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You are here: Home / Movie Reviews / Gambling Lady (1934) for the Barbara Stanwyck Blogathon

Gambling Lady (1934) for the Barbara Stanwyck Blogathon

July 19, 2013 By Cliff Aliperti 17 Comments

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Gambling Lady is a Warner Brothers’ quickie starring Barbara Stanwyck that was released just a few months ahead of Production Code enforcement. Despite running just a little over an hour it seems to invite every contract player on the lot, and then some, to pop in for a few minutes and earn their paychecks. The only actor who manages to be a consistent presence throughout the movie is its star, Stanwyck, who takes her part seriously and even manages to provide a few wonderful little moments. She also gives the viewer some extra fun by peppering her usual tough lingo with extra bits of gambling slang throughout.

Barbara Stanwyck in Gambling Lady

Barbara Stanwyck as Lady Lee

While Gambling Lady didn’t merit special promotion from Warner’s in the trade papers, nor even any fuss in the fan magazines, it proved popular enough with audiences to be named as one of the major contributing factors for Archie Mayo breaking into Hollywood Reporter’s annual top ten list of best box office directors for 1933-34. Mayo scored thanks to four straight hits from Warners-First National beginning with The Mayor of Hell starring James Cagney, then Stanwyck’s previous film, Ever in My Heart, the notoriously bawdy Convention City (all 1933) and, finally, Gambling Lady. Masterpieces none, entertaining popular fare all, though we’ll have to take history’s word for that in the case of Convention City, a lost film.

Barbara Stanwyck and Robert Barrat

Robert Barrat may not be a great father as Mike Lee, but he’s a heck of a lot better dad here than he was to Stanwyck in Baby Face (1933)!

As for Gambling Lady it caught me off-guard with a little twist in plot that didn’t seem as much intentional as it did the unintended result of Warner’s lengthy call sheet.

During the first half of the movie there is little doubt that our villain is Arthur Vinton as Fallin, head of a gambling syndicate soon employing Stanwyck’s Lady Lee as, presumably, its only honest card player. When rich boy Garry (Joel McCrea) unintentionally fingers an illegal game that Lady is a part of, it seems obvious that the remainder of the movie is going to be about Garry regaining Lady’s trust and Lady deciding between him and bookie pal Charlie Lang (Pat O’Brien), who on the surface has much more in common with her. To make the set-up complete I figured Fallin would cause no end of trouble to all three along the way and probably allow Lady’s winning suitor to emerge by bumping off the loser.

Not quite.

Instead, Lady quickly forgives Garry, we blink and they are married. Arthur Vinton disappears, though his syndicate still pulls a few strings in this story. Replacing the gambling boss as villain is Garry’s old flame, haughty socialite Sheila Aiken, played by the pre-Code Queen of haughty socialites, Claire Dodd.

Claire Dodd and Barbara Stanwyck

I’d pay more to see Claire Dodd take on Barbara Stanwyck than I would for any prizefight

Instead of being a simple underworld story where Stanwyck must overcome odds, literally and figuratively, plus be the key side of a love triangle, Gambling Lady becomes about Stanwyck trying to overcome her background, which is all the more prominent in contrast to Dodd’s Sheila, who isn’t exactly reserved in her pursuit to win McCrea’s Garry back.

Gambling Lady winds up uneven thanks to this unexpected turn, but the one constant in the film, Stanwyck, turns this to her advantage. We get the best of two shades of Stanwyck as she spends the first half of the movie talking tough and claiming her independence in the wake of her father’s death and the second half hour or so trying fit into McCrea’s world on her own terms, but being repelled by Dodd at every opportunity her cunning Sheila can create. Sheila even manages to squeeze Lady into a tight enough corner to unleash some Stanwyck hysterics.

Barbara Stanwyck in Gambling Lady

This is the stare of a woman whose husband is cornered by Claire Dodd.

My own favorite bit of Stanwyck in Gambling Lady was the unforgiving wrath she heaped upon McCrea after he accidentally turns informer by escorting two detectives up to the illicit card game. She just keeps pounding him:

“Well, you sure fooled me, brother. I didn’t spot you for a copper.”

“Where’s your badge, flatfoot?”

