Don't Bet on Blondes (1935)

Pretty Good

Highly Overrated But Still Good

Don't listen to the negative reviews

As Good As It Gets

Directed by Robert Florey, with story and screenplay by Isabel Dawn and Boyce DeGaw, this short (less than an hour) comedy starring Warren William is a lot of fun, a delightful little movie with rich characterizations which should entertain most, especially those fans of the stylish actor. Though you probably won't find yourself laughing out loud, you should enjoy spotting several familiar faces throughout this film (including a cameo by Errol Flynn, in one of his first pictures).'Odds' Owen (William) is the best known bookie in town (New York?), setting the odds and taking bets from sports gamblers of nearly every sport at his thriving business offices. His staff includes: Numbers (William Gargan - They Knew What They Wanted (1940)), who calculates the odds using statistics, etc.; Doc (Spencer Charters), who examines horses at the track; Steve (Eddie Shubert), a detective for Odds; and Brains (Vince Barnett), who's a gopher ("go for this, go for that") for the other things Odds may need, or need done. The recognizable Mary Treen plays his office secretary. When a man comes in and places a $2,500 bet on a 20-1 horse, Numbers has Steve follow him and then tells Odds. Odds calls Brains & Doc at the track, for more information, and then listens on the radio as the long-shot comes in (wins the race). Odds then asks Doc to check to see if the horse had been doped. When he finds out that it was, Odds takes the certified results to the person Steve found out made the bet, T. Everett Markham (Clay Clement), the horse's owner and a successful lawyer downtown. Odds gives Markham the choice of taking the results or his $50,000 in winnings and Markham chooses the incriminating evidence. Odds gives Markham his $2,500 back and makes it clear that Markham should sell his stables, or else. Later, Markham tells his Broadway star actress girlfriend, Marilyn Young (Claire Dodd), that he's left the horse racing business because it's infiltrated with gangsters.Though happy with himself for coming out on top, Odds tells his staff that they are getting out of the gambling business and going into the insurance business. He tells them that it's pretty much the same business after all and that, since there is no equivalent to Lloyds of London in the U.S., they will write unique policies and collect premiums for "freak" occurrences. One of their first clients is Philbert Slemp (Hobart Cavanaugh), a homely little man who wants to insure that his wife doesn't have twins, even though they run in the family. Against his staff's advice, Odds takes the bet anyway, based on the man's lack of sex appeal. Another bet he takes is from Mousy Slade (Jack Norton), who manages "husband caller" (you have to see this, to believe it - evidentally it was, or still is, something that's done at state fairs) Little Ellen Purdy (Maude Eburne), and wants to insure his client against losing her voice. Though Numbers is against it, Brains convinces him that it's what Odds wants.One day, when Markham is visiting Marilyn, he learns that she's engaged to Dwight Boardman (Walter Byron), who arrives professing he is suffering from some ailment and that his doctor has advised him not to catch a chill; he's wearing his coat and scarf indoors. Markham, who has been reading about Odds's new success in the papers, gets an idea. So, he visits Marilyn's father, Colonel Jefferson Davis Youngblood (Guy Kibbee), who's trying to write a book about how the South really won the Civil War. After reminding the Colonel that Boardman is a Yankee, Markham tells Marilyn's father that, if she marries Boardman and quits the stage, he'll lose his income from her. Therefore, he convinces the Colonel to take out a policy which pays $50,000 if his daughter gets married, so that he'll have enough to complete his book if she does. Of course, Markham intends to marry Marilyn himself, to get even with Odds. Again, against the advice of Numbers, Odds takes the Colonel's bet for $100 week over the policy's term, 3 years. When Numbers shows Odds that the paper says Marilyn is practically engaged to Boardman, he and his staff, Doc really, conspire to convince the hypochondriac Boardman that marriage could be fatal, and that he should spend the next 3 years abroad. Odds has Steve monitor Marilyn's dating habits, and he & his staff establish a three (strikes and you're out) date rule - anyone who dates her more than 3 times is "eliminated". The first to invoke this course of action is David Van Dusen (Errol Flynn), who is made to appear to be a gangster during his fourth date with Marilyn.When Marilyn recognizes Odds at the "demise" of her second suitor, they begin dating. Though he has really fallen for Marilyn, Odds tells his staff that he is "keeping her out of circulation". When Marilyn visits him at his (now) insurance offices, she sees her father come in to make a payment on his policy. Later, after getting the Colonel drunk on mint juleps, she learns about the policy and thinks Odds is just protecting his investment. She decides to ensure that he falls in love with her in order to break his heart.I've given away a good portion of this short movie's plot, given its length, so I think I'll stop here. Of course, Markham will enter into the picture again and you might have figured out where things are going anyway.

