Lady Luck

If you like movies where the women cry and the men casually punch each other, this is the film for you. Also a ridiculous plot line, where Robert Young and Barbara Hale repeatedly get together and then come apart, after every easily-explained mix-up either crops up or gets resolved. But the cast rises above the plot, and it's a pretty interesting look at Las Vegas of the 1940's. A bit tedious, but a decent if mindless old movie, if you're in the mood for one.

This old-time comedy stands up pretty well and holds your interest throughout. The characters are sympathetic and well-drawn, and the story line is intriguing. Aided by a good script and fine acting from lead Bob Young, and from Frank ("Wizard of Oz") Morgan and James Gleason as Sam. Interesting for the presence of Barbara Hale, later to be Perry Mason's secretary Della Street.

There was a lot to "Lady Luck" that I liked. However, unlike the other reviews, I felt that the movie went on way too long and after a while I just wanted it all to end. At best, I see it as a time-passer.

When the film begins, there's a prologue where you see relatives of the main characters (actually played by the main characters, Barbara Hale and Frank Morgan) screwing up their lives by compulsive gambling. Now, the film jumps to the present day and Mary (Hale) is at her wits end due to her Grandfather's gambling (Morgan). She is determined NEVER to marry a gambler...and, not surprisingly, meets Scott (Robert Young)...who is a professional gambler. However, he promises never to gamble again and soon the pair marry. On their honeymoon, only a few hours after their wedding, Mary catches Scott gambling. He thinks it's all for a good cause...she will hear none of his excuses. The film is essentially about the long detour the film takes until the pair are eventually reunited.

So why was I disappointed by the movie? It's because what was going to happen was so obvious and so early on...but it seemed to take forever getting there. In addition, through the process it was rather tough to like the characters. Overall, an excellent idea indifferently executed.

Some really great names in here... if you have the patience to stick with it, you'll have fun and be entertained! Robert Young (Marcus Welby), Frank Morgan (the Wizard!), James Gleason always played the police detective, sometimes wise, sometimes bumbling. Dick Elliot (the mayor, from Andy Griffith) is the short guy on a winning streak. Barbara Hale is Mary, the new wife, determined to keep her new husband (Young) away from his gambling habit. The film has its ups and downs, and they need to learn to trust each other, as newlyweds always do! Keep an eye out for harry davenport, the clever, old judge. He had been in SO many big films in a supporting role, always the wise, knowing father or grandfather. Frank Morgan really spices up the film... it would have been boring and annoying without him as the sympathetic character here. There's so much arguing and mis-understanding going on, it needed some lightening up, and Morgan always brings that. Shown on Turner Classics.

Mary Audrey (Barbara Hale) hates gambling and tries to reform her grandfather (Frank Morgan). Generation after generation, the Audrey women always try and fail to stop the Audrey patriarch from gambling the family fortune away. Professional gambler Larry Scott (Robert Young) falls for her.

These are well-known stars. Young and Hale would gain more fame later on. They are both cute enough and have a 50's romance. It's not the most sexual in chemistry. It's all about the gambling and the switches. This could be more fun but whatever.