Just a few days before IMDb stupidly shut down the message boards,I found out that after being the last surviving main cast member of Perry Mason,that Barbara Hale had died. Expecting a TV tribute to be a repeat of some Mason eps,I was instead surprised to discover that the BBC were showing a rare Hale title which has not come out on DVD in the UK,which led to me finding out how lucky this lady could be.
The plot:
Coming from a family with a troubled history of gambling, Mary Audrey does everything possible to stay from the habit. Crossing paths with Larry Scott,Audrey soon falls in love with him. Learning that Scott himself is a legendary gambler just before they get married,Audrey makes Scott vow to stop rolling the dices. Staying at a hotel/casino for their honeymoon,Scott notices a guy losing all his savings gambling. With Audrey upstairs,Scott dusts down his old skills to save the guy. As Scott hits a winning combo,Audrey comes down,and begins fearing that an unlucky hand is about to ruin their marriage.
View on the film:
Teaming up for the first of two movies, Robert Young and Barbara Hale give delicious performances as Scott and Audrey,with Young showing a real zest for Scott light Screwball Comedy palette. Gliding across the screen in fetching dresses, Barbara Hale gives a sparkling performance as Audrey,via Hale hitting Young with slick one-liners,that are joined by Hale doing very well at expressing the shadow of concern that grips Audrey over Scott falling back into gambling. Joining the duo at the table, Frank Morgan hilariously steals every scene as Audrey's granddad,who is joined by James Gleason giving the flick a Wise Guy edge as Sam.
Rolling the dice from a stage play,director Edwin L. Marin & cinematographer Lucien N. Andriot impressively skip the (mostly) one location set film from feeling stage-bound,by a clever use of stylish elegance which gives the title a swift atmosphere,that swings from overlapping images rolling the viewer in the gambling action,to coiled side shots allowing the character actors to hit the jackpot. Spinning the couple in a whirlwind romance,the screenplay by Lynn Root/Frank Fenton and Herbert Clyde Lewis follows Marin's path with the sparks between Audrey and Scott kept alight by the writers turning the cards on hangers-on hilariously making the misunderstanding worse,as Scott tries to find a winning hand for Audrey's misunderstandings.
The plot:
Coming from a family with a troubled history of gambling, Mary Audrey does everything possible to stay from the habit. Crossing paths with Larry Scott,Audrey soon falls in love with him. Learning that Scott himself is a legendary gambler just before they get married,Audrey makes Scott vow to stop rolling the dices. Staying at a hotel/casino for their honeymoon,Scott notices a guy losing all his savings gambling. With Audrey upstairs,Scott dusts down his old skills to save the guy. As Scott hits a winning combo,Audrey comes down,and begins fearing that an unlucky hand is about to ruin their marriage.
View on the film:
Teaming up for the first of two movies, Robert Young and Barbara Hale give delicious performances as Scott and Audrey,with Young showing a real zest for Scott light Screwball Comedy palette. Gliding across the screen in fetching dresses, Barbara Hale gives a sparkling performance as Audrey,via Hale hitting Young with slick one-liners,that are joined by Hale doing very well at expressing the shadow of concern that grips Audrey over Scott falling back into gambling. Joining the duo at the table, Frank Morgan hilariously steals every scene as Audrey's granddad,who is joined by James Gleason giving the flick a Wise Guy edge as Sam.
Rolling the dice from a stage play,director Edwin L. Marin & cinematographer Lucien N. Andriot impressively skip the (mostly) one location set film from feeling stage-bound,by a clever use of stylish elegance which gives the title a swift atmosphere,that swings from overlapping images rolling the viewer in the gambling action,to coiled side shots allowing the character actors to hit the jackpot. Spinning the couple in a whirlwind romance,the screenplay by Lynn Root/Frank Fenton and Herbert Clyde Lewis follows Marin's path with the sparks between Audrey and Scott kept alight by the writers turning the cards on hangers-on hilariously making the misunderstanding worse,as Scott tries to find a winning hand for Audrey's misunderstandings.