“Drop in for tea some afternoon at the jail — copper.”

“Well, I don’t think I’d know you without your uniform.”

McCrea is still pretty sympathetic at this point as the fresh faced rich kid who has fallen for her. You want her to stop, cut the guy some slack, but at the same time her complete and utter disdain becomes a bit more fun with every razz she lays on him.

Barbara Stanwyck and Joel McCrea

Barbara Stanwyck and Joel McCrea

But Stanwyck’s best scene in Gambling Lady comes late in the film, when McCrea requires an alibi, but won’t spoil a certain lady’s honor. Stanwyck supports him nevertheless, but as she embraces him she smells a rat. More specifically, she smells Claire Dodd and the little flicker of rage that flashes over Stanwyck’s eyes as she loosens her grip is unsettling. As electric as that stare was her voice is completely flat when she tells him, “Okay, I think I catch on.” Empathy to rage to disappointment in seconds, and who knows what she’ll do next. Not McCrea, who’s completely baffled as she departs.

Claire Dodd plays a magnificent bitch. Always does. There is zero doubt from the moment her Sheila intrudes upon Lady’s honeymoon with Garry that she is going to be trouble. It is to Gambling Lady’s credit that she’s more mountain than molehill standing between Lady and Garry’s eventual happiness. Dodd is both viper and vamp from the moment of that entrance and seems a much more formidable obstacle to our star than the overall slight setbacks that the gambling world had previously presented.

Claire Dodd in Gambling Lady

Claire Dodd as Sheila Aiken

Hanging all over Garry the first impression is that Sheila must not have heard about the marriage, but her dialogue quickly dispels that idea. Lady watches her from a Monte Carlo card table that she’d been cleaning up and is eventually distracted enough by Sheila’s attentions upon her husband that she leaves her hot streak behind to join them.

Sheila soon excuses herself, but pauses before she goes: “Oh, how stupid of me. I forgot to return your ring,” she says to Garry. “It’s customary, I believe.”

Later in their hotel room Lady tells Garry, “I don’t like that Sheila dame.”

Joel McCrea and Barbara Stanwyck

Joel McCrea and Barbara Stanwyck

McCrea suddenly loses our rooting interest by turning snob. He tells his wife, condescendingly, “Not that dame. You mean that young lady; that girl; that woman.” He doesn’t win us back later when he passes an ultimatum cutting off Lady’s friendship with old suitor Charlie.

That jealousy leads to another great moment from Stanwyck as she and McCrea argue over her past involvement with the O’Brien character.

“You’d do anything, wouldn’t you, to save your—”

“Don’t say that,” she says, cutting him off.

“Well, he was, wasn’t he?”

Stanwyck turns mischievous and vindictive. “Figure it out for yourself,” Lady tells Garry, leaving him to wonder about her past. “And I won’t be here while you’re making up your mind,” she adds, turning to leave him.

Barbara Stanwyck in Gambling Lady

Stanwyck is so good at expressing these little glimpses into her soul that she can turn a little movie like this into something fascinating. There’s a good bit wrong with Gambling Lady, but none of it is Stanwyck.

While none of the other actors, except perhaps McCrea, appear throughout the film consistently, each of them is at their best as well.

Small role for Pat O’Brien, which probably could have been handled by Phillip Reed, who plays an even smaller role. While O’Brien’s character begins Gambling Lady more or less on equal footing with McCrea’s, he’s quickly usurped by the more traditional romantic leading man. McCrea is just fine as Lady’s love, though Garry’s shift from sympathetic hearthrob to jealous husband was off-putting and happened as quick as you can say, “I do.”

Joel McCrea and Pat O'Brien

Not nearly as even as this would have you think

If C. Aubrey Smith feels a little out of place here, you’ll get over that quickly as he is his typical elder gentleman throughout. He gets a few good moments on screen with Stanwyck, including an early scene where he picks up on her discovery of a card cheat at their table and another later when he offers a very polite bribe to her and she earns his respect in the manner she rejects it.

C Aubrey Smith and Barbara Stanwyck

C. Aubrey Smith beams at Stanwyck

Arthur Vinton was good as head of a crime syndicate who stands as a little different from the norm in this era for not directly involving himself in any overt violence. Surely that would have changed had he not gone missing over the second half of the movie!

