Von Gier besessen

It's 1870's San Francisco. Ada Stritch (Mercedes McCambridge) is in financial trouble. She owns a bank in danger of a run. The city is in the balance. Greedy Rip MacCool (David Brian) has the money to save it and he's ready to pounce. He offers to bet it all on a poker hand and he needs a four to finish an inside straight. Johnny Sanderson (Barry Sullivan) consults careful consideration and Ada recounts his arrival 15 years ago. While Rip's fortune rises, he falls for singer Lily Douvane (Arlene Dahl).

This was a box office bomb. Part of the problem may be the story's lead character. It's a story of capitalism and cold-hearted melodrama. Rip is not a hunky romantic lead. He's the quintessential money-grubbing hustler working the system. It's all about the money and not even what you could buy with it. It does turn into a complicated soapy melodrama and that loses me in the second half. It's listed here as a western although it's a western like Dallas (TV) is a western.

Rip McCool (David Brian) has 19th century San Francisco at his mercy since he has all the money and they have none. Angry villagers are lining up outside the bank before it opens in the morning so that they can clean out what little there is or kick some banker (Mercedes McCambridge) butt.

Friends, enemies and the ambivalent gather in Rip's upholstered parlor to plead for themselves and the town. Through a series of flashbacks, we see the roller coaster journey of an ambitious man coming up through Hard Knocks University, who has managed to frustrate and confound all with whom he comes in contact. They want to like him, but he just won't let 'em. An exception is Rip's loyal man Friday (Lon Chaney, Jr.), who knows why Rip is a hard case and unlike the other characters, has seen a positive side of his nature. He may just be easily impressed.

The suspense turns on whether McCool will bail out the city or let it go to the pelicans. The city's fate is to be decided by single game of stud poker between McCool and his arch rival the banker. This can of corn is worth watching and should be better known. MGM production values and fine performances by almost everyone provide an enjoyable watch. Barbara Billingsley (aka June Cleaver) has a nice bit and I found it gratifying to see Lon Chaney, Jr. in a role that allowed him to do more (emotionally) than he normally was asked to do.

All in all, pretty enjoyable.

It's 1870s San Francisco and we have a bank about to crash leaving all customers with zero money. Only one man can prevent this from happening as he has the cash to prop up the institution. That man is David Brian (Rip MacCool). We go into flashback to reveal tales of his past and determine whether he is a good or bad man. The bank's fate will be determined by a poker hand which we return to for the film's conclusion.

This film has some oddly named characters - Phil MacCool and Flutey Johnson - ha ha! Someone must have had some fun making up comedy names.

The story is ok and the film is alright to watch. It gets a bit boring, though, and the characters don't really blow you away.

One thing I've never understood about banks and today's society is how they have so much influence on everything. Banks essentially don't have any money! So, how come countries owe each other trillions of dollars or whatever? That money simply doesn't exist. If everyone wanted their money withdrawn from the banks at the same time, the banks would all collapse (that is the threat in this film). This is because banks don't have enough money! Why do we base our whole society on such a false premise and promulgate this deception? There is not enough money, folks. All banks are broke!

We need to scrap money and progress to a different sort of society. One that could include a game of cards to settle disputes. You could start with 'snap' for youngsters and progress to more grown up games as you get older. This film leaves you to make your mind up about that winning hand.

Several people tell backstories about a heartless man. The final story, told by Shocker, reveals big things. Worth hanging in there thru some brutal behavior. The cast is great- Mercedes McCambridge never disappoints & David Brian should have made more movies. (A good- looking guy who could play a real meany.) The final scenes rock in surprising & heartfelt ways.

"Inside Straight" is a film after the same tradition as the Clark Gable film "Honkey Tonk" and Edward G. Robinson's "Barbary Coast". They are all stories about men who went out west and were determined to strike it rich. But, along the way, they lost track of what's important...their humanity and connection with others.

When the film begins, Rip McCool (David Bryan) is playing a high stakes game of poker with his old rival, Ada (Merceded McCambridge). It's a winner take all affair. But before the outcome of the game is shown, there are a long series of flashbacks in which everyone there give their recollections of their dealings with Rip...and they are mostly terrible. Rip is determined to make a fortune...regardless of what he has to do and who he needs to walk on to get it. You see Rip's ups and downs and his many, many mistakes.

This film is an enjoyable saga but not one that screams MUST SEE. Instead, it's well done and worth seeing but also rather familiar. I enjoyed it...and much of it is because I've always thought that Bryan was a very good actor despite being far from a household name.