Independent Exhibitors Film Bulletin (Sep 1935 - Aug 1936)

2 INDEPENDENT EXHIBITOR 'FILM BULLETIN' AWAKENING THE 'SLEEPERS' By WoSfe-Smith "DON'T GAMBLE WBTH LOVE" . . Columbia . . 64 Minutes Bruce Cabot . . Ann Sothern . . Irving Pichei . . Ian Keith "Ten bucks on the red . . . ten bucks on the red . . . okay mister, put it on the line . . . who else goes on the red . . . place your bets folks, somebody's gotta win.'1 The click of the chips, the whir of the roulette wheel as it spinned the little suicidal ball crazily around the numbers before settling itself in one of the tellall grooves, the hiss of escaping breath from the players as each bet was won or lost . . . the click and rattle of the dice on a far table . . . the whispering shuffle of the cards as they doled out spasmodic thrills to a hungry-eyed circle of faces, mingled with the perfume of gorgeously gowned, near-nude bodies, cigarette smoke and champagne, plus the un-natural tenseness of the "smart-money-boys" created an atmosphere of insane suspended motion. Something was going to happen! The games feverishly progressed . . . Winning . . . losing . . . winning . . . losing in an ever constant register as though some gaunt automaton giant sat cross-legged in judgment and jerkily pointed here, there, here, there, "You lose . . . you lose . . . you lose . . . you win . . . you lose . . . you lose . . . lose . . . lose . . . lose! !" From this poisonous atmosphere there arose like a white streak of light in a black room, a scream followed by a shower of shots barked from a dozen automatics . . . Hoarse cries . . . smashing glass, wrecked tables . . . HELL BROKE LOOSE IN JERRY EDWARDS' JOINT-! From here on boyiss, we're gonna cool down a little of the enthusiasm this feature has aroused in our manly and hairy chest, and try to be logical in telling you how to dig into "DON'T GAMBLE WITH LOVE" so it means dough to you at the till. This isn't a "Crime Doesn't Pay" weeper wherein the hero emerges lily-white and cleansed of his sins to return to his patient and faithful wife and adoring cheeild, but it does attack a vicious angle that has plenty of guts. Jerry Edwards (Bruce Cabot) runs a gambling joint which is on the upandup . . . He's married to luscious Ann (Ann Sothern) . . . They have a baby . . . They decide that it wouldn't be fair to the kid if it was raised in an atmosphere of gambl ing, etc., etc. . . Soooooo, he quits the rackets and enters into legitimate business. This so-called legitimate enterprise develops into a smart swindle of investors . . . THeV get away with it because of the apparent respectability of a business firm well set up . . . The swindling sorta gets Jerry and after his partners "take" him too, he decides that he was in a cleaner racket before he went respectable . . . Only now, he reasons, he'll open a joint that "takes" and takes plenty. He does . . . He's muscled in on . . . His family breaks up . . . His joint is torn limb from limb, as plenty happens in rapid fire logical progression. Don't get the idea that this is a shoot 'em up thriller that's made only to the order of action houses . . . It's action, sure enough, but the type of action that applies to any sort of operation. If you have a shoot 'em up operation, dig into the gangster-gambling angle and hoke it up for all it's worth. If you have a good church going patronage tear down the evils of gambling and build up the "Crime Doesn't Pay" angle. In any event regardless of the psalm-singers, they all love something with plenty of guts and action. If some people didn't have anything to squawk about they'd be miserable, so don't be afraid of stepping on anyone's toes . . . The picture has plenty that points a moral, a good home loving guy in spite of his business, a beautiful dame who's a mother and dramatic action that unreels itself because of logical story structure rather than because some director suddenly decided that what the picture needed was action and rehashed an impossible yarn so he could splice in a little gun-play. REMEMBER BRUCE CABOT, who plays the part of the gambler recently scored all over the country in "Show Them No Mercy" and "Let 'Em Have It." Recall these two gangster roles if you're selling to action fans. Ann Sothern, who plays the gambler's wife, is an armful that's plenty decorative and talented. She's done plenty of stuff and has a real following. The remainder of the cast may not mean so cock-eyed much to you as names, but they all turn in swell performances . . . Irving Pichei is an old timer and knows what it's all about . . . Ian Keith is another veteran of the stage and screen, recently having scored in "The Crusades," besides having an imposing list of other major pictures to his credit. (Continued on page 6)