The Big Bluff

... if they had beefed up the dialogue, replaced the rather wooden actors, and cut the running time from 70 minutes to 50 minutes. It actually has an ironic ending that is worthy of the master of suspense.

You can see where this film is going from a mile away. Valerie Bancroft is a young heiress who has a fatal heart condition. She and her paid companion, Marsha, decamp from New York and go to California for the sunshine and hope that it will improve her life expectancy - she should live a year at the most. While in California, they meet con man Ricardo De Villa. He claims to be a businessman from South America who is using the lull in business to holiday in California. Instead he is broke, wants to run off with the female half of a professional dance team, and does not have the money to do so. Marsha told him about Valerie's heart condition hoping he would cut down on all of the night life with Valerie if he knew. Instead he woos and marries Valerie, hoping that the increase in activity, which she loves, will kill her off early. And even if it doesn't, a year is not so long to wait to inherit Valerie's money. Complications ensue.

Nobody in this film is that bad, but one part is done very badly. That would be the part of the cuckolded ballroom dancing husband, Don. He hardly ever says anything. But he is always looking around corners and either following his unfaithful wife or Ricardo. Another role is done rather hilariously. Don's cheating wife, Fritzie, is always dressed in one of her ballroom dancing gowns no matter what the surroundings. She could be on the beach or in the supermarket and there she would be, conspicuously dressed to the nines.

I would mildly recommend this one.