Ferdinand Gottschalk has a small part as McCrea’s lawyer and Willard Robertson pops up again as a tough district attorney. There’s even a Louise Beavers sighting in the final few minutes of the movie.

The Claire Dodd fan, like myself, will enjoy Gambling Lady, even though you have to wait 35 minutes for her to arrive. Once she does she provides a suitable sparring partner for Stanwyck, which is saying quite a lot.

Barbara Stanwyck and Claire Dodd

Barbara Stanwyck, Claire Dodd and the back of Joel McCrea

Otherwise, Gambling Lady is all Barbara Stanwyck. Her Lady is the honest girl from the wrong side of the tracks, who has her doubts about moving over. When she does it is all for love and while she’s happy to adapt, she won’t change who she basically is. She modifies her behavior as Garry’s wife in breaking off contact with Charlie, and her play has moved from illegal card dens to the bright lights of Monte Carlo and contract bridge amongst her new social class, but Lady Lee retains her honesty and earthiness until the very end.

This post was written for the Barbara Stanwyck Blogathon being hosted by Aubyn of The Girl with the White Parasol. Given Stanwyck’s immense popularity nearly 50 writers have signed up to blog about her at their websites during the week of July 16-22, 2013. You can find links to all of the Blogathon posts at Aubyn’s site HERE.

Joel McCrea and Barbara Stanwyck 1938 Polo L Tobacco Card from Chile

Barbara Stanwyck in Gambling Lady

Stanwyck busts a cheat

Barbara Stanwyck Early 1930s Warner Brothers Press Photo

Barbara Stanwyck Early 1930s Warner Brothers Press Photo


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Filed Under: Movie Reviews Tagged With: 1934, Archie Mayo, Arthur Vinton, Barbara Stanwyck, C Aubrey Smith, Claire Dodd, gambling lady, Joel McCrea, Pat O'Brien, pre-Code, Robert Barrat

← Best Picture Cavalcade (1933) Sets Stage for Upstairs, Downstairs and Beyond MGM’s Hardy Family Series #8 – Judge Hardy and Son (1939) →

About Cliff

I write about old movies and movie stars from the 1920s to the 1950s. I also sell movie cards, still photos and other ephemera. Immortal Ephemera connects the stories with the collectibles. Read More…



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Comments

  1. FlickChick says

    July 19, 2013 at 9:40 am

    Even though she went on to bigger and better things, Stanwyck made a swell tough Warner Brothers dame. Actually, I like her best in her non-classics. She is just so effortless and natural. I will be looking for this one, now (and yes – she and Claire Dodd is worthy of the Golden Gloves!).

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    • Cliff Aliperti says

      July 19, 2013 at 3:23 pm

      Probably not a surprise, but I like her pre-Code stuff best, especially Baby Face and The Miracle Woman and neither of those are shocking selections either. But yeah, I’ll sign up for anything she appeared in during the early ’30s … which I did here!

      Thanks for reading!

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  2. Patricia Nolan-Hall (@CaftanWoman) says

    July 19, 2013 at 9:48 am

    Wow! Certainly sounds worth an hour out of the day. The more I see of Claire Dodd, the more I want to see of Claire Dodd.

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    • Cliff Aliperti says

      July 19, 2013 at 3:30 pm

      Love Dodd and hope to do more on her. It’s a shame she didn’t stick around longer, can you imagine what an effective femme fatale she would have made in film noir? And she certainly hadn’t lost her looks by the end of her career in the early ’40s.

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  3. willmckinley says

    July 19, 2013 at 12:20 pm

    This sounds right up my alley!

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    • Cliff Aliperti says

      July 19, 2013 at 3:31 pm

      Will, I think you’d like this one. And shoot, I barely even talked about the fun gambling stuff in the first half of the movie.

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  4. silverscreenings says

    July 19, 2013 at 4:19 pm

    This sounds like a must-see for any Barbara Stanwyck fan. Your enthusiasm for her performance is contagious!

    Sounds like Claire Dodd was the perfect choice for the “other woman”.

