Directed
by the very busy Edwin Marin, this light comedy will probably not
elicit a second viewing, especially at a whopping ninety-seven
minutes. The film has an unremarkable music score by Leigh Harline to back up an original story by the nearly unknown Herbert Clyde Lewis.
Released by RKO Radio Pictures, this low-budget movie does have its
humorous moments, thanks to those with comedic chops. The
individually brief opening segments are fun, suggesting a screwball
comedy. These historical flashbacks concern the ancestors of Frank
Morgan, each with their own bad gambling decisions from the
eighteenth to the early twentieth centuries. His granddaughter, in all three historical settings, is Barbara Hale. She and Robert Young are
good here, but neither is funny by nature. At times, their dialogue only includes potentially funny quips. With all the clichéd anger over
misunderstandings between these two, the supporting cast is the
film’s saving grace on the comedy front.
It all starts with third-billed Morgan, playing a soft-hearted, gambling-distracted grandfather, a persona not far removed from the great Oz. Further down the cast is James Gleason, again playing a savvy character doling out wisdom or deadpan quips with barely a lip moving. Others help carry the comedic load like rotund Lloyd Corrigan, Don Rice, Harry Davenport and the man with the electric performance, Teddy Hart. Once again, he nearly steals another movie as a two-dollar bettor—and winning—to the slow agony of the room. Hart’s first scene sets up the tedious bulk of the movie, and this is how it happened.
Young is a professional gambler who has done well, here and there. On the other hand, Morgan gambles habitually. The lovable old coot will bet on anything. Hale hates the odds against his “investments.” Her desire is to keep “Gramps” preoccupied before temptation is acted upon. Young places a horse racing bet with Morgan, which in turn introduces him to Hale. She gambles on him upon their first encounter. Smitten by one moonlit night, Young vows to stop gambling to Hale’s delight and skepticism. Quickly married after only their second screen appearance together, he awaits her return from shopping. Something he will have to get used to. To pass the time, he watches Hart’s timid bets, and to speed things along, volunteers to roll the dice multiple times on his behalf. As if he can control how the dice bounce. He loses Hart’s money. Young continues to gamble only to repay Hart’s deficit. Which he does. Then walks away. Hale sees Young at the table and immaturely jumps to a conclusion. Surely, only Hollywood screenwriters think like this. She refuses to hear Young’s explanation, rather than listen to reason, and takes the easy way out. Divorce. Thus begins the middle of the film, which is a bit too predictable and seems to take a fortnight to get through. By the end of the film, Hale, now a gambling whiz, has a totally new perspective on gambling to Young’s displeasure. But the ending is a positive one, thanks to Morgan and the supporting cast. For a final chuckle, Teddy “beside himself” Hart shows up at the end as a wealthy, “patron saint of gambling.”
Note: Apparently, Hollywood thinks everyone gambles. I am always lost in gambling—dice or cards—movies. Ironically, both stars did their own personal gambling. Young was nearing his film peak here. He was always well-prepared but never possessed the charisma of some of his film colleagues. Still, he did well despite never having a contract with any studio! His perfect fame came in the form of a very successful career on television, however. The very pretty Hale also gambled on television, which paid off nicely, opposite Raymond Burr.
