Classic movie site with rare images, original ads, and behind-the-scenes photos, with informative and insightful commentary. We like to have fun with movies!
Archive and Links
grbrpix@aol.com
Search Index Here




Monday, May 16, 2016

A Universal-Stanwyck Dice Throw


The Lady Gambles (1949) Is Better Than Ads Look

Universal by late 40's was back in cheese trade. Their try at prestige had gone a-flounder, thanks to frequent flops. 1949 would usher in cheaper westerns, garlanded with color to good result, sand-and-sex w/ Yvonne De Carlo plus others at appropriate talent level, and on the way --- Ma/Pa Kettle and Francis the chatting mule. Here was profit's way to go, and it worked. U would lay a banquet table for Decca Records' eventual takeover, then invader that was MCA. What of good pictures amidst this exploitation? One was The Lady Gambles, which took serious account of card/dice play as crippling addiction, Barbara Stanwyck staging downfall to make Lost Weekender Ray Milland scarlet with envy. So what did Universal do with so valued a property? Sell it like piano roll in a whorehouse, per usual. Must have --- in fact, did --- make creative participants blanch. But this was Universal, so what could they expect?


Director Michael Gordon was interviewed years later by Ronald L. Davis (Just Making Movies, excellent book) and would complain of the title. The Lady Gambles atop lurid ads was no lure to Academy votes, despite Stanwyck a more than deserving lead. Interesting how postwar saw Davis/Crawford having their up/downs (mostly downs), while Stanwyck did continuous good ones minus fuss. Gordon spoke of her no-temperament and good humored finish of work. I toted her 50's record against actresses at similar level and found Stanwyck charting far ahead in terms of still-watchable (Executive Suite, The Violent Men), or lately cultish (Witness To Murder, There's Always Tomorrow). Throw in Titanic, To Please A Lady, Blowing Wild, Jeopardy, work with Mann, Siodmak, Dwan ... Stanwyck quadruples quality work any of others did. Of these, The Lady Gambles ranks comparative minor, yet a winner and worth the seek after Universal's DVD set of it and five others with the actress. Released in 2010, back when U still had transfer standards (check the recent Alan Ladds and see how far they slipped), the Stanwyck set is safe bet for The Lady Gambles alone.


There is location at Las Vegas as it was in beginnings. Stanwyck and screen husband Robert Preston (very good) visit Boulder Dam a year before Edmond O' Brien ran loose there. Treatment of gamble habit is cautious; we're shown it's OK in moderation, Stanwyck's character stood in stark relief to calm companions who bet for recreation and know when to quit. U had to tread soft to get site privileges. Vegas would not have welcomed a black eye from filmmakers, or depiction of gambling as potential sickness to be shunned. So who negotiated terms of depiction? The Lady Gambles was surely Mafia-vetted to some degree, the desert berg built wholly on crime dimes and policed on self-help terms. Gangland operates in the film, but on margins, bad eggs tending to float in from out of town, and headed good-riddance way once schemes collapse. The Lady Gambles would make splendid pairing with Casino. Has anyone thought to combine them? Gordon said he "really researched" the addiction angle, and it plays credible. I'm not sure there had been a movie before 1949 that took the problem serious. The Lady Gambles is a fine one that should have got more credit then, and certainly recognition now.

2 Comments:

Blogger Dave K said...

Hey, I've never seen this one. Will have to track 'er down! I have a high tolerance for the Davis and/or Crawford weepies, but Stanwyck was in a class of her own! Her starring vehicles could be anything, from screwball to thriller to message picture to high class soap. She made plenty of Classics with a capitol 'C' but she has a great batting average for good-movies-nobody-ever-told-you-about (think JEOPARDY or THE PURCHASE PRICE.) Victoria Wilson's recent bio is a must (can't wait for volume two!)

2:28 PM  
Blogger Neely OHara said...

This was my intro to Stanwyck as a kid, and I was hooked for good. As to Missy faring better than Davis or Crawford in late 40's throughout 50's, could it be that she'd merely been independent way longer than either Bette or Joan; Davis having spent virtually entire career at Warner's till '49, and Crawford doing a long stint there after a since-silent-era berth at Metro.

