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Don't Bet on Blondes

  • 1935
  • Approved
  • 59m
IMDb RATING
6.1/10
504
YOUR RATING
Claire Dodd and Warren William in Don't Bet on Blondes (1935)
An insurance agent falls for a client's daughter after writing a policy guaranteeing her single status.
Play trailer2:29
1 Video
17 Photos
ComedyMysteryRomance

An insurance agent falls for a client's daughter after writing a policy guaranteeing her single status.An insurance agent falls for a client's daughter after writing a policy guaranteeing her single status.An insurance agent falls for a client's daughter after writing a policy guaranteeing her single status.

  • Director
    • Robert Florey
  • Writers
    • Isabel Dawn
    • Boyce DeGaw
  • Stars
    • Warren William
    • Claire Dodd
    • Guy Kibbee
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    6.1/10
    504
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Robert Florey
    • Writers
      • Isabel Dawn
      • Boyce DeGaw
    • Stars
      • Warren William
      • Claire Dodd
      • Guy Kibbee
    • 17User reviews
    • 5Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Videos1

    Trailer
    Trailer 2:29
    Trailer

    Photos17

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    Top cast60

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    Warren William
    Warren William
    • 'Odds' Owen
    Claire Dodd
    Claire Dodd
    • Marilyn
    Guy Kibbee
    Guy Kibbee
    • Col. Youngblood
    William Gargan
    William Gargan
    • 'Numbers'
    Vince Barnett
    Vince Barnett
    • 'Brains'
    Hobart Cavanaugh
    Hobart Cavanaugh
    • Philbert O. Slemp
    Clay Clement
    Clay Clement
    • T. Everett Markham
    Errol Flynn
    Errol Flynn
    • David Van Dusen
    Spencer Charters
    Spencer Charters
    • Doc
    Walter Byron
    Walter Byron
    • Dwight Boardman
    Eddie Shubert
    Eddie Shubert
    • Steve
    Jack Norton
    Jack Norton
    • J. Mortimer 'Mousy' Slade
    Mary Treen
    Mary Treen
    • Owen's Secretary
    Maude Eburne
    Maude Eburne
    • Little Ellen Purdy
    Herman Bing
    Herman Bing
    • Prof. Friedrich Wilhelm Gruber
    George Meeker
    George Meeker
    • Undetermined Role
    • (scenes deleted)
    Joan Barclay
    Joan Barclay
    • Hat check girl
    • (uncredited)
    Brooks Benedict
    Brooks Benedict
    • Man with Doc at Foyot's Bar
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • Robert Florey
    • Writers
      • Isabel Dawn
      • Boyce DeGaw
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews17

    6.1504
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    Featured reviews

    7planktonrules

    A totally whacked out plot...but still quite enjoyable AND a chance to see Errol Flynn just before he became BIG!

    The fact that this was the last film Errol Flynn made before he became a mega-star is reason enough to watch this movie. Just after completing "Don't Bet on Blondes", he starred in "Captain Blood"-- one of the biggest hits he ever made and which led to one of the fasted rises to stardom in Hollywood history.

    Apart from the Flynn angle (and he's only a relatively minor character), the film is still worth seeing--though I'll admit that the plot is incredibly weird and just plain wacky! Warren William stars as 'Odds' Owen, a professional gambler and bookmaker. However, he's tired of taking bets on horse races...especially since races can and are rigged. So he decides to try something similar but a surer thing...insurance! He plans on insuring bizarro things much like Lloyds of London was famous for at the time (such as insuring that actor Ben Turpin's eyes remain crossed)...especially since the odds of ever having to pay off are slim.

    One of the crazy policies he takes is NOT one that is so easy...and Odds shouldn't take it but he did. A goofball author (Guy Kibbee) announces he wants a policy AGAINST his daughter marrying during the next three years! But to make sure that Odds doesn't have to pay off, he sets out to interfere with the young lady's love life! In one case, a poor sap (Flynn) is set-up to make it appear as if he's some sort of gangster and eventually Odds decides the best thing to do is just date her himself! What's next? See the film.

