Sunday, November 28, 2021

The Gambler and the Lady (1952)

Jim Forster, played by Dane Clark (one of my film noir favorites and the star of the film in my last blog article), is the gambler of the title, and he is a very interesting character indeed. He is an American living in London—and not entirely by choice. He has a hot temper, and he is more easily prone to violence when he drinks. But he is loyal to his friends, and he so desperately wants to belong. It just so happens that Forster wants to be accepted by the British upper class, and that burning desire is what proves to be so destructive, even more so than his temper.

The film starts with shots of narrow, cobblestone alleys at night. On the soundtrack suddenly are gunshots followed by running footsteps. Jim Forster appears in the next shot, clutching his arm. He appears to be wounded. A car starts up, and when the driver turns on the headlights, Forster is blinded. The car then heads right for him and runs him down.

The film then goes back to the beginning of the story, but the rest of the film is not a flashback exactly, not in the usual film noir tradition, not in the sense that a character starts telling a story and the film fades into a memory. The opening sequence sets up the mystery for the viewers, in the present, and then proceeds to explain how Forster ends up on a dark cobblestone alley crumpled by a car. The transition to the past is simply the end of the opening credits.

The Gambler and the Lady was produced by Hammer Film Productions in Britain and distributed by Lippert Pictures in the United States. Hammer Film Productions was known mainly for its horror films, but it partnered with several U.S. studios to produce all sorts of films using American stars. Many actors, including Dane Clark, Dan Duryea, and Zachary Scott, starred in films noir produced by Hammer. Click here for more information about Lippert Pictures and here for more information about Hammer Film Productions.

The history of Jim Forster starts with a shot of his friend Dave Davies looking out a window and seeing a police officer and a police car in the street below. When another man appears at the window and mentions that, in his country, bribing police officers is common, Davies says that they cannot get away with bribery in London. Davies works in a gambling den owned by Jim Forster. On that particular night, one of the gamblers, Lord Peter Willens, owes the house 150 pounds. He pays by check, even over the mild objection of Jaco Spina. Spina is another one of Forster’s employees, and he is responsible for collecting money.

Willens’s check bounces, and Jim Forster decides to take on the debt. But Jaco Spina steals the check and goes after Lord Peter Willens on his own initiative. Willens visits Forster to complain about the harassment; Forster is furious that Spina went against his wishes and tried to collect the debt. Then, in an example of how hotheaded Forster can be, he attacks Spina and almost chokes him. Forster finally relents, but he fires Spina over the betrayal.

Jim Forster has higher ambitions, and he is willing to give members of the British aristocracy a break because he desperately wants to join their ranks. He takes etiquette lessons from Miss Minter because he wants to know the rules for acceptance in British high society. His employee Dave Davies is one of his best friends, and he thinks Forster is shooting for something he can never attain, but Forster wants to keep trying. Right now, Forster is in the gambling business. He also owns a racehorse, a boxer’s contract, and a nightclub called The Jack of Spades. In addition to learning all the rules of etiquette, Forster wants to be what he calls “legitimate,” and “legitimate” does not include nightclubs, racehorses, and fights.

(This article about The Gambler and the Lady contains spoilers.)

Viewers learn of Forster’s past during one of his conversations with Dave Davies. Forster doesn’t drink any more, not since he was imprisoned in the United States for manslaughter after drinking too much and beating a man he doesn’t remember meeting. He cannot figure out a way to control his temper, and he wishes that he hadn’t physically assaulted Jaco Spina. Dave Davies is loyal to Jim Forster; he tells Forster that the Colonna brothers (Arturo and Angelo) are in town. They want to buy his gambling business, and they mean “business.” Forster isn’t interested in selling to the Colonna brothers, and the brothers let him know that the issue isn’t resolved by sending their henchmen to destroy The Jack of Spades, Forster’s nightclub, and two of Forster’s gambling dens.

