A casino owner gets deep into gambling while his family suffers. Clark Gable is Charlie Kyng; he gets mixed up with hoods Lew and Frank (Richard Rober and William Conrad). Meanwhile his wife Lon (Alexis Smith) and son Paul (Dwayne Hickman) stew at home; not helping matters, Lon's sister Alice, and her husband Robbin (Audrey Totter and Wendell Corey) live with the Kyngs.
Everyone at the club is wondering where Charley is. Well, he on the road, barely avoiding an accident. He tells an employee to find him when Palmer (Leon Ames) comes in. So, what's the problem? Turns out Charley has a heart condition, angina. He's supposed to "take it easy." Already, I suspect a lot of viewers are taking it too easy, as the pacing has the consistency of paint drying. But here's a good quip "if I give up living, I can live?" Correct, hot shot.
There's a mysterious woman hanging out. She's lost all her money, and is afraid to go home to face her husband. He does her a good turn. Despite what's happened so far, there's no tension. Anyway he talks to Lon, all's well. Alice talks with her over coffee; Robbin/Robbie is worked up over something. He obviously feels a great deal of resentment towards his in law; he's dependent on Charley, and hates it.
Two chumps, Lew and Frank, come looking up Robbie. He owes them. He's already tried to use Alice to wheedled the dough out of her sister. Oh, but the goons have "a way to square everything". That is, they want Robbie to rig the dice for the table he runs for Charlie. Looks like Charley's really going on a vacation, while Robbie fixes to get he fix things at the club. Another hard luck story comes calling: Charley can't put them back together though. The couple's probably right--the club's crooked and cheats people.
Back at the club, Robbie goes into action. He practices with the loaded dice in restroom. Outside, Charley meets Ben Snelerr (Lewis Stone), and old acquaintance. Ever the nice guy, Charley bails him out. Uh-oh, hes having a heart attack in his office. Well, just a tremor. He asks a divorcee to go away with him. Why? Because he survived a heart attack? Well, the real issue for him now is Paul's disdain for his questionable profession.
Anyway, time to throw the dice to placate the hoods. This is the sleepiest gambling club ever. We segue to Paul and his date not having a particularly good time. There's a big fight as some frat boys goad him. Back to the casino. Finally, the dice action. Charlie's suspicions. But he let's the guys go with their winnings, for the moment. Paul's in jail, whatever; its dad that's in the doghouse.
"For everyone who's different, there's a dirty name." That's Lon's very apt comment to her son, she's probably talking about both Paul and his father. Back at the club, Jim (Frank Morgan) is on a roll. Charley dines alone; what's his problem now? Oh, well, Lon drops in. She wants to get out of town, get away from it all. but, Jim continues to run the table. Charley could cut his losses and close the table, but it's as though he doesn't care.
But Robbie can't shake the two hoods. Finally Charlie intervenes at the table. Another heart tremor. On the last throw Big Jim loses it all. Just when we think it might be rainbows and happy trees, the two hoods pull a stick up. "cheap chizzlers!" Charley's right. Basically the whole place turns against Frank and Angie. There's a distraction, leading to a melee. Not only are the bums overcome, but Paul beats up Frank into the bargain.
Robbie is worried that the hoods will plug him as a sort of consolation prize. Who cares? Well, were not quite done. Charley hopes to redeem his bad side by deliberately making a bad bet. He loses. Actually he won, but pretended to lose. Ok, so he's out from under the gambling shadow, with a huge jag of melodrama. The end.
this was pretty much dead in the water until the last twenty minutes or so; the suspense of Jim's log winning streak, and how Charley would react keep us in the game, so to speak. And then, the two wannabee gangsters trying to make away with the cash sent things spinning up to a new crescendo. We see that all that Charley is trying to do is gain respect and class.
Having accomplished that, is virtual giveaway of the business is really a triumph too. that's all fine enough, the problem is that it look an hour or more to get the movies dice aligned for the good ending.
Ironically, the loaded dice angle is set up early on; but it takes a bunch of distractions, themselves unrolling at a less than fashionable pace (Paul's contempt for his dad, assorted down-on-their-luck gamblers chatting up Charley) that its a;most not worth the wait for plot to get going. The performances are quite good with this very talented cast; each character really fits their role and for the most part plays it well. Gable is almost too smooth; that works in the end when everything seems to fit together fine, but he compartmentalizes things so seamlessly that he struggles at times to maintain the third dimension of his character.
