Tutto per tutto

Rip McCool (David Brian) has 19th century San Francisco at his mercy since he has all the money and they have none. Angry villagers are lining up outside the bank before it opens in the morning so that they can clean out what little there is or kick some banker (Mercedes McCambridge) butt.

Friends, enemies and the ambivalent gather in Rip's upholstered parlor to plead for themselves and the town. Through a series of flashbacks, we see the roller coaster journey of an ambitious man coming up through Hard Knocks University, who has managed to frustrate and confound all with whom he comes in contact. They want to like him, but he just won't let 'em. An exception is Rip's loyal man Friday (Lon Chaney, Jr.), who knows why Rip is a hard case and unlike the other characters, has seen a positive side of his nature. He may just be easily impressed.

The suspense turns on whether McCool will bail out the city or let it go to the pelicans. The city's fate is to be decided by single game of stud poker between McCool and his arch rival the banker. This can of corn is worth watching and should be better known. MGM production values and fine performances by almost everyone provide an enjoyable watch. Barbara Billingsley (aka June Cleaver) has a nice bit and I found it gratifying to see Lon Chaney, Jr. in a role that allowed him to do more (emotionally) than he normally was asked to do.

All in all, pretty enjoyable.

It's 1870's San Francisco. Ada Stritch (Mercedes McCambridge) is in financial trouble. She owns a bank in danger of a run. The city is in the balance. Greedy Rip MacCool (David Brian) has the money to save it and he's ready to pounce. He offers to bet it all on a poker hand and he needs a four to finish an inside straight. Johnny Sanderson (Barry Sullivan) consults careful consideration and Ada recounts his arrival 15 years ago. While Rip's fortune rises, he falls for singer Lily Douvane (Arlene Dahl).

This was a box office bomb. Part of the problem may be the story's lead character. It's a story of capitalism and cold-hearted melodrama. Rip is not a hunky romantic lead. He's the quintessential money-grubbing hustler working the system. It's all about the money and not even what you could buy with it. It does turn into a complicated soapy melodrama and that loses me in the second half. It's listed here as a western although it's a western like Dallas (TV) is a western.

Several people tell backstories about a heartless man. The final story, told by Shocker, reveals big things. Worth hanging in there thru some brutal behavior. The cast is great- Mercedes McCambridge never disappoints & David Brian should have made more movies. (A good- looking guy who could play a real meany.) The final scenes rock in surprising & heartfelt ways.

1951's "Inside Straight" is hardly a Western though set in 1870s San Francisco, where a run on the local bank has shareholders in a near violent panic. The bank owner is widow Ada Stritch (Mercedes McCambridge), forced to call upon longtime millionaire nemesis Rip McCool (David Brian) for the needed funds, coyly dealing his cards to determine the victor. Gathered around McCool are all his main associates, though only Shocker (Lon Chaney) has remained a trusted friend since their first meeting when Rip was a penniless teen earning enough wages as a miner to bury his beloved parents, dead from cholera during their westward journey. After relocating to Frisco, he proceeded to bilk Ada out of her hotel with worthless mine stocks, earning and losing a fortune in stealing them back. One loveless marriage to chanteuse Lily Douvane (Arlene Dahl) produced a son, McCool's second marriage to governess Zoe (Paula Raymond) ending with both mother and child dying in childbirth. The only truly likable character on display is Lon Chaney as the Serbian Shocker, given name Schockovitz Ninkovitch, using the same accent for his 1956 portrayal of "The Golden Junkman" on TV's TELEPHONE TIME. Gerald Mayer, nephew of MGM studio chief Louis B. Mayer, had only 8 other feature credits as director (soon relegated to television), this film a regrettable box office flop that failed to ignite stardom for stone faced David Brian, quickly descending to supporting ranks as in 1952's "Springfield Rifle," again opposite Lon Chaney. Such suave masters as Cesar Romero or George Sanders might have made something of this cad, but Brian is just a bore; his television work included a memorable cameo as John Gill in the 1968 STAR TREK episode "Patterns of Force." Look fast for future TV stars Hayden Rorke (I DREAM OF JEANNIE) and Barbara Billingsley (LEAVE IT TO BEAVER).

"Inside Straight" is a film after the same tradition as the Clark Gable film "Honkey Tonk" and Edward G. Robinson's "Barbary Coast". They are all stories about men who went out west and were determined to strike it rich. But, along the way, they lost track of what's important...their humanity and connection with others.

When the film begins, Rip McCool (David Bryan) is playing a high stakes game of poker with his old rival, Ada (Merceded McCambridge). It's a winner take all affair. But before the outcome of the game is shown, there are a long series of flashbacks in which everyone there give their recollections of their dealings with Rip...and they are mostly terrible. Rip is determined to make a fortune...regardless of what he has to do and who he needs to walk on to get it. You see Rip's ups and downs and his many, many mistakes.

This film is an enjoyable saga but not one that screams MUST SEE. Instead, it's well done and worth seeing but also rather familiar. I enjoyed it...and much of it is because I've always thought that Bryan was a very good actor despite being far from a household name.