User reviews

Compulsive gambler Edward G. Robinson marries nice girl Genevieve Tobin and tries to settle down. His gambling and irresponsibility causes problems between them. Soon he's spending time with ex-girlfriend Glenda Farrell and his wife leaves him. Eventually he buys an injured racing dog named Dark Hazard and nurses him back to health, planning to make a winner out of him.

Fine role for Edward G. Robinson with a solid cast backing him up. Glenda Farrell is always enjoyable. Genevieve Tobin has the thankless role of the suffering wife. Sidney Toler plays the guy who gets Robinson back into gambling. Was remade just a few years later as Wine, Women, and Horses starring Barton MacLane and Ann Sheridan. This is the better version of the two but that one's not bad. Both are pretty simple programmers.

In one of his more unlikable roles apart from his gangster films, Edward G. Robinson plays Buck Turner--a compulsive gambler. In Buck's case, much of his problem stem from his strong need to be a big shot. Again and again, he makes fortunes and blows them because of his gambling. During one of his periods where he swears off gambling, he meets and marries a nice lady, Marge (Genevieve Tobin) on the condition that he not gamble. But being an addict, he soon is playing the big man and starts back to his old ways. Eventually, the wife has had enough and she takes a powder. He eventually returns to her and makes a lot of promises, but he's soon back to his old ways. The event that eventually destroys the marriage completely is when he comes home with a racing dog, Dark Hazard. So how does Val (Glenda Farrell) figure into all this as well as an old flame named Press? See the film.

While I liked most of the film, as it was a nice portrait of addiction and didn't cop out with a happy ending, this ending was a bit strange and anti-climactic. Still, Robinson and the gang did a nice job in this one and it's worth seeing.

Without good looks or commanding stature, Edward G. Robinson fashioned a long, impressive career out of sheer talent. Curiously enough, he was versatile where his limitations would seem to have worked against his being convincing in a wide variety of roles. During the 1930s, in particular, he often played an "off-center" character, a man with a fractured psyche who, despite good intentions and some sensitivity toward the feelings of others, was too emotionally flawed to find security or happiness.

Such a character was Jim Turner in this film, and, as usual, Robinson's skillful portrayal generates our sympathy for someone barely deserving of it. Too weak to abandon the seedy, sleazy world of small-time gambling, he loses - not once, but twice - the love and forgiveness of a devoted wife, capably played by Genevieve Tobin. Glenda Farrell, as a gold-digging good time gal, and Sidney Toler, playing a shady operator involved in "deals," are also effective.

The picture covers a considerable period of time in only 72 minutes, being composed of a multitude of short scenes. Good and bad: more extensive character motivation would have helped; but there is nary a dull moment.

Most people don't know that this picture exists. What a shame.

Interesting film about the early days of American greyhound racing based on W R Burnett 1933 Novel by the same name,I read the book it is above average and better than the movie for it goes into deeper character development and motives which is hard to do in a 72 minute movie. Few people realize it but WR Burnett was a greyhound owner and a huge fan of greyhound racing.The champion dog "War Cry" featured in the movie was actually owned by W.R Burnett.Greyhound racing as we know it today started in Emeryville,Ca. back in 1919.I believe the film was released in 1934 so the sport had been around for only 15 years when the movie was released.The filming of the actual greyhound race scenes were beautifully done,it even shows hurdle races which was later banned.

The movie has a great cast of well known stars of that time but Edward G Robinson is the star here,for he is in almost every scene.It is pre-code ,Buck the Edward G Robinson character makes reference to sexually satisfying his girlfriend which would of been cut out after the code was established also the ending is very positive which probably would of changed after the code was set up for most people looked at gambling as a vice back then.One mistake in the movie was it made reference to greyhound racing in Hawaii but it never existed there.

The movie moves along swiftly and covers a lot of years.Robinson does a convincing job in this film as a man who puts his love of greyhound racing over everything else.This is the only known movie totally based on greyhound racing.This film was remade a few years later as Wine, Women and Horses but Dark Hazard if far superior to the remake , the remake does star the beautiful Ann Sheridan which is its only attribute.

There's a steak of subversive humour running through this. The novel on which this is based is a very serious examination of gambling addiction but this film makes this a jolly, fun adventure. One example is the background music being played as Edward G's marriage starts to crumble: Honeymoon Hotel from FOOTLIGHT PARADE!