I'd like to give it more stars just because of William, but at 60 minutes or thereabouts the thin amount of footage did not warrant it. It's fast enough and the image of furiously betting and calculating clients of bookie William carry along the first part. It's the romance that slows things down. I don't mind predictability, though. Dodd is pretty enough for anyone's taste and William's dapper persona makes him and her nice looking as a couple. The most memorable scene to me, not the funniest, was the part at the end when Dodd is set to marry unloved suitor #1 rather than William. Did she compromise her self and future happiness by settling simply to have the title 'Mrs.'? It looks that way. The entire huge church attendance stares at the door where Suitor #1 ought to enter and the eager crowd's demeanor and growing look of dismay on Dodd's countenance as she faces being stood up make the scene poignant. Then William enters unexpectedly and weds his dream girl. I liked how he in the first 10 minutes completely bowed out of being a bookie and tried for a more respectable career. Naturally, he was immediately successful. All in all, any Warren William is good Warren William, and I'd not seen this picture before, so I watched it. Meh.

"Don't Bet on Blondes" is a short Warners comedy from 1935 starring Warren William, Claire Dodd, Guy Kibbee, William Gargan, and Errol Flynn in an early appearance.William is a bookie who decides to go legitimate and become an insurance man, but a special kind of one. He's going to take high risk cases, and some of them are real doozies: whether a man will have twins, whether someone will lose her voice, etc.One case concerns a southern man (Kibbee) who is supported by his daughter. He's writing a book proving that the south won the Civil War and he doesn't want his daughter to marry before he finishes it. It's a high risk because she's a gorgeous showgirl (Dodd) and she's practically engaged already.William steps in as a distraction. You can guess the rest.Warren William was all but forgotten before TCM; now he's very familiar to viewers and there's a new appreciation for his work. In silents, he played dark, villainous characters; in sound he could be a con man, a detective, or Perry Mason. He had a wheezing laugh and his line readings often indicated wonderful humor. It's interesting that this type of leading man -- the Barrymore-type profile, the mustache -- went out of style.This is a fast film, briskly directed, and enjoyable.

DON'T BET ON BLONDES is the lesson New York City's most eccentric insurance broker learns the hard way.Fast-moving & fun, this is another example of the comedy crime picture that Warner Brothers was so expert at producing. Casts & plots could be shuffled almost endlessly, with very predictable results. While this assembly line approach created few classics, audience enjoyment could usually be assured.Suave and sophisticated, Warren William dominates this enjoyable little film with his debonair manner and slightly sardonic sense of humor. Playing a topnotch bookie who seamlessly switches to the more legal insurance racket, William is never less than absolutely in command of his performance. His pursuit of lovely Claire Dodd, even though she's the subject of his client's offbeat policy, illustrates his character's single-minded determination to get exactly what he wants. Whether in comedy or drama, Warren William was a most enjoyable actor to watch and it is a shame that he is almost forgotten now.A sturdy cast of costars gives fine support to William. Cuddly Guy Kibbee plays a Kentucky colonel desperate to retain his daughter's largess. Quick-tempered William Gargan is William's numbers expert, while Spencer Charters is his wise old company doctor. Clay Clement is a somewhat larcenous lawyer who has his eyes on Miss Dodd; Walter Byron portrays a prissy hypochondriac actor. Mary Treen is William's no-nonsense secretary; Hobart Cavanaugh plays a little man anxious to ensure his pregnant wife against having twins.Look fast for Herman Bing as a man with a dog. A young Errol Flynn, looking earnest & eager, plays a potential suitor for Miss Dodd; he would become a major movie star very shortly. Wonderful Maude Eburne steals her scenes as a champion husband caller from Iowa.Movie mavens will recognize W. C. Fields' longtime accomplice, Tammany Young, as an uncredited betting tout in the open scene.