    Why does this silly plot manage to work? Warren William! He was a wonderful actor and although mostly forgotten today, he was wonderful and often made ordinary films amazing films. While he's not the sleazy jerk he often played so well in earlier films due to the new Production Code, he IS enjoyable to watch...and is still a bit of a jerk...and he played jerks so very well.
    6boblipton

    Damon Runyon Types Turn Respectable

    Bookmaker Warren William refuses to pay off when Clay Clement's doped horse wins; he has the doctor's report. Tired of the rackets, William turns legit, recasting himself as an insurance agent. When his new-found respectability gets leading actress Claire Dodd interested in him, Clement sees an opportunity for revenge: he has Miss Dodd's father, Guy Kibbee, a phoney-baloney scholar who's supposed to be writing a southern-fried history of the Civil War take out a $50,000 policy against her getting married... with William carrying the risk.

    Will true love -- or as true as it gets in faux-Damon Runyon territory conquer, or will the fifty grand carry the day? There are lots of fine character actors with monikers like "Brains" and "Numbers" and Errol Flynn gets a promotion from appearing as a corpse on a slab.
    8SimonJack

    This odds-on-favorite film is sure to entertain

    "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."
    10Ron Oliver

    Mr. William's Comedy Capers

    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.
    dougdoepke

    Entertaining Programmer

    Not quite a Damon Runyon type jest, there is that element among the colorful characters. "Odds" Owen (William) morphs from ordinary bookie into insurance adventurer who'll underwrite any thing if the odds are right. So he insures Col. Youngblood for fifty-g's that his daughter (Dodd) and sole support won't marry for at least three years. Good thing Owen's got a crew of roughnecks to discourage potential suitors. Trouble is he sort of likes the fetching daughter himself.

    William handles the central role in a compellingly good-natured fashion. Perhaps the programmer's most engaging part is the premise. That Owen will insure most anything if the odds are favorable leads him to insure things like a father not having twins, and a weary woman having a hog-calling voice for contests. The latter is a real room wrecking hoot. I don't suppose Owens' underwriting is illegal even though standard insurers won't take up the novel risks. Still, I doubt that using thuggish "persuaders" appears in the underwriter's handbook.

    Overall, it's typical WB 30's fare— fast moving with colorful characters and well-upholstered women. Otherwise, it's an early Errol Flynn walk-on as a luckless suitor, but little more than an entertaining 60- minute time-passer. Still that's usually enough.

    Related interests

    Will Ferrell in Présentateur vedette: La légende de Ron Burgundy (2004)
    Comedy
    Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway in Chinatown (1974)
    Mystery
    Ingrid Bergman and Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca (1942)
    Romance

    Storyline

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    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      In preparation for their book, "The Films of Errol Flynn," authors Clifford McCarthy, Rudy Behlmer, and Tony Thomas arranged for a screening of Don't Bet on Blondes (1935) at Warners. However, the studio's nitrate print was in such bad shape that Warner decided to destroy the print because of its deteriorating, highly flammable state.
    • Goofs
      When Youngblood is chatting with Markham, his mint julep jumps from his left hand to his right and then back again.
    • Quotes

      Col. Jefferson Davis Youngblood: Your charm excuses your accidental Northern birth.

    • Connections
      Featured in Captain Blood: A Swashbuckler Is Born (2005)
    • Soundtracks
      Sweet Georgia Brown
      (1925) (uncredited)

      Music by Maceo Pinkard and Ben Bernie

      Played on a record in Youngblood's home

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    FAQ14

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    Details

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    • Release date
      • July 13, 1935 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Not on Your Life
    • Filming locations
      • Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA(Studio)
    • Production company
      • Warner Bros.
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 59m
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

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