Gambling Ship

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.

If you are going to enjoy an hour of fantasy about being an owner of a gambling ship, Cary Grant is as good as you will be able to imagine. Fun to watch and worth viewing without worrying about any messages.

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" 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.