Plot:
- by Zoë
Shaw
Ace (a gambler) is
posing as a businessman, and Eleanor (a moll looking for a sucker) is posing
as a socialite. She is the girlfriend of Joe, who owns a gambling ship and
has big debts. Joe sells his ship to Ace, who then steals all Manning's (an
old enemy) gambling trade. In the end, the ship is taken by Manning's gang,
but then they all get washed overboard. The ship crashes on rocks, but Ace
and Eleanor make it to shore.
Review:
- by Debbie
Dunlap
Tired of the dangerous life as gambling boss, Ace Corbin
'retires' from the racket and travels cross-country by train to begin a new life with a
new name. On the train, he meets Eleanor and they fall in love. Eleanor is afraid to tell
Ace she's a soiled dove and Ace doesn't tell Eleanor of his shady past. Old enemies won't
let Ace begin his new life, and old commitments won't free Eleanor of her sordid ties.
Ace's old life and Eleanor's deception collide with the typical results. But love conquers
all!
This movie was one I postponed watching, because I really
wasn't expecting to enjoy it. It turned out to be an entertaining surprise! Definitely an
early Cary Grant 'gotta see' movie. An interesting side note: Watch for the graying
temples! Knowing how Cary actually looked as he aged, it's almost hilarious to see the
makeup department's idea of what he would look like as he began to gray!
VARIETY
Film Review - July 18, 1933
- by "Abel"
- submitted by Barry Martin
A fair flicker. Of the gangster meller genera with a new
slant in the gambling ship locale off the coast of Long Beach,
Calif. (near Los Angeles). Another new angle is in the
finale where the ship's anchor is cast loose and the waves are
permitted to sweep the anti-element off into the briny while the
sympathetic faction of the lawless lot fights its way to safety
and a suggestion of regeneration for the happy ending.
An expert cast does wonders in
sustaining the shoddy proceedings. It's one of those
'Cheating Cheaters' ideas and since Max Marcin had much to do with
this cinematurgy - embracing production, direction and authorship
- any variation of his stage melodrama of that title seems
authorized.
Cary Grant is the big shot gambler
who thinks he's found the real thing in Benita Hume, a gambler's
moll, during their cross-country trek from Chicago to L.A.
The fact that it's an open-and-shut 'make' on the part of both
principals establishes a dubious premise from which to evolve the
highly romantic aura which has been essayed. Grant thinks
Miss Hume is the McCoy on the swank stuff.
Arthur Vinton and Jack LaRue do
well as the opposing gambling ship mobsters, with Vinton the
'right' kind of a gambler. Roscoe Karns registers in a
comedy vein and Charlie Williams, this time sans specs, is a good
deadpan stooge for the rival mob. The rest are bits, some
disjointed, such as that business with the Donjuaish sailor.
Film doesn't drag, save in
negligible moments, but in toto it's a familiar formula of mob vs.
mob with the sympathetic Grant commandeering one bunch to hijack
LaRue's more sinister hoodlums. Speaking of sinisterness,
LaRue should never go Raftish and try to act up as a hero; he's
the most repellant villyn in major film league and he'll stay on
top of the batting order if he doesn't get the Rover Boy complex.
Grant proves his potentialities for
femme boxoffice with this inept assignment; ditto Miss Hume, who
makes a difficult, chameleon characterization sound almost
convincing. English gal is class and fits that type of
assignment handily.
Technical end is authentic,
although the competitive gambling ships around Southern California
never have their water taxis taking off from the same dock as
here, nor are the ships anchored so close to each other. But
that's a detail which the nabe fans won't be bothered with
much. Film's booking into the Rivoli is an exploitive
proposition essentially, as evidenced by the limited single week's
assignment.
NEW YORK TIMES Film Review - July 14, 1933
- by A.D.S.
- submitted by Barry Martin
A bit of old Hollywood entitled
"Gambling Ship" found a temporary haven at the Rivoli
yesterday. The new arrival - if a collapse into nautical metaphor
can be forgiven on a warm day - is a weather-beaten hulk which
deserves to be decently retired from active service. It steers an
erratic course in too familiar waters, takes a terribly long time
to traverse a course which was accurately charted an uncomfortable
number of years ago, and, in brief, could be scuttled with almost
no loss to Broadway.
The hero of "Gambling
Ship" is a romantic desperado who retires from the Chicago
beer racket after a notable career of murder and pillage. On the
train to New York he meets a mysterious beauty who happens to be
the celebrated Eleanor La Velle, mistress of Joe Burke, operator
of a luxurious gambling ship in the Atlantic somewhere. The mutual
ambition of Mr. Corbin and Miss La Velle is to hide their identity
from each other. It can hardly be considered stop-press news that
Miss La Velle is profoundly shaken when she discovers who Ace
really is. Nor is it a startling revelation that among the scenes
preceding the final clinch is one in which the Ace learns the
sorrowful facts about Miss La Velle. The events leading up to this
quivering climax describe the Ace's efforts to protect the
gambling ship from the assaults of a rival gangster.
For this stale and profitless
narrative the producers have gathered an attractive cast. Although
they are wasted in the leading roles, Cary Grant is a likable and
intelligent actor and Benita Hume is a charming British actress.
Roscoe Karns is helpful on the humorous side and Jack La Rue gives
one of his vivid reptilian performances as the leader of the
opposition gang.
Review:
- by Kathy Fox
GAMBLING SHIP
is Cary Grant's 11th film, and his co-star Benita Hume will appear
again with him in 1936 in SUZY, as the murderess. Mr. Grant
is his usual beautiful self, but my personal feelings about the
film are that the plot is thin and confusing. Grant plays
Ace Corbin and Hume plays Eleanor LaVelle. They are both
traveling incognito on a train to California in order to forget
their sordid pasts. I thought that even the reason they were
attracted to one another was not sufficient enough for them to
fall in love and that their relationship had a hollow ring to it
and failed to develop itself on the screen. However, in the
end, boy does get girl. The movie was pleasant enough, but
forgettable. This movie helped fuel the fire and confirm
Grant's suspicions that Paramount Publix had no intention of
giving him better roles, so this helped set the stage for him to
go free-lance when his contract came up for renewal. But in
the long run, good or bad, this is a Grant film and we are glad
that it exists. We can follow his career from the beginning
to end, watching all 72 films intently and taking the best from
each.
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