hopeful wife to be. At first it appears Phillip suffers from severe amnesia, and he is uncapable of recognizing any of the persons previously known to him, which is of course an unpleasant surprise. Phillip instantly starts roaming Panino's old hoods, and it doesn't take long before he once again is supreme commander of his old gang, running the business as usual, but in the shape of Phillip. The people around Phillip, including his father Hobart Bennet is worried by the development and this new personality of Phillip's. They become even more worried when they start noticing that he is more and more absent from his home. Soon a crime wave hits the city and there is an outbreak of gang wars, throwing the city into chaos as gang members are killed on every side. Accompanied by Dr. Clarke, Phillip's father Hobart visits the gang's headquarters and meets with the gangsters, to tell them who Panino/Phillip really is. They ask the gang members about Phillip's relation to the gang and its business, and the gang members find out that Phillip, a respectable citizen, is the son of Hobart Bennet. Phillip/Panino finds out about this and feels threatened by the fact that some of the gang members know about his "secret identity". He murders all of the potentially dangerous gang members, but fails to kill one person, a brother to one of the murdered gang members, who knows his secret. This remaining man becomes the key to catching Panino/Phillip and stop him from going through with his planned robbery. He tips the police of Panino/Phillip's plans and a trap is laid to catch the felon, but he escapes and decides to take revenge on the detective in charge of hunting him down. He ends up killing the detective, but is in turn killed by Dr. Clarke.

Cast

Edward Norris Septimus Edward Norris (March 10, 1911 – December 18, 2002) was an American film actor. Early years Norris was born in 1911, the son of a prominent Philadelphia gynecologist, who was described in a newspaper article as "a famous surgeon and ...

as Philip Bennett *Marlo Dwyer as Helen Lengel * Eleanor Lawson as Louise Hammond * Frederick Burton as Hobart Bennett *

Addison Richards Addison Whittaker Richards, Jr. (October 20, 1902 – March 22, 1964) was an American actor of film and television. Richards appeared in more than three hundred films between 1933 and his death. Biography A native of Zanesville, Ohio, Richa ...

as Lt. Detective George Bradley * Edward Keane as Dr. Richard Clark * Hugh Sothern as Prof. Toller * Tom Seidel as Reginald "Reg" Bennett *

Elliott Sullivan Elliott Sullivan (July 4, 1907 – June 2, 1974) was an American actor. Sullivan was born in San Antonio, Texas, the son of Rabbi Solomon Solomon. He appeared in the films ''They Won't Forget'', '' Over the Wall'', ''Accidents Will Happen'', ' ...

as Eric *

Anthony Warde Anthony Warde (born Benjamin Schwartz; January 1, 1909 – January 8, 1975) was a noted American actor who appeared in over 150 films between 1937 and 1964. Early years Born as Benjamin Schwartz in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on New Year' ...

as Hugo * Ernie Adams as Gimpy *

Kenne Duncan Kenne Duncan (February 17, 1903 – February 5, 1972) was a Canadian-born American B-movie character actor. Hyped professionally as "The Meanest Man in the Movies," the vast majority of his over 250 appearances on camera were Westerns, but ...

as Jess Fowler * George Dobbs as Tim Martin *

Lois Landon Lois is a common English name from the New Testament. Paul the Apostle mentions Lois, the pious grandmother of Saint Timothy in the Second Epistle to Timothy (commending her for her faith in 2 Timothy 1:5). The name was first used by English C ...

as Aunt Margaret * Frances Richards as Nurse * Jack Buckley as Mitch Larsen *

Jack Ingram Jack Owen Ingram (born November 15, 1970) is an American country music artist formerly signed to Big Machine Records, an independent record label. He has released eleven studio albums, one extended play, six live albums, and 19 singles. Although ...

as Ed. Sporady *

George Kirby George Kirby (June 8, 1923 – September 30, 1995) was an American comedian, singer, and actor. Career Born in Chicago, Kirby broke into show business in the 1940s at the Club DeLisa, a South Side establishment that employed a variety-show ...

as The Bennett Butler

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Man with Two Lives, The 1942 films American science fiction horror films 1942 crime films 1940s science fiction horror films American black-and-white films Monogram Pictures films Resurrection in film American crime films Films directed by Phil Rosen 1940s English-language films 1940s American films