Don't Bet on Blondes

"Don't Bet on Blondes" is a short Warners comedy from 1935 starring Warren William, Claire Dodd, Guy Kibbee, William Gargan, and Errol Flynn in an early appearance.

William is a bookie who decides to go legitimate and become an insurance man, but a special kind of one. He's going to take high risk cases, and some of them are real doozies: whether a man will have twins, whether someone will lose her voice, etc.

One case concerns a southern man (Kibbee) who is supported by his daughter. He's writing a book proving that the south won the Civil War and he doesn't want his daughter to marry before he finishes it. It's a high risk because she's a gorgeous showgirl (Dodd) and she's practically engaged already.

William steps in as a distraction. You can guess the rest.

Warren William was all but forgotten before TCM; now he's very familiar to viewers and there's a new appreciation for his work. In silents, he played dark, villainous characters; in sound he could be a con man, a detective, or Perry Mason.

William had a wheezing laugh and his line readings often indicated wonderful humor. It's interesting that this type of leading man -- the Barrymore-type profile, the mustache -- went out of style.

This is a fast film, briskly directed, and enjoyable.

"Don't Bet on Blondes" is first-rate entertainment all the way. Warren William is in command as the odds-on favorite book-maker of New York, Oscar 'Odds' Owen. He goes by "Odds," and the audience never learns his true name until Claire Dodd's Marilyn Youngblood coaxes it out of him. Even then he has to whisper it in her ear, but she's not about to let it stay a secret for all those who paid good money to see this film. She then comments to him out loud and calls him Oscar.

That's just one of the dozens of little gem scenes and tidbits that this film has. But the leads aren't the only ones to tickle the funny bone. A supporting cast is first-rate and perfectly matched for their respective roles. In Odds Owen's booking joint and then insurance offices, William Gargan is tops as Numbers. He can cite statistics from memory and whip out odds faster than a computer - which, of course, they didn't have in those days. Vince Barnett is very funny as Brains, and Spencer Charters is perfect as Doc. Others also contribute, especially well-known and recognized Guy Kibbee as Col. Jefferson Davis Youngblood.

The plot may be easy to analyze, though there is a twinge of mystery with a distasteful character named Everett Markham, played very well by Clay Clement. But it's a different and quite unusual plot that is a great deal of fun.

And one nice insert is a supporting role for Errol Flynn as David Van Dusen. For this fifth of his films, Flynn still is without his later trademark mustache. He had been in films for four years, but had only one leading role until late in this same year. When he plays Peter Blood in "Captain Blood," that hits theaters in December 1935, Flynn skyrockets to stardom which ends only with his death 24 years later at the age of 50. He suffered a heart attack in 1959.

This film was made smack dab in the middle of the Great Depression. Like so many other films of the time that were set among the wealthy in New York City, it's drenched in high society living. But the humor and light-hearted nature of William's Odds Owen undoubtedly helped lift spirits and create some smiles among audiences during those tough years. Tough years or not, now, this film is still an uplifter and very entertaining. It has a wonderful ending that most viewers will find a winner at any odds.

Here are some favorite lines.

Doc, "To lay down with dogs is to get up with fleas." Odds Owen, "Then the thing to do is stay away from dogs. And, Doc, I think Maybe I will."

Marilyn Youngblood, "I'm marrying Everett because... well, because I want to." Col. Jefferson Davis Youngblood, "I know that, my dear. But sometimes retreat is the better point of valor."

Col. Youngblood, "Your charm excuses your accidental Northern birth."

Odds Owen, "Numbers, the only thing that isn't fixed is fishing."

DON'T BET ON BLONDES is the lesson New York City's most eccentric insurance broker learns the hard way.

Fast-moving & fun, this is another example of the comedy crime picture that Warner Brothers was so expert at producing. Casts & plots could be shuffled almost endlessly, with very predictable results. While this assembly line approach created few classics, audience enjoyment could usually be assured.