Edward G cited this as one of his least favourite pictures. Being a serious actor and a fan of the author (who also wrote LITTLE CAESAR.....and incidentally owned the dog in this movie) he didn't appreciate the frivolous approach which was taken. For the viewer however this makes it a surprisingly enjoyable and entertaining film.

His character has a serious problem, his gambling looks like it's going to destroy his life but that's not what we get. He doesn't care. At one point he wins $20,000, moments later he's broke, having to borrow $5 to get him home. When he meets gorgeous middle-class Genevieve Tobin he tries to mend his ways but the lure of the bet and the lure of his on-off girlfriend, played perfectly by a ridiculously sexy Glenda Farrell is just too much. He prefers fun to respectability.

Films from this period, and certainly those which followed after the Hays code was properly implemented often had a moral message. This has the opposite. Preachiness is swapped for entertainment. It feels like it shouldn't work but it does - it shouldn't be but it's a lovely warm enjoyable hour an a half. It was after all made in the middle of The Depression so maybe they just wanted to cheer everyone up.

If there is any lesson this teaches us, it's that if you've got a gambling problem, don't worry about it because you're likely to end up having lots and lots of sex with Glenda Farrell.

Edward G. Robinson gives an excellent performance in "Dark Hazard" from 1934.

Imagine my surprise when I found out that Dark Hazard was a dog!

Jim "Buck" Turner (Robinson) is a compulsive gambler, winning $20,000 at the track and losing $20,000 gambling. It's so bad he has to borrow $5 to get home.

He winds up taking a room in a boarding house, where he meets Marge (Genevieve Turner) and falls in love with her. Though her mother doesn't approve, they get married.

Marge is unhappy about his gambling, and Jim keeps saying he'll stop. He doesn't. One day, he runs into an old girlfriend, Valerie (Glenda Farrell) - she'd like to start up again, but he wants to be faithful to Marge. Later on she's there in down times.

Jim becomes enamored of dog racing and wants to buy a dog named Dark Hazard. But he costs $5,000.

When he wins big and brings home a huge amount of money, Marge, who is pregnant, leaves him and takes all the money. She writes that when he's ready, she will have a place for him.

A few years later, he returns to Marge, who is living with her mother, and meets his little boy. She takes him back though she is dating an old beau, Pres.

The next time he sees the dog, he's broken his leg and about to be put down. Jim buys him for $25. Once the dog is well, he starts winning again.

Many pre-code elements, including a double bed.

You can't help but like Jim and feel sorry for him at times. But you also know he's a survivor, just like Dark Hazard.

Sidney Toler, famous as Charlie Chan, is very good as a guy who gets Robinson to gamble again.

I have to say the dog racing theme was a gigantic turnoff. It's a bad sport, with thousands of greyhounds abandoned every year when their usefulness has ended.

In this movie, the original owner loved the dog; later it's obvious he no longer cares about him. That isn't typical - to these people, the dogs are just moneymakers to them from the beginning.

Other than that, this was a decent film. Was remade by Warners later as Wine, Women, and Horses.

The story is routine but it has many interesting touches:

Sidney Toler as a villain, a nasty Caucasion. He's very good in this role.

Genevieve Tobin was a lovely actress but she is under the sway of her shrewish mother here. Only her nerdy brother has any decency.

It's astonishing to see that almost 60 years ago, the title character -- a rescued racing greyhound -- is being MASSAGED by hero Robinson. So much for the inventiveness of New Age technology. It's actually quite touching.

What I love is that in the end, he gets wise to Tobin and her low-class, upwardly mobile mother and dumps the lot of them in favor of the always charming, likable Farrell, who is kind of a bad girl here but one we like.

Is this movie about gangsters? No, it's about dogs! (Well, in a manner of speaking.) Eddie plays Buck Turner, a gambling addict who wins and loses large sums of money. Buck goes to a boarding house where he meets his future wife, Marge, who comes from the "right side of the tracks". After they marry, Buck tries to go "straight" with a respectable job, as a night clerk at the Northland Hotel.

Funny scene: The phone switchboard is alight with many calls, and Buck tries to answer them all. He listens quietly to the question of one caller, then responds, "Noooo, sir! You've got to have baggage!" One "customer" repeatedly bullies Buck and incites him into a fight, which gets him fired. Mission accomplished: the bully actually wants Buck to work for his organization, the dog track. Buck is back in the gambling racket… He becomes attached to one racing greyhound in particular: Dark Hazard. He wants to buy him, but his wife puts her foot down. She is not liking his return to gambling at all.