The dialogue is very natural and has more than a few thoughtful comments and asides, some rather solemn, and others ironic. With a great premise and most other elements in place, this might well have been a great family melodrama (with a bit of noir thrown in); but the pacing almost let the fuse go out.
Everyone at the club is wondering where Charley is. Well, he on the road, barely avoiding an accident. He tells an employee to find him when Palmer (Leon Ames) comes in. So, what's the problem? Turns out Charley has a heart condition, angina. He's supposed to "take it easy." Already, I suspect a lot of viewers are taking it too easy, as the pacing has the consistency of paint drying. But here's a good quip "if I give up living, I can live?" Correct, hot shot.
There's a mysterious woman hanging out. She's lost all her money, and is afraid to go home to face her husband. He does her a good turn. Despite what's happened so far, there's no tension. Anyway he talks to Lon, all's well. Alice talks with her over coffee; Robbin/Robbie is worked up over something. He obviously feels a great deal of resentment towards his in law; he's dependent on Charley, and hates it.
Two chumps, Lew and Frank, come looking up Robbie. He owes them. He's already tried to use Alice to wheedled the dough out of her sister. Oh, but the goons have "a way to square everything". That is, they want Robbie to rig the dice for the table he runs for Charlie. Looks like Charley's really going on a vacation, while Robbie fixes to get he fix things at the club. Another hard luck story comes calling: Charley can't put them back together though. The couple's probably right--the club's crooked and cheats people.
Back at the club, Robbie goes into action. He practices with the loaded dice in restroom. Outside, Charley meets Ben Snelerr (Lewis Stone), and old acquaintance. Ever the nice guy, Charley bails him out. Uh-oh, hes having a heart attack in his office. Well, just a tremor. He asks a divorcee to go away with him. Why? Because he survived a heart attack? Well, the real issue for him now is Paul's disdain for his questionable profession.
Anyway, time to throw the dice to placate the hoods. This is the sleepiest gambling club ever. We segue to Paul and his date not having a particularly good time. There's a big fight as some frat boys goad him. Back to the casino. Finally, the dice action. Charlie's suspicions. But he let's the guys go with their winnings, for the moment. Paul's in jail, whatever; its dad that's in the doghouse.
"For everyone who's different, there's a dirty name." That's Lon's very apt comment to her son, she's probably talking about both Paul and his father. Back at the club, Jim (Frank Morgan) is on a roll. Charley dines alone; what's his problem now? Oh, well, Lon drops in. She wants to get out of town, get away from it all. but, Jim continues to run the table. Charley could cut his losses and close the table, but it's as though he doesn't care.
But Robbie can't shake the two hoods. Finally Charlie intervenes at the table. Another heart tremor. On the last throw Big Jim loses it all. Just when we think it might be rainbows and happy trees, the two hoods pull a stick up. "cheap chizzlers!" Charley's right. Basically the whole place turns against Frank and Angie. There's a distraction, leading to a melee. Not only are the bums overcome, but Paul beats up Frank into the bargain.
Robbie is worried that the hoods will plug him as a sort of consolation prize. Who cares? Well, were not quite done. Charley hopes to redeem his bad side by deliberately making a bad bet. He loses. Actually he won, but pretended to lose. Ok, so he's out from under the gambling shadow, with a huge jag of melodrama. The end.
this was pretty much dead in the water until the last twenty minutes or so; the suspense of Jim's log winning streak, and how Charley would react keep us in the game, so to speak. And then, the two wannabee gangsters trying to make away with the cash sent things spinning up to a new crescendo. We see that all that Charley is trying to do is gain respect and class.
Having accomplished that, is virtual giveaway of the business is really a triumph too. that's all fine enough, the problem is that it look an hour or more to get the movies dice aligned for the good ending.
Ironically, the loaded dice angle is set up early on; but it takes a bunch of distractions, themselves unrolling at a less than fashionable pace (Paul's contempt for his dad, assorted down-on-their-luck gamblers chatting up Charley) that its a;most not worth the wait for plot to get going. The performances are quite good with this very talented cast; each character really fits their role and for the most part plays it well. Gable is almost too smooth; that works in the end when everything seems to fit together fine, but he compartmentalizes things so seamlessly that he struggles at times to maintain the third dimension of his character.
The dialogue is very natural and has more than a few thoughtful comments and asides, some rather solemn, and others ironic. With a great premise and most other elements in place, this might well have been a great family melodrama (with a bit of noir thrown in); but the pacing almost let the fuse go out.