Could it be that when cut loose from studio support, Davis and Crawford were at a disadvantage compared to Stanwyck, who was more accustomed to, and hence better at, selecting her own vehicles?

5:32 PM  

Post a Comment

<< Home

grbrpix@aol.com
  • December 2005
  • January 2006
  • February 2006
  • March 2006
  • April 2006
  • May 2006
  • June 2006
  • July 2006
  • August 2006
  • September 2006
  • October 2006
  • November 2006
  • December 2006
  • January 2007
  • February 2007
  • March 2007
  • April 2007
  • May 2007
  • June 2007
  • July 2007
  • August 2007
  • September 2007
  • October 2007
  • November 2007
  • December 2007
  • January 2008
  • February 2008
  • March 2008
  • April 2008
  • May 2008
  • June 2008
  • July 2008
  • August 2008
  • September 2008
  • October 2008
  • November 2008
  • December 2008
  • January 2009
  • February 2009
  • March 2009
  • April 2009
  • May 2009
  • June 2009
  • July 2009
  • August 2009
  • September 2009
  • October 2009
  • November 2009
  • December 2009
  • January 2010
  • February 2010
  • March 2010
  • April 2010
  • May 2010
  • June 2010
  • July 2010
  • August 2010
  • September 2010
  • October 2010
  • November 2010
  • December 2010
  • January 2011
  • February 2011
  • March 2011
  • April 2011
  • May 2011
  • June 2011
  • July 2011
  • August 2011
  • September 2011
  • October 2011
  • November 2011
  • December 2011
  • January 2012
  • February 2012
  • March 2012
  • April 2012
  • May 2012
  • June 2012
  • July 2012
  • August 2012
  • September 2012
  • October 2012
  • November 2012
  • December 2012
  • January 2013
  • February 2013
  • March 2013
  • April 2013
  • May 2013
  • June 2013
  • July 2013
  • August 2013
  • September 2013
  • October 2013
  • November 2013
  • December 2013
  • January 2014
  • February 2014
  • March 2014
  • April 2014
  • May 2014
  • June 2014
  • July 2014
  • August 2014
  • September 2014
  • October 2014
  • November 2014
  • December 2014
  • January 2015
  • February 2015
  • March 2015
  • April 2015
  • May 2015
  • June 2015
  • July 2015
  • August 2015
  • September 2015
  • October 2015
  • November 2015
  • December 2015
  • January 2016
  • February 2016
  • March 2016
  • April 2016
  • May 2016
  • June 2016
  • July 2016
  • August 2016
  • September 2016
  • October 2016
  • November 2016
  • December 2016
  • January 2017
  • February 2017
  • March 2017
  • April 2017
  • May 2017
  • June 2017
  • July 2017
  • August 2017
  • September 2017
  • October 2017
  • November 2017
  • December 2017
  • January 2018
  • February 2018
  • March 2018
  • April 2018
  • May 2018
  • June 2018
  • July 2018
  • August 2018
  • September 2018
  • October 2018
  • November 2018
  • December 2018
  • January 2019
  • February 2019
  • March 2019
  • April 2019
  • May 2019
  • June 2019
  • July 2019
  • August 2019
  • September 2019
  • October 2019
  • November 2019
  • December 2019
  • January 2020
  • February 2020
  • March 2020
  • April 2020
  • May 2020
  • June 2020
  • July 2020
  • August 2020
  • September 2020
  • October 2020
  • November 2020
  • December 2020
  • January 2021
  • February 2021
  • March 2021
  • April 2021
  • May 2021
  • June 2021
  • July 2021
  • August 2021
  • September 2021
  • October 2021
  • November 2021
  • December 2021
  • January 2022
  • February 2022
  • March 2022
  • April 2022
  • May 2022
  • June 2022
  • July 2022
  • August 2022
  • September 2022
  • October 2022
  • November 2022
  • December 2022
  • January 2023
  • February 2023
  • March 2023
  • April 2023
  • May 2023
  • June 2023
  • July 2023
  • August 2023
  • September 2023
  • October 2023
  • November 2023
  • December 2023
  • January 2024
  • February 2024
  • March 2024