Gambling with Souls

This somewhat ramshackle production starts out as it means to go on, with shots of police starting out on a raid, clearly borrowed from elsewhere. We're soon introduced to Mae Miller, wife of a distinguished surgeon, and arrested for the murder of the local vice king following her inducement into heavy gambling, and then being forced to work as a call girl to pay off her debts. She's played by the unknown Martha Chapin, who is absolutely mesmerising in a performance of real star quality. Bearing more than a passing resemblance to a renowned star of the infinitely more explicit Adult entertainment of over forty years later, the adorable Juliet Anderson, she is alternately vivacious and vulnerable, and very sexy throughout. Did participation in such an outlaw movie as this preclude working in more respectable productions? If so, then what a waste.

The rest of the acting is variable; Wheeler Oakman as head of the gambling/vice racket would have been twirling his moustache, had it been longer; Vera Steadman is quite good as Mae's supposed friend Molly. In its crude fashion, this is entertaining, keeping you watching, and fans of this kind of dubious fare from yesteryear should enjoy it.

There's a police raid on the gambling den. When they break into Wheeler Oakman's office, they find Martha Chapin standing over his corpse with a smoking gun. Soon she is in the office of District Attorney Edward Keane with her husband, research doctor Robert Frazer. Under questions, she starts telling the events that led to her murdering Oakman in extended flashback. She had been lured there by Vera Steadman, and had won at first, and spent the money. Then she lost heavily, and to pay off the debt was turned into a call girl.

It's cheap, Code-compliant exploitation, with occasional chorines in jiggly costumes, and Miss Chaplin disrobing: alternate shots of undergarments tossed to the floor, and Miss Chapin visible from the shoulder blade up.

Could this movie be considered an early example of film noir, or perhaps pre-noir? The flashback structure argues that it is, but if so, that's about it. It's cheap, it's sensational, and that is undoubtedly how it was sold to contemporary audiences.

Gambling With Souls (1936)

* (out of 4)

Police raid a gambling house where they discover a dead man with a woman holding a gun over him. They take the woman in for questioning where they learn the gambling house was used to cheat women into losing all their money so that they'll have to join a prostitution ring. Early exploitation/"warning" film is actually fairly well-made but that leads to boredom instead of laughs ala Reefer Madness. Without that "so bad it's good" feeling this one falls flat on its face. At least it doesn't run too long and if you're a fan of this genre then you'll still want to check it out but this will always remain forgotten among countless gems like Reefer Madness, Maniac and Sex Madness.

1st watched 2/19/2007 - 3 out of 10(Dir-Elmer Clifton): Formulaic good woman gone bad story. This time being enticed by getting nice things thru gambling initially, then pushed into being an escort to pay back her debts to the gambling club. This all happens while her husband is trying to make it in the medical field and is often out of town. The movie starts with a murder and the rest of the movie is told in flashbacks as the accused tells the story. As is usual in these films, it starts out innocent enough at the roulette wheel but blossoms out of control as she loses more money. The bad guys threaten her by saying that they'll get her husband involved and then she's stuck to being their slave until the money is paid back. Eventually, the main character's sister gets enticed as well and her hatred brings about the ensuing crime. This is one of those "B" exploitation movies that doesn't pack much of a punch and the viewer is left waiting for the whole thing to just be over. The good thing is that it eventually ends, the bad thing is that I watched it.

GAMBLING WITH SOULS is one of many "morality" shockers that were made in the 1930s. Ostensibly these were films designed to educate the viewing public about the dangers of drugs, vice, and sex, but in reality they were lurid little potboilers whose posters screamed sensationalism.

GAMBLING WITH SOULS is the first of these I've watched (it won't be the last) and it's a surprisingly well-made little film for the most part. Clearly this was done on a low budget, but the production values are fairly strong; there are lots of scenes set in bustling casinos and with lots of extras in the background. The narrative is well-constructed, with a mystery court-case bookending the tale told in flashback; it concerns a young woman, addicted to gambling, who is forced into prostitution in order to pay off her debts.

The cast is undistinguished but the material still holds a certain significance to this day - it's amazing how non-dated this feels, especially in comparison to the creaky likes of Lugosi's Dracula made the same decade - and it's fast-paced enough to retain the attention span of even the modern viewer.