A Gentleman at Heart

Cesar Romero stars in another Fox B movie, but not as the Cisco Kid this time. Now he's a Runyonesque bookie who gets entangled with Carole Landis, a failing art gallery and a gang of art forgers.

Ray McCarey fills out the smaller roles with longtime and rising comics, including Dell Henderson, Syd Saylor and Milton Berle as the lead comic; even J. Carrol Naish gets a very funny role as the forger. It looks like Fox was getting ready to move Romero up to leads in the As, but he double-crossed them and joined the Coast Guard for the duration.

The constant shuffling between low comedy and more serious moments occasionally seems a little forced, given the unvarying paces of the secondary leads. Add in the rather low-lit lighting choices cinematographer Charles Clarke makes to emphasize the picture's serio-comic nature and the net effect may seem a touch off-putting to the overly critical. A movie watcher looking for a good time, however, will have no complaints.