The Gambler and the Lady

The Gambler and the Lady is directed by Patrick Jenkins and Sam Newfield, the latter of which also writing the screenplay. It stars Dane Clark, Kathleen Byron, Naomi Chance, Meredith Edwards, Anthony Forwood and Eric Pohlmann. Music is by Ivor Stanley and cinematography by Walter J. Harvey.

Clark plays Jim Forster, an ex-con and reformed alcoholic who is trying to climb the social ladder by way of his thriving gambling business. But all that is threatened when new gangsters on the scene want in on the action. Not only that but he also has a jealous ex-girlfriend to contend with just as he meets and falls for the blue blooded Lady Susan Willens (Chance).

On the page it sounds terrific, a real chance for some noir nirvana, while the opening to the film is a cracker, with a moody night time cobbled street scene punctured by a hit and run collision. Yet the piece never rises above the routine crime thriller that it is, while visually it's flat and uninteresting.

Out of Hammer Film Productions, there's an attempt at class distinction to drive the narrative forward, but it never really develops into something resembling dramatic worth. A shame because Jim Forster is an interesting enough character, he has done time for manslaughter, has anger issues but now he hates the rough stuff, even admonishing his staff for handing out bumps to bad debtors. And the women love him as well. Yet it's all so lethargically played that come the finale, the culmination of the dangled carrot at the beginning, you will struggle to care anyway. 5/10

THE GAMBLER AND THE LADY (1952) is one of Hammer's earlier noirs, so heavily based on Hollywood films from the 1940s that it feels more American than British. Short-but-powerful Brooklyn native Dane Clark plays a guy running a gambling syndicate who gets involved with a beautiful aristocrat while at the same time tackling some thugs muscling in on his territory. Familiar stuff for sure, but this is quite a crisp and well-paced thriller, with some decent menace, solid character work, and a wraparound structure that reminded me of CARLITO'S WAY. Kathleen Byron and Eric Pohlmann are among the supporting players.

There's plenty of crime in this Lippert picture. It opens with a well shot killing that is not clear till well into the movie. Dane Clark is the star. He was a staple of film noir. Here, we also see him in a top hat!

Yes, the subject is more class than crime. Clark is the gambler of the tile. (The female title character doesn't appear till almost half an hour into the movie.) He's an American but he wants to fit in in England. He's taking lessons in deportment from a caricature of a British lady.

He has a Scottish pal (Meredith Edwards) who is put forward as his butler. He longs to become accepted by nobility.

The supporting cast is good. The woman he falls for is not particularly charismatic but she's attractive. The more conventionally low-life types are plausible.

The dialog contains a lot of blatant exposition: "It's hard to believe that X years ago I was in Y with Z and while A B were ..."

It's well shot and holds the attention. But it's nothing to write (back) home about.

American ex-con and illegal gambling boss has jumped the pond over the England to escape his tainted past and get accepted into society. Played by Dane Cook he's an alright guy but for me lacks the charisma that would have two dames fighting over him. The female co-leads played by Bryon and Chance are individually kind of interesting characters but the struggle between them is never really developed, outside on one juicy, near catfight scene, they are both wasted in this uninspired script. Too much time is wasted on the relationships between Cook and his two sidekicks, who are both completely uninteresting and don't add all that much to the film. It's a shame because all the elements are here for something much more that what is delivered.

After being unable to find the last couple films covered by the "House of Hammer" podcast, Youtube finally came up trumps again with this 1952 crime thriller "The Gambler and the Lady". Whilst I ultimately found this one to be a bit inconsequential, I can't say I didn't enjoy the ride whilst we were on it.

An American gangster, Jim Forster (Dane Clark) has set up a small gambling establishment in London. He looks to leave the violence of his past behind and harbours dreams of interacting with the higher echelons of English society. His entry point to this is Lord Peter Willens (Anthony Forwood) - who introduced Forster to his friends and his sister Susan (Naomi Chance), whom quickly becomes his friend. Forster's problems begin though when an Italian mob, who have no qualms about using violence, approach to buy him out.

So, whilst the film was panning out, I quite enjoyed it. I thought Dane Clark was an engaging lead, and another in a long line of American guest starring in these pictures as Hammer made their ties with American studios, this time with Robert Lippert's studio. It's almost a comedy of manners in the early part, as the American employs an elderly woman to teach him dinner etiquette, whist his long-term friends look on bemused. Indeed, the scene when Forster is openly mocked by The Willens friends is straight out of any "fish out of water" comedy you may care to see.

It changes when the Italians arrived and becomes more much of a Gangster thriller before the settling of a couple of old grudges brings us to the conclusion. I have to admit, I was a bit underwhelmed by that conclusion. I felt it could have gone for a touch more tragic, or much happier and been OK, but it almost downplays its own ending.

So a good central performance and a decent film, up until that slightly soft ending.