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Gambler's Choice
USA 1944
produced by William H. Pine, William C. Thomas for Pine-Thomas Productions/Paramount
directed by Frank McDonald
starring Chester Morris, Nancy Kelly, Russell Hayden, Lee Patrick, Lloyd Corrigan, Sheldon Leonard, Lyle Talbot, Maxine Lewis, Tom Dugan, Charles Arnt, Billy Nelson, Joseph Crehan, Jimmy Conlin, Joe Devlin, Virginia Sale, Byron Foulger, Syd Saylor, Jack Mulhall, Dick Elliott, Milton Parsons
story by James Edward Grant, Howard Emmett Rogers, screenplay by Irving Reis, Maxwell Shane, music by Mort Glickman
review by Mike Haberfelner
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Available on DVD! To buy, click on link(s) below and help keep this site afloat (commissions earned) |
Always make sure of DVD-compatibility!!!
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Ross (Chester Morris), Mary (Nancy Kelly) and Mike (Russell Hayden)
have been best friends since childhood, and have remained so even though
Ross has turned into a gambler and owner of a gambling den while Mike has
become a cop and Mary a showgirl, and even though both men are in love
with Mary, who actually favours honest Mike over crooked Ross but has
fallen in love with Ross's lifestyle.
Then though, Mike cracks down on illegal gambling in his district, and
despite their friendship, he doesn't even stop at Ross's casino.
Ross tries to get rid of Mike the legal way by having him relocated to
the country, but Mike comes back with a vengeance, being promoted to
special investigator on gambling. At the same time, Ross also feels the
heat from two former associates, Fay (Lee Patrick) and Chappy (Sheldon
Leonard) he has double-crossed - so when the two of them decide to
double-cross Mike, he chooses to side with his policeman friend after all
and steals compromising photos from Chappy's safe, even if he has to shoot
Chappy dead in the process and catch a fatal bullet himself. Ross lives
just long enough to break up with Mary and hand over the photos to Mike,
then he dies a hero.
Entertaining B-thriller, but at the same time, the film doesn't exactly
tell a plot that hasn't been told before - and better too -, so don't
expect too much in terms of originality.
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