Le Bateau-tripot

...To actually catch Cary Grant acting! It only happens a couple of times and really does make you realize how amazing a performer the man was.

Benita Hume, longtime wife and sometime co-star of Ronald Colman, plays a moll with a golden heart. The roles are cookie cutter even for this early date, and we've already seen Cagney and Harlow burn down the screen in 1931's "The Public Enemy," but it's great seeing Grant working outside of his own preference of romantic comedy. He should have done more of it; his career would be looked at differently if he had racked up some awards for drama.... people who think the academy awards have declined recently should investigate Cary Grant, because his career shows how absurd the academy usually is.

Two directors; both a complete waste of time. One hopes they didn't get paid but instead the money went to Grant and Hume. Glenda Farrell is wasted here, in a role that is far beneath her.

Still, it's a fun movie and definitely worth a look.

Tidy web of a plot. Deception abounds, but luckily the audience is the first to know. It's just fun waiting for the characters to discover their mutual deceptions. Every principal character is a racketeer; there are no innocents. Cary Grant's character is, of course, the most charming criminal of the bunch.

It's difficult to tell the difference between a Paramount film of the early 1930s and Warner Brothers as they were fast-paced, had good dialogue, even if the plot was routine, and featured a host of fine actors, right down to the bit parts. GAMBLING SHIP fits the bill, a neat little B-film starring a young Cary Grant in a good guy/bad guy role, and with a streak of gray running through his hair! He plays a retiring underworld boss who decides to walk away, only to meet lovely Benita Hume, who has a similar tale to tell. They wind up on a gambling ship, docked off shore from Los Angeles, where he faces some "old friends" running a crooked business. Grant's old friends are an interesting bunch, namely Roscoe Karns as a bumbling con-man/gangster (who has the best lines), Jack LaRue as a more menacing figure, naturally, and the ever dependable Glenda Farrell, who smokes a sexy cigarette! The story is typical low budget fare, but its the cast that kicks it into high gear, and, much like a Warner Brothers film, there's a wild shoot-out near the end, all played during a mean storm that nearly sinks the ship! Nice touch. For music fans, especially, the popular Richard Rodgers song "Lover", which could have been written for the film, is featured as Cary and Bonita fall in love. And that's a wrap. An oldie but a goodie, and now on dvd.

Cary Grant quits the rackets and heads to California under a fake name. He's had it, especially when he meets Benita Hume on a train. She's crazy for him, too. Trouble is her boss/lover runs a gambling ship, the mob is putting the squeeze on him, and he thinks she's located a sucker.

It's not Grant's first movie heading the cast list, but he's definitely the focus of the movie here. All three are trying to play a square game, but none of them knows how, and none of them believes the others. It's an intriguing idea, but it needs more than Louis Gasnier directing to raise it out of the potboiler status. Glenda Farrell and Roscoe Karns offer some fun.

The last time Cary Grant and Jack La Rue shared the screen in "The Woman Accused" they were ardent enemies. I see not much has changed.

In "Gambling Ship" Cary Grant plays Ace Corbin, a Chicago gangster ready to go straight, and just like Edward G. Robinson in "The Little Giant" he is also going west for his new start. On the train to Long Beach Ace met a lovely lady who went by the name of Eleanor Kenniston (Benita Hume). She was such a striking lady and seemingly from such class that Ace chose to give her the name of Bruce Graham when he introduced himself in order to hide his past. If he gave her the name Ace Corbin she may make the connection that he was a gangster thereby ending his chances at true love. Again, something that Edward G. Robinson's character did in "The Little Giant."

By the time the two reached California they were in love. And, again, to help prove my point about loving the idea of a person and not the person him/herself, the two were in love with facades. Ace Corbin wasn't Bruce Graham and Eleanor wasn't Eleanor Kenniston. She was Eleanor La Velle, a gangster's girl. She was the girlfriend of Joe Burke (Arthur Vinton), the bankrupt owner of Casino Del Mar, a gambling ship. You know that they had to find out each other's identities sooner or later, but how and what would be the reactions.

"Gambling Ship" had some intrigue and a little bit of excitement. Whenever you're dealing with gangsters there's always an element of danger. I thought it livened up what would've been a dull romance.

Free on YouTube.