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Daughter of a professional gambler, Lady Lee (barbara Stanwyck) is a popular card player among the swells. She catches the eye of Garry Maddison (Joel McCrea )who falls head over heels for her and his father and gambling buddy (C. Aubrey Smith) makes a halfhearted attempt to buy her off more as a test than anything else. Other interested parties, Garry's elitist beau (Claire Dodd) and a fellow card sharp ( Pat O'Brien) whose carrying a torch for Lady are not so happy with the union however. Murder intercedes and Lady's lap of luxury lifestyle may be short lived.

Lady Lee is tailored made for Stanwyck and she dominates the picture with her self assured yet vulnerable style. McCrea and O'Brien bring a touch more complexity to their standard 30s character roles to stave off predictability and Director Archie Mayo provides a few interesting montages and compositions to give Gambling Lady a decent enough look that by the time it reaches it's somewhat contrived finish will not have you feeling cheated.

Most people have a main reason for wanting to see a film, whether it's the concept, being a fan of a director, loving an actor or actress, having a thing for talented casts and curiosity. They have all been reasons for seeing a film numerous time, whether it's one of those, more than one or all. My main reason was Barbara Stanwyck, she was in a fair share of films that had material well beneath her but she always rose above it and very rarely gave a bad performance.

One can't go wrong with Joel McCrea in his first of six films with Stanwyck, when in a role that suits him, and C. Aubrey Smith who was always a scene stealer. Archie Mayo was not the most consistent of directors, but he was a more than able one and did do enough films that are worth watching such as 'Black Legion', 'It's Love I'm After' and 'The Petrified Forest'. 'Gambling Lady' doesn't see any of them at their best and all did much better films, but it is definitely worth a look and has enough to it to make it more than just a curio.

The cast is 'Gambling Lady's' biggest strength, so good that it is worth more than one star of my decided rating for the film. Stanwyck brings her usual steely toughness and has a sensuality also here too, making her character a lot more interesting than she seemed on paper. McCrea, in his first collaboration with Stanwyck, is likeable and plays his on paper not particularly interesting with cool charisma. O'Brien is good despite his underuse and makes the most of his too little material. Claire Dodd is suitably hissable. It was a shock to see Smith in the type of role he plays here and he was clearly having a lot of fun with it and some particularly juicy dialogue.

Some very funny moments in the script, which sparkles at its best. 'Gambling Lady' moves swiftly, is directed in tight fashion by Mayo and it is a good looking film too (not lavish but very nicely shot, some beautifully framed ones here, and always cohesively edited). Stanwyck looks great in her clothes.

'Gambling Lady' has its faults though. For pre-code, some of the material could have afforded to be bolder than turned out and edgier too. The ending comes across as very melodramatic and contrived, and some parts are on the soapy side.

Biggest drawback is the story. Pre-code films were often thin on the ground and silly in this regard, but the story here is very flimsy, in content initially and in depth, and sometimes later on over-complicated from trying to stuff too much in. It takes silliness and credibility straining to a whole new level, with some serious suspension of disbelief here needed to the extent that little makes sense. No real surprises here either.

Overall, not bad but not great. Just about worth taking a gamble on though. 6/10

D: Archie Mayo. Barbara Stanwyck, Joel McCrea, Pat O'Brien, Claire Dodd, C. Aubrey Smith.

Not a bad romp through every cliche in the mid-depression era: tough dame from the wrong side of the tracks, kind, sympathetic crooks, useless rich people, true love between unlikely lovers, a couple of romantic triangles, tacked-on murder mystery episode, etc. Also, Stanwyck starting to show big doses of the tough-as-nails but soft-hearted street-smart operator she perfected by the time of "The Lady Eve". As always, Barbara Stanwyck is utterly fascinating to watch, talented & lovely, Stanwyck's great forte was her utter believably in any role she undertook.

