The Lady Gambles

source: The Lady Gambles

Moviecut—The Lady Gambles

The Lady Gambles

An expected good performance by Barbara Stanwyck and equally good performances by Robert Preston & Stephen McNally make this film nourish story enjoyable to watch

Scenarists Roy Huggins and Halsted Welles were so intent on warning us of the dangers of gambling addiction that they forgot to make the addict interesting. And Michael Gordon is not a director who can surmount that big of a story hole. The result is one of the few dull Babs performances as well as an utterly unremarkable film, despite a nice evocation of desert deco Vegas in the late 40s before it became a multi theme park. Solid C.

The first half of this depressing look at the addiction of gambling gave me the willies. The insidious descent of Stanwyck's character from placid, guilt-ridden housewife (who may have once had a career) into a card-playing, dice rolling junkie is too painful to watch. But I did. The second half, especially the feeble attempt to recover, only to fall off the wagon, was predictable. Stanwyck is usually a powerhouse of an actress and would have been better served with a less smarmy ending. Still, the scenes of Vegas were enjoyable. I wouldn't hesitate to put this on a double bill with Reefer Madness. Through the windows of time, one cannot help to jump to the conclusion that they have some similarities. Other addiction movies, e.g. The Lost Weekend, warm the heart as well. There should be an addictions film festival. There probably is, right?

The Lady Gambles is comprehensive in dealing with its subject matter, realistic and bold. Both cold and endearing and both forgiving and unforgiving. Each character other than the sister, exceptionally written and well acted. So impressed with this film, may not have some of the entertainment value some other gambling films have, but everything's on point. Stanwyck stellar.

Cast as the wife of a Chicago writer doing a piece on Nevada's Hoover Dam, Barbara Stanwyck gives a sly, knowing performance as a housewife who discovers the addictive dice and gambling tables in Las Vegas. Noticing that she's taking pictures in a casino, the manager admires the wife's made-up story that she's doing a magazine item on gambling and gives her a stack of house chips "to shill for the casino." Soon, she's winning at poker--and alienating her husband and the spinster sister who resents her. This cautionary tale of a gambling addict is engrossing in spite of its unconvincing milieu and portrait of a marriage. Robert Preston is the incredibly naïve husband who's aghast at his wife's actions: "All of it, Joan? Tell me you spent the money on something else!" Ask a foolish question, you're liable to get a foolish answer. **1/2 from ****

There are lots of films about drug addiction, and lots of casino heist films--Ocean's Eleven is just the most famous one--but films about the nuts and bolts of gambling, the suffering at the individual level are few. California Split and La Baie des Anges are the only two that come to mind, and now I add The Lady Gambles, in which Barbara Stanwyck and Robert Preston form a nearly ideal couple. She's about 40, and suddenly discovers a passion for cards and dice while on a trip to Las Vegas; he's a reporter who tries to deal with the increasingly obsessive behaviour of his wife. Edith Barrett as the clingy older sister, and Stephen McNally as the oily casino boss provide excellent support. In the first scene, gamblers punch Stanwyck in the face repeatedly; she's a star who isn't afraid to look terrible.

It is very evident that Barbara Stanwyck was able to adapt to any sort of role or character in each of her pictures. In this one, she plays a businessman's wife who becomes addicted to gambling after a trip to Las Vegas. This isn't a bad character study, and probably one of the earliest ones dealing with this sort of obsession. It is also interesting to see how the Vegas strip looked in over 50 years ago. A young, unknown Tony Curtis has a cameo as a bell boy.