Forster has been dating Pat, who dances with her partner Tony at Forster’s nightclub, The Jack of Spades. He is losing interest in her, and she is devastated about it. But she gets very angry with Forster and starts needling him, which just makes things worse between them. Forster sees Lord Peter Willens in his nightclub and stops to say hello. Willens and his group are a little sarcastic with Forster, but Peter’s sister, Lady Susan Willens, is intrigued by Forster. She wants to dance with him and they hit it off. This doesn’t escape Pat’s notice, and eventually she causes trouble for Jim and Susan. Pat threatens Susan and tells her that Forster is still in love with her, even though this is obviously not true. Susan will not be intimidated and stands up to Pat.

The upper class that Jim Forster so desperately wants to be a part of is not as smart, as business savvy, and as free from darker instincts as he believes. Susan’s brother, Lord Peter Willens, and her father, Lord Willens-Hortland, are in business with someone who is the one to teach Jim Forster that lesson. They wonder if Forster would consider investing in a gold mine that they have already invested in but that needs more capital. Their friend, Richard Farning, is their investment partner, and he is asking for more money.

Forster is interested in investing in the gold mine because he sees it as a chance to get into a legitimate business and as an entrée into the British higher classes. He asks Dave Davies to sell all his businesses. Davies tries to talk him out of it, but Forster is determined. It isn’t long before Forster loses all his money in the gold mine investment because Richard Farning disappears with the money. The Willens lose their investment money, too, but Forster thinks that Lord Peter Willens and his sister played him for a fool. Forster starts drinking again, a decision in a line of decisions that lead to the fateful night that started the film, with an injured Forster looking for an escape in the dark alleys of London.

The film’s narrative has an unusual construction for a film noir. It’s a mystery to be solved because The Lady and the Gambler sets up a horrible accident for Jim Forster and then shows how he found himself in that predicament. Forster is pretty likable, despite his faults. He just wants to belong. It’s easy to see why Lady Susan Willens is attracted to him, and it’s very easy to root for Forster in spite of his hot temper and his illegal business dealings. He is loyal to his friend Davies and he treats his old girlfriend Pat well, even when she is seething with jealousy and looking for ways to hurt him. The fact that he is played by Dane Clark was a boost for me.

The title of this film noir made me wonder at first if perhaps Jim Forster, the gambler, would be done in by an unscrupulous femme fatale. I imagined that she wanted him for his money, his nightlife, and his winning streak, and then when he started to lose, she dumped him for someone younger, more daring, and luckier at the tables. But that’s not the case. Jim Forster wants what he cannot have because it doesn’t really exist in the first place (especially for an American), and he makes some serious mistakes before the film ends. He also suffers some pretty serious losses, and not all of them are financial. But he doesn’t lose the lady, which is a nice surprise.

December 26, 1952, release date    Directed by Patrick Jenkins, Sam Newfield    Screenplay by Sam Newfield    Music by Ivor Slaney    Edited by Maurice Rootes    Cinematography by Walter J. Harvey

Dane Clark as Jim Forster    Naomi Chance as Lady Susan Willens    Meredith Edwards as Dave Davies    Anthony Forwood as Lord Peter Willens    Kathleen Byron as Pat, dancer at Jim’s nightclub    Martin Benson as Tony, Pat’s dance partner    Max Bacon as Maxie    Mona Washbourne as Miss Minter    Jane Griffiths as Lady Jane Greer    Richard Shaw as Louis    Julian Somers as Licasi, maître d'    George Pastell as Jaco Spina    Eric Pohlmann as Arturo Colonna    Enzo Coticchia as Angelo Colonna, Arturo’s brother    Hal Osmond as the stable groom    Percy Marmont as Lord Willens-Hortland, Susan and Peter’s father    Anthony Ireland as Richard Farning, the Willens’s investment partner

Distributed by Lippert Pictures (United States), Exclusive Films (United Kingdom)    Produced by Hammer Film Productions

No comments:

Post a Comment