Directed by Archie Mayo, Gambling Lady was, by Pre-Code standards, a tame romp into the zone where gambling syndicates and high society intersect. When an honest card sharp commits suicide rather than go crooked, his daughter Lady Lee (Stanwyck) steps into his place, winning great sums for herself (and her bosses) while keeping the game fair and square. But when handsome high society swain Garry (McCrea, looking about as good in a tuxedo as is humanly possible) steps into a game, she's smitten - not realizing that their ill-matched pairing between high and low society might be a sucker bet.

Stanwyck didn't think much of Mayo, "a rude, fat man" prone to pinching actresses' bottoms (she grabbed his arm the first - and presumably last - time he tried pinching hers). But the actress liked McCrea. He, in turn, marveled at her professionalism, and how, if a take was blown it was always because of his stumble, not hers. But she also gave him a frank lesson in professionalism the day he was absent from shooting stills of the cast. (It wasn't McCrea's fault - nobody told him about the shoot, especially the publicist who figured no one would miss an RKO actor on loan.) At lunch Stanwyck cornered McCrea. "Where the h e l l were you for stills?" When McCrea shrugged and said they didn't need him, Stanwyck gave him a tongue lashing. "I was in burlesque. We used to have to change our clothes on the train, and our makeup, and we couldn't take a bath and we lived out of a suitcase. You've grown up in California where you go to the beach on your days off and ride the waves, and you're a happy Southern Californian kid. Just get off your big fat a s s and get to work."

McCrea took her candid advice to heart, and he and Stanwyck became great friends during the filming of Gambling Lady.

Gambling Lady(1934) is definitely Art Deco in the decor and you also find Egyptian artifacts on the mantel and other places in the film These types of bric-a-brac were the rage in Hollywood at that time because of the opening of King Tut's tomb in the 1920s. You see many pieces of jewelry and statues, etc. In these 1930s films that link to the Egyptian craze back then. The clean lines of the Art Deco era are also evident in these films. Beautiful! Another excellent flick from one of the most UNcelebrated actresses of the golden age of Hollywood.

A high-minded GAMBLING LADY runs into trouble when she becomes connected with a society family.

Breezy & entertaining, this was the sort of film which Warner Brothers created with such ease. Blessed with good acting & fine production values, these pictures were generally guaranteed to be crowd pleasers.

As always, Barbara Stanwyck is utterly fascinating to watch. Not only talented & lovely, Stanwyck's great forte was her utter believability in any role she undertook. Here, she looks perfectly natural with a deck of cards in her hand, playing & dealing. Her authenticity is matched by the passion which she displayed with every performance.

Her leading men are two of the best: rich boy Joel McCrea & genial crook Pat O'Brien - both do well by their roles. Given equal billing, the viewer is left guessing for quite a while which one will finish the film in Stanwyck's arms.

Excellent support is given by marvelous old Sir C. Aubrey Smith as a kindly gentleman who befriends Stanwyck, Arthur Vinton as the head of a notorious Gambling Syndicate & eccentric little Ferdinand Gottschalk as Sir Aubrey's lawyer.

Movie mavens will recognize Willie Fung as a member of the Syndicate, and Arthur Treacher & Louise Beavers as Sir Aubrey's butler & cook - all uncredited.

Stanwyck plays an honest gambler and she steals the movie. After she ("Lady" Lee) realizes she can't rely on her gambling father, she meets wealthy Joel McCrea, who is, well, young and smitten. Find acting by all, including Pat O'Brien as Stanwyck's buddy and Sir C. Aubrey Smith as a father figure.

I just saw this movie shortly after seeing "But the Flesh Is Weak" on Turner Classic Movies. Sir C. Aubrey Smith is also in that movie, in which he plays the gambling father of young Robert Montgomery, who is smitten by wealthy Nora Gregor and is buddies with wealthy Heather Thatcher. Both movies have a similar parent-child duo wanting to strike it rich, and the start of each movie is similar. But from there on, they are two very different movies, "Gambling Lady" being a more thoughtful, dramatic film, and "But the Flesh Is Weak" being a romantic romp.