Chained for Life (1951)

User Rating:

3.5/10   

Director:

Harry L. Fraser

Writers:

Ross Frisco (idea) and
Nat Tanchuck (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

29 October 1954 (Finland)

Genre:

Crime

Tagline:

Frank! daring! bold! Like nothing you've ever seen!

Plot:

A Siamese twin kills the husband who left her. The courts have to decide if she is convicted of murder, how can they punish her sister, who had nothing to do with the crime?

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Siamese Twins | Exploitation

Cast

Violet Hilton	...	Vivian Hamilton
Daisy Hilton	...	Dorothy Hamilton
Mario Laval	...	Andre Pariseau
Allen Jenkins	...	Hinkley
Patricia Wright	...	Renée
Robert Keys	...	Defense Attorney (as Alan Keys)
Norval Mitchell	...	Judge Mitchell (as Norvel Mitchell)
Edna Holland	...	Mabel
Brian O'Hara
Herbert Lytton	...	District Attorney
Jack Mulhall	...	Dr. Thompson
Jim Hope
Roy Regnier
Zena Barry
Tony Iavello	...	Singer

Runtime:

81 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | UK:(Banned)

Company:

Spera Productions Inc.

Trivia:

Much of the plot was derived from real events in the lives of Siamese twins Daisy Hilton and Violet Hilton: the sham-marriage for publicity; the difficulty getting a marriage license due to morals concerns; the vaudeville singing career.

Movie Connections:

Edited into "Muchachada nui: (#2.4)" (2008)

Brain teaser

Remember the old brain teaser, where someone is on trial for murder, and the judge states that though the party is clearly guilty, he is forced to set him free, and it turns out that the guilty person is a Siamese twin?? Well, someone decided to base an entire feature film around that brain teaser. "Chained for Life" stars the Hilton sisters; real life Siamese twins from the vaudeville era who play (guess what) Siamese twin vaudeville stars (vaudeville, by the way, was pretty much a dead issue by the time this film was made), one of whom gets involved with a gigolo who abandons her on her wedding night, and the terrible retributions that follow. The Hilton sisters seem to be quite competent singers (though somebody should pick out better songs for them to sing), but don't quite cut it as actresses. When one has dialogue, the other completely goes blank, as if she were somewhere else. Most of the film, though, is padded out with other corny vaudeville acts who add nothing to the story, but help bring the movie to feature length rather than being a short subject. And there's a dream sequence that's not to be believed. All in all, for exploitation completeists only.