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    • Cliff Aliperti says

      July 20, 2013 at 2:35 pm

      It’s not in her top tier by any stretch, but it deserves more of audience than it has. Hopefully Warner Archive will remedy this sometime soon!

      Claire Dodd is nearly always perfect choice for other woman. Well, unless it’s an other woman from society, then they can use Helen Vinson.

      Thanks!

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  5. Danny says

    July 19, 2013 at 9:55 pm

    I just watched this a few weeks ago for my own review, and as soon as Stanwyck and Dodd started staring each other down, I figured you were somewhere, smiling. I agree the movie’s a bit uneven, and its tonal change makes for an unusual third act. Luckily, this is one of the Stanwyck melodramas from this era where the cast is great and the film is definitely watchable, even if it isn’t much special in the end.

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    • Cliff Aliperti says

      July 20, 2013 at 2:38 pm

      Looking forward to reading yours as Stanwyck month continues at your place, Danny! Sounds like we came away from this one more like-minded than not.

      I’m just glad someone else owns a copy!

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  6. Aubyn Eli says

    July 20, 2013 at 12:17 am

    Thanks for contributing this great piece to the blogathon, Cliff. This is one Stanwyck film that’s been rather elusive for me. Your description of the plot was perfect in giving just enough information for me to imagine those confrontational scenes with Stanwyck and yet still want to see the film for myself. Seems to me that Stanwyck did a lot of squaring off with bitchy society dames in her movies (Always Goodbye, Ladies of Leisure, and The Woman in Red all come to mind) and so many times, the sparring between the women had more crackle and tension than her scenes with the leading men. Joel McCrea was one of her better costars in general, though. I think his easygoing charisma and slow-burning sexiness match her perfectly. Plus, he thought she was the best he ever worked with. Unfortunately, it doesn’t sound like this role gave him much to play. At any rate, I’ll be sure to hunt this one up and check it out. Glad you decided to join us for the blogathon week.

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    • Cliff Aliperti says

      July 20, 2013 at 2:40 pm

      Thanks for having me in the Blogathon, Aubyn! With all of the bloggers contributing I’m just glad there were any titles left to chose from!

      McCrea is first in support of Stanwyck here, but not anywhere near her equal. Guess it could have been worse … he could have had Pat O’Brien’s part!

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  7. Judy says

    July 20, 2013 at 2:38 am

    Great, informative review, Cliff. I’d love to see this one – fantastic cast and, as you know, I’m another fan of Stanwyck’s pre-Codes. The snappy dialogue you quote sounds excellent! I’ve just found the trailer at Youtube – shame it spells Joel McCrea’s name wrong (McCrae) in enormous letters, and keeps calling him “the perfect lover” when the scenes featured make it plain his character is anything but… However it has still whetted my appetite even further.

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    • Cliff Aliperti says

      July 20, 2013 at 2:44 pm

      Judy, that’s just a small taste of the dialogue, there’s some pretty good exchanges between Stanwyck and Dodd that I couldn’t get into without giving too much away and a lot of great lines from Stanwyck in the gambling parts of the movie.

      Maybe McCrea requested the misspell 🙂 Nah, he’s not that bad, in fact he’s not bad at all, it’s just his character is somewhat limited and has to pull off some unreasonable turns in personality.

      Glad you liked it, thanks!

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  8. Le says

    July 26, 2013 at 5:14 pm

    I really need to see this. Plot twists are always welcome!
    Barbara was great in her 1930s’ movies. This earlier pairing with Joel McCrea also seems interesting. And also C. Aubrey Smith, with wom I share my birthday.
    Don’t forget to read my contribution to the blogathon! 🙂
    Greetings!

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    • Cliff Aliperti says

      July 27, 2013 at 12:06 pm

      Thank you, Le! I also enjoyed your look at Stanwyck and Robert Taylor!

      Cliff

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Trackbacks

  1. Gambling Lady (1934) Review, with Barbara Stanwyck | Pre-Code.Com says:
    July 30, 2013 at 4:01 am

    […] Immortal Ephemera (who has a very non-subtle crush on Claire Dodd if you didn’t know) covered this a few weeks ago, and he enjoyed it quite a bit. Good bits of dialogue and nice observations here. […]

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