Suave and sophisticated, Warren William dominates this enjoyable little film with his debonair manner and slightly sardonic sense of humor. Playing a topnotch bookie who seamlessly switches to the more legal insurance racket, William is never less than absolutely in command of his performance. His pursuit of lovely Claire Dodd, even though she's the subject of his client's offbeat policy, illustrates his character's single-minded determination to get exactly what he wants. Whether in comedy or drama, Warren William was a most enjoyable actor to watch and it is a shame that he is almost forgotten now.

A sturdy cast of costars gives fine support to William. Cuddly Guy Kibbee plays a Kentucky colonel desperate to retain his daughter's largess. Quick-tempered William Gargan is William's numbers expert, while Spencer Charters is his wise old company doctor. Clay Clement is a somewhat larcenous lawyer who has his eyes on Miss Dodd; Walter Byron portrays a prissy hypochondriac actor. Mary Treen is William's no-nonsense secretary; Hobart Cavanaugh plays a little man anxious to ensure his pregnant wife against having twins.

Look fast for Herman Bing as a man with a dog. A young Errol Flynn, looking earnest & eager, plays a potential suitor for Miss Dodd; he would become a major movie star very shortly. Wonderful Maude Eburne steals her scenes as a champion husband caller from Iowa.

Movie mavens will recognize W. C. Fields' longtime accomplice, Tammany Young, as an uncredited betting tout in the open scene.

... especially with Warren William, since this really played well off of his playful slickness. Too many times after the production code came in, WB substituted unfunny inanity, fast talking, and motion for the sake of action to replace the bawdy comedy of the production code years, and their movies suffered for that.

"Odds" Owen (Warren William) is a bookie running a very large bookmaking establishment. One day some anonymous fellow comes in and places a 2500 dollar bet on a horse that never wins. The odds are 20 to 1. Numbers (William Gargan) is immediately suspicious, informs Owen, and they put a tail on the guy who made the bet. It turns out the money that made the bet is actually owned by Wall Street banker Everett Markham (Clay Clement). The horse does win. Immediately after the race an Owens associate - the woods are full of Owens associates, it's part of what makes the film - gets a sample of saliva from the horse and he turns out to have been doped. Owens presents Markham with the evidence and refuses to pay off the bet.

Owens says that the bookmaking game isn't fun anymore with fraudsters like Markham involved and decides to leave that profession and go into the insurance game since the two professions are similar, or at least operate on similar principles. So, Owens founds a company that insures the oddball kinds of things that Lloyds of London does. Meanwhile Markham has vowed revenge on Owens for exposing him as a fraud. Funny and odd complications ensue.

This follows the tried-and-true WB formula of having William be the urbane and distinguished leader of a ragtag band of Runyonesque associates trying to be on the level for a change. The unique insurance niche this group is trying to fill is an opportunity for all kinds of odd clients and situations including a champion husband caller who needs her voice insured, a man who wants to be insured against twins, and the case that is at the center of the plot - a crackpot author (Guy Kibbee) who wants to insure his actress daughter (Claire Dodd) against marriage for three years so that he has time to finish his book on how the South really won the Civil War. This is because his daughter gives him an allowance to live off of that would end if she married and left the stage.

Unlike most WB second feature comedies of the time, this does not have a wild finish, but it is satisfying. Running at just under an hour it does not outstay its welcome. If you like Warren William you'll like this one, and perhaps if WB had put Warren William in more high caliber comedies such as this he would have not wandered over to MGM in 1937.

Don't Bet on Blondes (1935)

** (out of 4)

Robert Florey (Murders in the Rue Morgue) directed this comedy about a bookie (Warren William) who decides to go straight by becoming an insurance man who sells claims to freaks. William is good as usual and there's a young Errol Flynn in his second role but director Florey does very little with the material and things get really dry before we even hit the 30-minute mark. There are very few laughs to be found and all the romantic side story are pretty boring and don't lead to any real excitement.