Men of Chance

I'm not quite sure what happened to Ricardo Cortez' career. True enough, he was pretty shaky in his early talkies, still (mis)cast as the foreign lover with a Bowery accent, but by the time this movie was made, he was absolutely solid and well cast as a gambler. Perhaps by this point in his career, people were no longer interested in paying money to find out.

Mary Astor, on the other hand, had finally learned her craft. In silent movies, she had relied on her immense, youthful beauty. In her early talkies, she seems timid and overwhelmed, but by this time she knew how to steal a scene by repose: in a swirling sea of movement, she was the still spot. Think of her in THE MALTESE FALCON, seated in the armchair. Think of her in DODSWORTH offering her hand to Walter Huston. Think of her in PALM BEACH STORY chattering a mile a minute.... but no. Everyone is brilliant in a Preston Sturges comedy, and unexpected.

She is not note perfect here: a bit weak in the early scenes. But still, by the 20-minute mark in this one-hour programmer, she owns it. Take a look at it.

Mary Astor and Riccardo Cortez worked well together. Here, she is a bad girl. Or she is perceived to be a bad girl. She's in Parish when we meet her. Her dreams of being an artist have fizzled and she's down on her luck.

She marries American gambler Cortez. He's hard-boiled but falls for her right away. She's hard-boiled and doesn't fall for him right away but does eventually. (This is not giving away the plot.) Both are excellent. It is, however, a rather creaky plot. Though the movie was made before the Code, it is not at all racy. The racetrack scenes look authentic and are fun.

The title of this film is deceiving. The film is really about Mary Astor and her involvement with the "Men of Chance", John Halliday and Ricardo Cortez. Cortez and Halliday are both gamblers on the horse races. They are shady and fix the races. But they are in rival associations and compete. Halliday has lost hundreds of thousands due to Cortez's trickery and he wants his money back and revenge.

Halliday brings in Mary Astor to find out what Cortez is up to and to fix the bets so the odds are against Cortez. At first Astor goes along, but then she ends up falling in love with Cortez.

The film is not great but it is very good as it kept me guessing as to Mary Astor's character's motives. Is she really helping Cortez or Halliday? If you are not familiar with Mary Astor's work, she will show you what she can do in this film! She is great. And really kept me guessing.

I fell in love with Mary Astor when I first experienced her in "Dodsworth". And now I really look forward to films where she has a role, no matter how small. But, in this film, she is the central character.

So, I recommend this Classy Classic! It is just on the border of being great, but it is worth the viewing!

Ricardo Cortez and Mary Astor star in "Men of Chance" from 1931, also starring John Halliday.

Astor plays Marthe, a literal starving artist in Paris who is picked up by Dorval (John Halliday). He makes her an offer she can't refuse in her present situation: he will dress her, put her up in the best hotel, and introduce her around as a French countess. She attracts a wealthy man, rich American gambler Johnny Silk (Cortez), who proposes to her. At first she's interested in him for his money, but later, she falls in love with him.

Dorval and his partner Farley are actually after Johnny and want to bring him down. Without realizing it, Marthe is feeding racing tips to them, and they're winning and depleting Silk's fortune.

Good, straightforward film, with a nice horse race sequence at the end. The lovely Astor gave a winning performance as poor Marthe, the regal Countess, and finally a woman in love. She was an interesting actress - an ingénue in the silent era, a leading lady with a beautiful speaking voice in the '30s, and made her big mark as the mysterious, treacherous Bridget O'Shaunessey in The Maltese Falcon in 1941. By the mid-40s, she was doing character roles, which she did until 1964, a 43-year-career.

Ricardo Cortez to me has never been anything but okay, though he was pleasant looking. He entered silents during the Valentino era and promptly changed his name from Jacob Krantz. There was just nothing special about him or the films in which he appeared. He slid to B films and then character parts and finally returned to working on Wall Street though he kept acting until 1960.

John Halliday is appropriately evil and slimy.

If you catch this on TCM, see it, you'll like it. Even though it's precode, though, the only racy thing is the horses.

When the film begins, Marthe (Mary Astor) is broke in Paris and unable to feed herself, let alone boat fare back to the US. However, an odd man befriends her and grooms her for marriage. Now, this woman of humble birth is a countess--and soon ropes a rich gambler, Johnny Silk (Ricardo Cortez). He's daffy about her and wants to marry her...and she is afraid to tell him the truth about herself. She does love him and reluctantly agrees to marry him.

Back in the States, the couple is quite happy though Marthe still hasn't told him the truth. In the meantime, Marthe's old benefactor arrives from Paris. He says he's broke and she offers him help....and he then springs his trap. What this trap is and why is something you'll need to see for yourself as well as Marthe's reaction when she realizes she's been a pawn in a very expensive and complicated game.

This is a very interesting film and offers several nice twists and turns. Along with some nice acting, this one is a nice little film and worth your time.