By Richard Harland Smith
Wine, Women and Horses
Brief Synopsis
A reformed gambler risks his marriage when he returns to the betting table.
Cast & Crew
Read More
Louis King
Director
Barton Maclane
Jim Turner
Ann Sheridan
Valerie
Dick Purcell
George Mayhew
Peggy Bates
Marjorie Mayhew
Walter Cassell
Pres. Barrow
Film Details
Also Known As
Lady Luck
Genre
Drama
Adventure
Release Date
Sep
11,
1937
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc.
Distribution Company
Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc.
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
Based on the novel Dark Hazard by W. R. Burnett (New York, l933).
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 4m
Film Length
8 reels
Synopsis
Gambler Jim Turner successfully bets on the horse races, but by the end of the day he has lost everything. His old friend Valerie offers to buy him a meal, but he turns her down and hops a train to Barrowville, a small midwestern town. There he joins some men betting on horse shoes and beats local champ, George Mayhew. When he learns that the Mayhew family is so poor that they take in boarders, he searches out George and returns the $20 he won from him. While they are talking, George's mother and sister Marge arrive with Pres. Barrow, a well-to-do young man, and, attracted to Marge, Jim decides to rent a room from them. Jim and Marge start dating, although she is opposed to gambling. He agrees to find a job in Chicago and give up horses if she will marry him. After their marriage, Jim finds work as the night manager at the Hotel Northland, where he attracts the attention of Mr. Bright by winning $300 in a craps game. Bright offers him a job in California looking after his race horses. Jim accepts but Marge is unhappy with his decision. She dislikes the friends Jim has at the track and fears he will take up his old ways. One night he goes on a gambling spree with Valerie and wins $20,000. Marge leaves him and during the following year, Jim loses his money again. Meanwhile, Pres. courts Marge, who has moved back to Barrowville, even though she still has not divorced Jim. Passing through Barrowville, Jim accidentally runs into Marge, and she agrees to give him another chance, but when he brings home an injured race horse, Lady Luck, which he has bought, she reveals her love for Pres. Jim returns to the track and marries Valerie. His horse regains her health and when he starts to win races, Valerie takes charge of the winnings.
Director
Louis King
Director
Cast
Barton Maclane
Jim Turner
Ann Sheridan
Valerie
Dick Purcell
George Mayhew
Peggy Bates
Marjorie Mayhew
Walter Cassell
Pres. Barrow
Lottie Williams
Mrs. Mayhew
Kenneth Harlan
Bright
Charles Foy
Broadway
Eugene Jackson
Eight Ball
James Robbins
Joe
Crew
Film Details
Also Known As
Lady Luck
Genre
Drama
Adventure
Release Date
Sep
11,
1937
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc.
Distribution Company
Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc.
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
Based on the novel Dark Hazard by W. R. Burnett (New York, l933).
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 4m
Film Length
8 reels
Articles
Wine, Women, and Horses
Warner Brothers' Wine, Women and Horses (1937) is based on the 1933 novel Dark Hazard, a best seller and Book of the Month Club selection by W. R. Burnett. His straight job as a clerk in a seedy Chicago hotel had given aspiring writer William Riley Burnett keen insights into the minds of criminals and their known associates - particularly professional gamblers. Burnett's novels Little Caesar, High Sierra, and The Asphalt Jungle were all adapted by Hollywood into classic crime films. Warner Brothers-First National had first tapped Dark Hazard for adaptation in 1934, at a time when the Great Depression had created among moviegoers a demand for tales of easy winnings and big payoffs. With Little Caesar star Edward G. Robinson in the lead, the film remained faithful to Burnett's dog track setting while Wine, Women and Horses orders up a venue change in favor of the fillies. (The Hollywood-adjacent Santa Anita Race Track can also be seen in such films as A Day at the Races [1937], The Story of Seabiscuit [1949] and A Star Is Born [1954].) Movie tough guy Barton MacLane has the Robinson role, a big winner down on his luck who scores a second chance in life with marriage to small town girl Peggy Bates - who despises gambling in all its forms. Will MacLane's love for the action entice him back to a life predicated on chance? Of course it well, especially with lady gambler Ann Sheridan pointing the way.
By Richard Harland Smith
By Richard Harland Smith
Wine, Women, and Horses
Warner Brothers' Wine, Women and Horses (1937) is based on the 1933 novel Dark Hazard, a best seller and Book of the Month Club selection by W. R. Burnett. His straight job as a clerk in a seedy Chicago hotel had given aspiring writer William Riley Burnett keen insights into the minds of criminals and their known associates - particularly professional gamblers. Burnett's novels Little Caesar, High Sierra, and The Asphalt Jungle were all adapted by Hollywood into classic crime films. Warner Brothers-First National had first tapped Dark Hazard for adaptation in 1934, at a time when the Great Depression had created among moviegoers a demand for tales of easy winnings and big payoffs. With Little Caesar star Edward G. Robinson in the lead, the film remained faithful to Burnett's dog track setting while Wine, Women and Horses orders up a venue change in favor of the fillies. (The Hollywood-adjacent Santa Anita Race Track can also be seen in such films as A Day at the Races [1937], The Story of Seabiscuit [1949] and A Star Is Born [1954].) Movie tough guy Barton MacLane has the Robinson role, a big winner down on his luck who scores a second chance in life with marriage to small town girl Peggy Bates - who despises gambling in all its forms. Will MacLane's love for the action entice him back to a life predicated on chance? Of course it well, especially with lady gambler Ann Sheridan pointing the way.
By Richard Harland Smith
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The film's working title was Lady Luck. It was a remake of the 1932 Warner Bros. film Dark Hazard.
