Champagne Charlie

Chamagne Charlie (1936)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

B-film from Fox has a gambler known as Champagne Charlie (Paul Cavanagh) getting behind on debts so he decides to marry a society girl (Helen Wood) so that he can get her money but the poor sap ends up falling in love. There's really not too much to say about this film. Everything from the direction to the screenplay to the actor are rather bland but the film does move pretty well and thankfully only lasts 58-minutes. The film would have benefited more had the screenplay tried something different but you should know how all of this ends.

This is a pleasant, if dated murder mystery (actually, the murder is not a mystery, but the film's outcome is). It is sad that this little film hasn't been better preserved, since it is a fine example of lower budget film making from the thirties. Film features tons of depression era atmosphere (fancy dress parties, overdressed socialites) and pleasant performances by two fairly well known character actors (Herbert Mundin and Paul Cavanaugh, who portrays a slick gambler cum gigolo with a heart of gold). One major flaw here: the storyline overall is a bit thin to make for a really engrossing crime drama. Still, it is a pleasant diversion and and time capsule-like glimpse into another era. Six out of ten.

When a bartender tries to stand up for a lady's honor, it leads to murder on board a cruise ship. herbert mundin is Fipps, trying to help Linda, played by helen wood. now we're in flashback, and when Linda tries to describe what really happened, we follow along. the ladies talk about some fun gambling strategies at roulette, but of course, none of the strategies really work out. Charles Cortland (Paul Cavanagh), who may be mixed up with a rough crowd, woos Linda, and admits he's fascinated by her wealth, from the family copper company. things happen very quickly right near the end, and it's all neatly wrapped up in sixty minutes. fun, if you don't take it too seriously. directed by James Tinling. sadly, mundin died very young at age 40, in a car accident, just a couple years after making this film. it's good. could have been even better if they had spent another ten or fifteen minutes on some drama and real detective work in the script, but it's not bad for a shortie.

Had this been A product from the brand new and rejuvenated 20th Century Fox studios no doubt Darryl F. Zanuck would have gotten Ronald Colman for the lead title role. But as it was B film with all the lack of trappings thereof we have character actor Pal Cavanaugh as Champagne Charlie.

Champagne Charlie is a notorious playboy/gambler character in both hemispheres who loves them and leaves them and always for a large settlement. Montagu Love who not to put too fine a point on it 'manages' Cavanaugh for a hefty fee.

The current target is heiress Helen Wood and she falls for Cavanaugh. But there s something about Wood that gives Cavanaugh second thoughts.

Champagne Charlie is a pleasant enough B film. But the title role absolutely begs for better editing, more character development and Ronald Colman.

Paul Cavanagh is "Champagne Charlie" in this 1936 B movie.

When a man (Noel Madison) is killed on a ship, two people, Linda Craig (Helen Wood) and a ship's bartender named Fipps (Herbert Mundin) confess to the crime, so the ship's captain has to sort out what happened and why. The story is then told in flashback, concerning the man known as "Champagne Charlie" who was at one time engaged to Linda and had Fipps in his employ.

Charlie's plan to marry the wealthy Linda was based on the fact that he owed money to some people who had staked him to gamble, the dead man being one, and needed to pay them back.

Paul Cavanagh was a sophisticated, roguishly handsome, smooth-voiced actor who enjoyed a prolific 30-year career in small or supporting roles in films and guest starring roles on television. He is good in this short, thinly plotted film - he was already in his late forties at the time of filming.

Cavanagh went on to become a distinguished-looking white-haired gentleman and acquitted himself well in films such as "The Mississippi Gambler," "Magnificent Obsession" and "The Prodigal." He is really the only reason to see this programmer.