Later, Dark Hazard is injured in a race, and his owner wants to put him down. Buck saves his life by buying him for $25, and nursing him back to health. All the while, Buck and Marge have been going through many ups and downs in their marriage. Who will Buck side with, his wife or his dog? In 2017, an easy answer for most men, but this was a different era.

As an aside, I really love these 1930s Warner Brothers movies where they show the actor and the character name during the opening credits, so the audiences can connect the two. In this flick, they even gave credit to the starring dog. War Cry is the thespian who portrayed Dark Hazard.

One of the few times I saw an improvement when a studio remade one of their films is with Dark Hazard. Wine, Women And Horses which starred Barton MacLane in the role Edward G. Robinson plays here was a far better fit for the part of a luckless gambler. Robinson is far from his usual tough guy assertive self, in fact he's something of a loser.

Robinson is Mister Every Man with a gambling program. Be it racetracks, cards or the wheel of fortune Robinson can't stay away. He's lucky in streaks, but inevitably loses his winnings.

He does get involved with good girl Genevieve Tobin, the daughter of his landlady Emma Dunn. But that one goes south on him as well when old flame Glenda Farrell comes calling.

The title Dark Hazard is the name of a greyhound racing dog that Robinson acquires after his owner casts him off. Eddie clearly looked uncomfortable in scenes with the dog.

Not one of his better films.

Dark Hazard (1934)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Great performances highlight this Warner melodrama about professional gambler Jim Turner (Edward G. Robinson), a man who decides to get married and stop his old ways of life or at least that's what he tells his new bride (Genevieve Tobin). Soon the two are on their way but Jim becomes addicted to gambling and it reaches the point to where the wife decides to leave him. DARK HAZARD is working with a "C" screenplay to say the least but there's no question that the cast is an exceptionally strong one and helps keep the film from falling apart. I think it goes without saying but Robinson easily steals the film as the down-on-his-luck gambler who places one bet too many. At least the role has quite a bit for the actor to do as he not only gets to play the gambler but there's romance, some laughs and a tender side story involving him an a race dog whose name is the title of the film. Robinson perfectly nails all the emotions and is certainly very believable in the scenes where the character breaks from all his gambling. Tobin is also pretty good in the film and it's clear that she and Robinson has some good chemistry together. They had previously made the horrid I LOVED A WOMAN but at least this role gives the two something to work with. Glenda Farrell plays her typical blonde/sex appeal part and does fine work with it. Sidney Toler has a hilarious bit early on picking on Robinson for a certain reason. Henry B. Walthall is mentioned in the credits but while his character's name is said, he never actually appears in the movie so I'm guessing his scene was edited out. Overall, DARK HAZARD features great actors doing strong work but in order for the film to have been better the screenplay still needed some work. At just 72-minutes there's not too much meat but fans of the cast will still want to check it out.

Always admired Edward G. Robinson in all his films, he has never given a poor performance and will be remembered for as long as people enjoy great acting talent. His role in this picture was completely out of character, where he played a compulsive gambler who fell in love with a greyhound DOG, named "Dark Hazard". He tired to marry a woman who really did not love him and gave him a hard time throughout the picture. Edward G's real love was Glenda Farrell, veteran screen actress who was suppose to be very sexy according to the 1934 years and was always there to help him out when his wife ran away to another town. I also noticed Sidney Toler(John Bright) in this film, he was the star of the "Charlie Chan" Movies of the 1940's and very popular. This film cannot in any way be critized nor the actors in this film, lets remember, Edward G. Robinson is a National Figure even in 2003, he is on OUR POSTAGE STAMP!

Dark Hazard is 80 minutes of sheer delight in this Edward G. Robinson '34 item directed by Alfred Green that I was totally unfamiliar with. Robinson gives a heart warming interpretation of a race track tout and gambler who falls for Genvieve Tobin, somewhat of a wasp with whom they have wedding bliss in California where he's hired to look after Sidney Toler's 1/3 interest in a dog track. His infatuation with gambling causes her to move back with her mother in (Ohio?); he follows her and patronizes the local dog track where he follows the horse Dark Hazard closely. After the horse is injured he buys it for $25 and nurses it back to health and wealth. He has left Tobin and goes back to his old flame, Glenda Farrell (at her intense best). Has all of Warner's fine snap crackle and pop ingredients of that era.