Gambling
Cast & Crew
Rowland V. Lee
George M. Cohan
Wynne Gibson
Dorothy Burgess
Theodore Newton
Harold Healy
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
When Park Avenue casino owner Al Draper goes to the docks to meet his adopted daughter Gene, who is returning home from her Parisian boarding school, he is stunned to receive a letter from her stating that she has fallen in love with a man she met on the boat and is eloping with him. Aware that the man, Ray Braddock, is a notorious playboy, Al asks Inspector Freelock, a vice detective who has pursued Al unsuccessfully for years but who nonetheless respects the gambler, to conduct a quiet investigation of Braddock and the two women who came to the docks to meet him. Al, meanwhile, invites the women, Dorothy Kane and Maizie Fuller, to his house in order to question them about Braddock, and is surprised when Dorothy, a singer, shows up with Braddock. Braddock announces that because he and Dorothy were unofficially engaged prior to his sailing, he and Gene both agreed to postpone their wedding until Dorothy had been apprised of their impending marriage. After Dorothy calmly accepts Braddock's rejection, Inspector Freelock arrives and reveals that Gene has been found dead in her hotel room. Braddock is arrested for her murder but is later acquitted in court. Al, however, is determined to discover his daughter's killer and gambles that Dorothy and Maizie are the keys to solving the mystery. To that end, Al begins a flirtation with gold digger Maizie, while also romancing Dorothy. He also writes to the reclusive Braddock and invites him to drop by one night. While chatting with Braddock, Al reveals that he has talked to Dorothy recently and is not surprised when he later discovers Braddock at Dorothy's apartment. A distraught Dorothy cries in Al's arms after Braddock leaves, prompting Al, who has genuinely fallen in love with her, to propose. After Dorothy sadly confesses that she is already married, Al looks up her marriage certificate and discovers that she married Braddock before his trip to Europe. Armed with this evidence, Al then arranges for Freelock to raid his casino while Dorothy and Maizie are there, and the two women are arrested as part of the raid. Al then visits Braddock and tells him that he suspects that Dorothy killed Gene in a jealous raid and that she has been arrested. Finally overcome with guilt, Braddock confesses that he accidentally killed Gene when she threatened to leave him after he told her about his marriage to Dorothy. Out of loyalty, Braddock says, Dorothy perjured herself for him. After securing a promise from Braddock that he will turn himself in to the police, Al returns to Dorothy and Maizie and later learns that Braddock died in a shootout with police. The now vindicated Dorothy then leaves for a drive with Al.
Director
Rowland V. Lee
Cast
George M. Cohan
Wynne Gibson
Dorothy Burgess
Theodore Newton
Harold Healy
Walter Gilbert
Cora Witherspoon
Joseph Allen
Percy Ames
Six Spirits Of Rhythm
Dave Morris
E. J. Devarney
Robert Strange
John T. Doyle
Fred Miller
Hunter Gardner
Katherine Standing
Crew
John W. Butler
Hattie Carnegie
George M. Cohan
Frank Cravet
Willon Fieldz
Harold B. Franklin
Lee Frederic
Garrett Graham
Bernard Hanighen
Jaeckels
Sam Levitt
Jack Mackenzie
Johnny Mercer
Joe Nadel
Clark Robinson
Joe Ruttenberg
Herman Serena
Frank Tours
C. A. Tuthill
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
This film is believed lost. Please check your attic.
Notes
George M. Cohan also starred in the stage version of his play. According to publicity items, Cohan wrote the song "My Little Girl" for the picture. Although Film Daily announced that this was to be the first of three pictures made by Harold B. Franklin for Fox release, no evidence that theater manager Franklin produced any other films has been found. Hollywood Reporter production charts list Bella and Sam Spewack as the original story writers, but this credit is probably an error. In a Film Daily news item, Sam Levitt and Joe Nadel are mentioned as participating in the shooting of the picture, but their exact jobs are not specified. Location shooting was done at the Olympic liner docks, according to Film Daily. The exact location of these docks has not been determined. Film Daily also notes that the film's trailer was being produced by National Screen Service and was to be directed by Rowland V. Lee. Hollywood Reporter production charts and a Film Daily news item add Sidney Blackmer, Robert Haines, Frank Jaquet and Frank Dae to the cast, but their participation in the final film has not been confirmed. Publicity items note that the Six Spirits of Rhythm performed at the Onyx Club in New York City and that Hattie Carnegie was a famous New York modiste.
