Gambling Ship

"Gambling Ship" is a rather obscure early Cary Grant film. Because it's so early, the studios didn't quite know what to do with Grant, as he hadn't developed an on-screen persona yet. That's why they have him playing a part he never would have done just a bit later...playing a mobster of all characters!

When the film begins, Ace (Grant) has just narrowly been acquitted for some crime. This close call is a wake-up call for him and he decides to retire from the mob. On the way out of town, he meets a lovely lady (Bonita Hume) on the train and you can imagine them both falling in love and settling down together. NOT SO FAST!! She also has a secret...as she's just left her life of crime as well! Neither knows the other's secret! How does all this play out and what does this have to do with an off-shore gambling ship?

In addition to seeing Grant as a mobster, the film was unusual because it also features Roscoe Karns as a gangster as well...sort of like an enforcer type! Karns specialized in playing mousy sorts of guys...the opposite of this character!

So is it any good? Well, it's not bad. Overall, it's an enjoyable little film but not exactly a must-see for most viewers...more a film that is best for Cary Grant fans who want to see his early work and see him in a VERY different role.

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.

Gambling Ship (1933)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

After being found innocent on a murder he was set up for, gambling boss Ace Corbin (Cary Grant) decides enough is enough and leaves the business. He gets on a train where he meets Eleanor (Benita Hume) and the two strike up a relationship. Ace doesn't want her to know his past life but there's something she isn't telling him about hers. Pretty soon Ace finds a whole new set of problems due to the girl as well as his past catching up with him.

GAMBLING SHIP is a rather routine crime drama that is okay for what it is but at the same time there's no question that it really doesn't contain anything overly special or interesting. The main reason to watch this film today would be for the early performance by Grant who is actually good here. He has to play a character that is at times supposed to be cute and charming but also have a darker and more serious side. I thought Grant was fine in the role and made it a lot more interesting than what most actors would have done with it.

The supporting cast includes Jack La Rue as a thug and we've also got Glenda Farrell and Roscoe Karns. Hume makes for a rather bland leading lady and really doesn't offer any sparks. The screenplay really isn't anything fresh or original as we've seen this type of crime film countless times even by 1933 standards. GAMBLING SHIP isn't awful and it isn't good either. It's a decent crime picture but I'd say only Grant fans should check it out.

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.

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