User reviews

"The Love Gamble" (1925) stars Lillian Rich in a rôle that begins as one in a somewhat turgid soap opera, but by the end the film is a decently directed, well-written, and capably acted one. I ended up liking the show much more than I ever thought I would from the first five to ten minutes. One thing that is obvious about its sixty minutes of screen time: it not only has the living room, the bed room, a couple of private wink-wink rooms, but the kitchen is included, and then with it, the kitchen sink, including all the taps (made of good nickel) and drains. From near infidelity, to catty women, lovers and exes, fast motorcycles with spills, lovers who forget to wake up on time and remain overnight (oh, shame!!), and - ALAS AND ALACK! - murder...then on to court and trial and last minute this and that and this and that...rush, rush...

Well, you get the drift. It sure held my attention. It was cheap and quick. It was fun! Lillian Rich has Irene Rich's eyebrows, gorgeous eyes and features, and, with her hair down, looks like an early 30 year old Joan Bennett. She's good looking, a fairly decent actress, was born in Britain, married a Canadian pilot who set her up in Hollywood where she had some success, then faltered come the talkies, stuck around for a decade, gave up, then died at the age of 54. "The Love Gamble" was produced by Banner Films where directors like Edward LeSaint (who directed this film) and Phil Rosen worked on many of its 28 productions, and this one was distributed by Henry Ginsberg who ended up later as Paramount's production chief. He was known for his tightness of the wallet. Stan Laurel hated his guts. That ought to tell you about this production a bit, too. Maybe done on the cheap, but it played then and it plays now.

Besides Rich in the lead, others are Brooks Benedict as her cast-off lover, Robert Frazer as her new found love - but he's married!! What's a girl to do? What's a man to do? Bonnie Hill and Kathleen Clifford are in this one, too. But - the spunk that gets this rolling - and seems to keep it rolling every time she's on camera, which isn't enough - is Pauline Garon in a throwaway part that was beautifully done.

This little charmer is a Grapevine Video release, has a tad of nitrate deterioration at a few places, but is much better than you might think. Stick with it. Like I said, it has it all, including the kitchen sink - and a few extra light bulbs in case you just can't see enough...