Gambling House
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Ted Tetzlaff
Victor Mature
Terry Moore
William Bendix
Zachary A. Charles
Basil Ruysdael
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Having been shot and wounded by racketeer Joe Farrow during a crooked craps game, New York gambler Marc Fury is questioned by homicide detectives investigating the death of another player, who was murdered during the same confrontation. Marc's wound makes him a suspect, and although he knows that Farrow shot him in order to frame him, he reluctantly accepts Farrow's offer to stand trial for the murder in exchange for $50,000. During the trial, Marc, who is pleading self-defense, demands his money from Farrow. When Farrow instead writes him an I.O.U., Marc grabs the racketeers' numbers book and threatens to turn it over to the police if Farrow reneges on their deal. Helped by Farrow's false testimony, Marc is then acquitted, but is immediately arrested by federal authorities and taken to the Office of Immigration and Naturalization. Before being questioned, Marc slips Farrow's book into the pocket of a passing woman. Marc, whose real name is Marcus Furioni, then is informed that he is not a United States citizen, as his Italian parents never filed naturalization papers, and now faces deportation as an undesirable illegal alien. After Marc is sent temporarily to Ellis Island, Farrow and his lawyer approach him again, offering to help him in exchange for the book. Reminding Farrow that he stills owes him $50,000, Marc stalls Farrow, then discovers the identity of the woman from the Immigration Office, Lynn Warren, and tracks her to the Federated Assistance League. The daughter of a prominent lawyer, Lynn, who helps recently arrived immigrants, is cool to Marc but allows him to accompany her as she drives the Sobieski family to their new apartment. When Lynn reveals that the Sobieskis have lost their sponsor and may be deported if they fail to find another, Marc, who is attracted to Lynn, suggests that a gambler friend of his might sponsor them. At her posh home, Lynn returns Farrow's book to Marc and, while wary of his aggressive charms, accepts his kiss. Later, during Marc's immigration hearing, Farrow's lawyer pleads Marc's case by pointing out his excellent war record. Not convinced, Judge Revinek invites Marc to speak for himself and is startled when Marc states that he does not know why he wants to stay in America, but knows he does. After the judge gives Marc a few days to come up with an answer, Marc tries again to retrieve his $50,000. Claiming financial hardship, Farrow instead offers to make Marc his partner, but Marc rejects the idea and refuses to return his book. Farrow then orders Sharky and some of his other thugs to follow Marc to Lynn's apartment, and there they beat him up while searching for the book. Although Lynn begs Marc not to take revenge on Farrow, Marc plots with his friend Willie to ambush the racketeer at his New Jersey casino. Before leaving, Marc goes with Lynn to see the Sobieskis, who are being deported because Marc's friend fell through as a sponsor. Lynn sadly tells Marc that the only way to stop their deportation is with money. That night at Farrow's casino, an armed Marc forces Farrow to pay him his $50,000, then flees with an unsuspecting Lynn. When the police stop Lynn's car to question her about the casino "robbery," Lynn lies for Marc but later decries his tactics. After a teary Lynn reads Marc a Thomas Wolfe poem about the "promise of America," Marc asks Willie to deposit the $50,000 under a phony name and write a check made out to Lynn for the same amount, which she is to pass on to the Sobieskis. Marc then delivers a heartfelt, patriotic speech at his immigration hearing, paraphrasing the Wolfe poem. Lynn is moved by Marc's transformation, and Judge Revinek rules in his favor. Afterward, the vengeful Farrow has Sharky and his men watch Marc's movements, and aware that he is being pursued, Marc tells Lynn to forget him. In front of Sharky, Marc then accuses Farrow of using his men as "fall guys" for his misdeeds, and when Farrow orders Sharky to shoot Marc, Sharky fires on Farrow instead. Having been alerted by Willie, the police roar up and arrest Sharky as he is escaping, and Marc, at last free of his past, walks off into the night.
Director
Ted Tetzlaff
Cast
Victor Mature
Terry Moore
William Bendix
Zachary A. Charles
Basil Ruysdael
Donald Randolph
Damian O'flynn
Cleo Moore
Ann Doran
Eleanor Audley
Gloria Winters
Don Haggerty
William E. Green
Jack Kruschen
Robert Cornthwaite
Eddy Fields
Don Gazzaniga
Barry Brooks
Victor Paul
Guy Zanette
Joseph Rogato
George Navarro
Emilia Rivera
Stephan Chase
G. Pat Collins
Tol Avery
Kirk Alyn
William Challee
Robert St. Angelo
Jack Stoney
Clark Howat
Jack Shea
Norman Field
Roland Jones
Betty Underwood
Sherry Hall
Edward Clark
Suzi Crandall
W. J. O'brien
Vera Stokes
Delphine Hruby
Loda Halama
Leonidas Ossetynski
Homer Dickinson
Forrest Burns
Al Murphy
Stanley Price
Art Dupuis
Gregg Barton
Gordon Wynne
Tony Merrill
Bert Moorehouse
Chester Jones
Karl Davis
Carl Sklover
Crew
C. Bakaleinikoff
Mel Berns
Marvin Borowsky
Phil Brigandi
Mary Jane Carey
Albert S. D'agostino
Warren Duff
Warren Duff
Erwin Gelsey
Larry Germain
Roland Gross
Alfred Herman
Frank Mcwhorter
Jack Mills
Clem Portman
Lloyd Richards
Allen Rivkin
Sid Rogell
Darrell Silvera
Robert St. Angelo
A. Thompson
Leo Tover
Roy Webb
Harry J. Wild
Michael Woulfe
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The working titles of this film were Alias Mike Fury, Alias Marc Fury, Walk Softly, Stranger and Mr. Whiskers. Walk Softly, Stranger was also the release title of an unrelated 1950 RKO picture. The passage quoted in the film comes from the last paragraph of the Thomas Wolfe poem "The Promise of America," published in his book You Can't Go Home Again (New York, 1940): "So, then, to every man his chance/to every man, regardless of his birth, his shining golden opportunity/to every man the right to live, to work, to be himself, and to become whatever thing his manhood and his vision can combine to make him/this, seeker, is the promise of America."
According to documents in the RKO Production Files at the UCLA Arts-Special Collections Library, the studio acquired Erwin Gelsey's unpublished short story in the early 1940s. Over the ensuing years, a number of writers worked on drafts of the screenplay, including Samuel Fuller. According to a Hollywood Reporter news item, Twentieth Century-Fox temporarily suspended Victor Mature when Mature failed to report for work on Gambling House, claiming the role was "not suitable for him." RKO borrowed Mature from Twentieth Century-Fox for the production, Terry Moore from Columbia Pictures and William Bendix from Hal Roach Studios. Leonidas Ossetynski, who plays "Mr. Sobieski" in the picture, was a former Polish prince and stage actor, and Loda Halama, who plays "Mrs. Sobieski," was a former star of the Warsaw Ballet, according to a Hollywood Reporter news item. Some modern sources refer to this film as a remake of the 1943 RKO release Mr. Lucky, but the two pictures, though similarly themed, are not related.
