In the early months of 1950 "Chance of a Lifetime" was released into British cinemas; it was a film in which Jacques "really made her mark", according to her biographer, Andy Merriman. "Chance of a Lifetime" is a social and industrial relations drama based in a plough factory whose manager cedes control to the workforce. Jacques played Alice, a welder: when she was offered her fee for 17 days filming, she replied "I've done this job welding Bailey and Pontoon Bridges and I know how hard it is. That's not enough money!" and the offer was raised accordingly. The film critic Geoff Mayer considered that Jacques had "the best scene in the film with her mock seductive dance in front of an angry ".