Never Trust a Gambler (1951)

Sorry, this movie sucks

Really Surprised!

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

Steve--dane clark Virginia--Cathy O'donnell masher off dutycop shows police work odd--everyone seemed to know dead cop was a lecher she's a bad liarSteve (Dane Clark) is a gambler on the run from the cops. He's apparently been accused of murder and he has decided to visit his estranged wife, Virginia (Cathy O'Donnell). She believes that he's an innocent and reformed man, so she agrees to let him stay with her for a few days.Out of the blue, a perverted lech of a cop sees Virginia and decides to follow her home. There, he refuses to take no for an answer and he's about to rape her when Steve comes out of hiding and beats the cop up...killing him in the process. It's a clear case of justifiable homicide....but Steve isn't about to call the police and report this. Instead, he dumps the body and they hope it all blows over...or will it?This is a very good film, though it is relatively low-budgeted and with second and third-tier actors. In spite of this, the writing is very believable and well done. I especially love where the story went towards the end...it really made the film.

That's the lesson sweet teacher (Cathy O'Donnell) finds out when a sleazy cop puts the make on her, then preys on her, assuming she is alone. But her ex-husband (Dane Clark) is secretly staying there, having fled San Francisco for Los Angeles to avoid being put on the witness stand in a murder trial. The scumbag cop is killed accidentally, and Clark gets rid of the body, not counting on a bus driver with an incredible memory recalling his description getting on his bus. Another detective (Tom Drake) is a perfect gentleman towards O'Donnell as he investigates the murder, not realizing that another case he is involved in (searching for Clark) is tied into this one. But Clark has more secrets which leads to a predictable conclusion.This is one of those thrillers that has elements of film noir but isn't. Sure, there is the perfect noir set up, but it lacks the darkness of similar stories such as "The Reckless Moment". Clark is appropriately dark and moody, but it doesn't seem plausible that he would be married to the sweet O'Donnell. She seems more likely to have gone for someone like Drake. The scenes with disgusting detective McCoy are hard to take without feeling slightly ill. This cop is a potential rapist and like one witness says, she's give $10 (a lot of money for a hit-man in 1951?) to see him dead. Add on Kathryn Card (Mrs. McGillicuddy of "I Love Lucy" fame) as nosy neighbor Phoebe and a slew of witnesses who remember details easily forgotten by most and you have a lot of eye rolling to catch up on. Myrna Dell gives a really enjoyable performance as the hard-noses Dolores, the ex-roommate who once dated the oily deceased cop and reveals a heart of gold when she warns O'Donnell about the investigation going on. British character actor Rhys Williams really does his work as the sleaze bag cop to make you hate him and applaud at his demise.

***SPOILERS** Fast moving crime drama with everyone's favorite, back in the 1940's and 1950's, man on run from the police Dane Clark as reformed degenerate gambler Steve Garry, who's as usual running from the police but this time not for a crime that he claims that he didn't commit but from keeping himself from being made to testify in his good friend and bosses, Phil Gould, trial in the murder of his wife!Breaking into his ex-wife's, who's bank account he squandered betting on the horses and in the casinos, Virginia Merrill, Cathy O'Donnell, L.A apartment to hold up until the heat cools down. Steve give her this cock & Bull story about how he reformed from his gambling habits and is now a hard working and cost conscious man. To prove his point Steve shows a not so impressed Virginia a bank book in his name with him depositing into it $600.00 every month from his job back in San Francisco as a charter boat captain.What all that has to do with Steve running from the police is that by him testifying in Gould's trial his testimony instead of exonerating him in his wife's murder would in fact send hims straight to the gas chamber! Not knowing what to make of Steve's story Virginia at first goes along with him in letting her stay at her place. This becomes very dangerous to her when one of Virginia's former room-mates Delores, Myrna Dell, boyfriend's the drunk as a skunk, as well as acting like one, LAPD Sgt. Quenin McCloy, Rhys Williams, meets her at the supermarket. With the annoying Sgt. McCoy buying Virginia a bottle of cheap $2.00 whiskey he uses the lame excuse of drinking by him crashing, drunk as usual, into her apartment! This later leads to a confrontation in Virginia's apartment with Steve who in keeping him from possibly raping her ends up bashing in McCloy's skull in with a chair thus killing him!With Virginia now implicated in Sgt. McCloy's death she has no choice but to go along with Steve in disposing his body by faking a car accident. This brings the LAPD into the case headed by Sgt.Donavan, Tom Drake, and his bulldog like, in sniffing out clues, partner Det. Lou Brecker, Jeff Corey.***SPOILERS*** As we and Virginia later find out Steve wasn't in fact telling the truth in his cock-eyed story about trying to protect Phil Gould from being convicted in his wife's murder. The fact was that Steve knew a lot more about Mrs. Gould's murder then he was letting on. So much more that he was willing to not only cross the border into Mexico but murder anyone,including Virginia, who tried to stop him!

Gambler-fugitive seeks refuge with ex-wife, even as police close in.Except for the cleverly staged finale—a giant crane on the LA loading docks—it's a pretty pedestrian crime story. Despite the poor ratings from the professionals, I tuned in because of the cast. Clark makes an excellent tough-guy-with-soul as in Deep Valley (1947) and Moonrise (1948), while O'Donnell is enough to make a grown man cry in the transcendent They Live by Night (1948). What this film crucially lacks, however, is mood. It's filmed in straightforward unimaginative style, much like a TV episode. As a result, there's no complementary atmosphere to frame the twosome's particular talents, thereby largely wasting them. Too bad, because the film would likely do just as well with any number of lesser talents in the leads.It doesn't help that the screenplay is unexceptional with few surprises, except maybe for the randy cop (Williams). Still, you wonder how such a crude guy could possibly stay on the force, let alone as a sergeant. It's also a cheaply produced programmer with two or three basic sets. At least, Columbia knew something more was needed, hence the scenic finale. All in all, the movie's a routine programmer, at best.