The 1930 'Street of Chance' (no relation to a 1942 semi-noir with the same title) is a highly entertaining showcase for the excellent William Powell. Unfortunately, the central character (Powell's role) is one of those implausible stock characters who are encountered so frequently in movies but so seldom in real life. Powell is cast here as 'Natural' Davis, a professional gambler who is always scrupulously honest ... yet who is able to live in luxury because he consistently wins high-stakes games. Even more insufferably (and implausibly), this guy moves effortlessly through the criminal underworld (even though he's completely honest, mind you), and he has the undying respect of all the big-shot gangsters AND all the police detectives. Oh, yes. There may be a very few gamblers like this in real life, but not many ... and yet they show up in movies all the time. George M. Cohan played a similar version of this implausible role in 'Gambling', his last starring film. Powell's characterisation in 'Street of Chance' is made even more annoying (and more implausible) because he's clearly based on a real-life figure who WAS a crook: Arnold Rothstein, the playboy who made millions as a gambler precisely because he was NOT honest. Most infamously, Rothstein was the man who fixed the 1919 World Series which produced the Chicago 'Black Sox' scandal.
'Natural' Davis (Powell) is a high-roller who bets thousands on the turn of a card ... but he's such an inveterate gambler, he lays odds on every possible happenstance. When we first see him in Times Square, he's casually making book on whether the next car that stops for a traffic light will have an odd or even number plate. (He wins, of course.) Nowadays, we recognise this sort of behaviour as a pathological gambling addiction, but in this film we're meant to admire Davis for always taking chances and winning. There's some very impressive location shooting in Manhattan during these early scenes.
'Natural' Davis is made even more insufferable by yet another cliché: this guy is worth millions, but -- to show us that he's a 'regular' guy -- there's a scene in which Davis takes time for friendly banter with Tony, the local crippled newsboy. Tony is played by a young man with no right arm and no acting ability, yet he still fits all the crippled-newsboy stereotypes: he wears a flat cap, and every edition of the newspaper prompts him to yell 'Extree! Extree!' (Did any real-life newsboy ever actually say 'Extree'?) Davis is always honest, but he knows all the angles: he gives a bankroll to a guy with a hard-luck story, but carefully plants his own thumbprint on the banknotes ... so that later he can catch the guy out, when the money is misspent.
Davis's wife Alma is played by Kay Francis, a very mannered actress who has always annoyed me with her speech impediment and her raccoonish eye makeup. She had an arch habit of frequently planting one hand akimbo, very high up on her waist (not her hip), and she repeats that here. Davis and Alma were in love once, but now they've come to a tough patch.
SPOILERS COMING. Along comes a Midwestern yokel named 'Babe' Marsden, a newlywed with a nice wife named Judith (Jean Arthur, wasted in a small bland role). Babe's older brother John gave him $10,000 as a wedding present; instead of banking that money, Babe went gambling in California and parlayed the money into $50,000. Babe is determined to be a high-rolling gambler. He's heard about the great 'Natural' Davis ... and now Babe has come to Manhattan, intending to beat Davis at the card tables. Surprise, surprise! 'Natural' Davis is actually Babe's older brother John, conducting his gambling activities under a false name. (We're constantly hearing dialogue about how scrupulously honest this Davis geezer is, so why does he use an alias?)
John/"Natural" doesn't want Babe to become a gambler like himself, apparently feeling that Babe isn't cut out for it. To teach Babe a lesson, he agrees to play against him in a high-stakes poker game, clearly intending to win Babe's money and send him home skint. John gives Babe fair warning: 'I don't want to hear any "brother" stuff.'
MORE SPOILERS NOW. 'Natural' Davis invites some gangsters to sit in on the poker game, and he stakes them to some of his own bankroll, telling them in advance that his intention is to clean out Babe. (All in a good cause, of course.) But the game goes Babe's way, with Babe taking the pot. In desperation, Davis deals cards from the bottom of the deck ... cheating so that Babe will lose. (We keep hearing dialogue about how totally honest Davis is ... so how come he just happens to be skillful at crooked card deals?) Babe learns his lesson and goes home with his wife, remarking on the train to Hickburg about what a wonderful guy his brother John is ... not realising that John is dead, because the gangsters caught him out cheating and they took him 'for a ride'.
I found this ending utterly implausible. We keep hearing thick-ear dialogue about how all the gangsters respect Davis, and how he has an impeccable reputation for honesty. Why didn't he warn the crooks in advance that he was planning to beat Babe by fair means or foul, and promise to reimburse the crooks for any stakes they lost in the process?
Despite its faults and its very many clichés, 'Street of Chance' is extremely well directed by the underrated John Cromwell (who also plays a small role as a plainclothes officer), and the editing and photography are splendid. I'll rate this movie 7 out of 10.
'Natural' Davis (Powell) is a high-roller who bets thousands on the turn of a card ... but he's such an inveterate gambler, he lays odds on every possible happenstance. When we first see him in Times Square, he's casually making book on whether the next car that stops for a traffic light will have an odd or even number plate. (He wins, of course.) Nowadays, we recognise this sort of behaviour as a pathological gambling addiction, but in this film we're meant to admire Davis for always taking chances and winning. There's some very impressive location shooting in Manhattan during these early scenes.
'Natural' Davis is made even more insufferable by yet another cliché: this guy is worth millions, but -- to show us that he's a 'regular' guy -- there's a scene in which Davis takes time for friendly banter with Tony, the local crippled newsboy. Tony is played by a young man with no right arm and no acting ability, yet he still fits all the crippled-newsboy stereotypes: he wears a flat cap, and every edition of the newspaper prompts him to yell 'Extree! Extree!' (Did any real-life newsboy ever actually say 'Extree'?) Davis is always honest, but he knows all the angles: he gives a bankroll to a guy with a hard-luck story, but carefully plants his own thumbprint on the banknotes ... so that later he can catch the guy out, when the money is misspent.
Davis's wife Alma is played by Kay Francis, a very mannered actress who has always annoyed me with her speech impediment and her raccoonish eye makeup. She had an arch habit of frequently planting one hand akimbo, very high up on her waist (not her hip), and she repeats that here. Davis and Alma were in love once, but now they've come to a tough patch.
SPOILERS COMING. Along comes a Midwestern yokel named 'Babe' Marsden, a newlywed with a nice wife named Judith (Jean Arthur, wasted in a small bland role). Babe's older brother John gave him $10,000 as a wedding present; instead of banking that money, Babe went gambling in California and parlayed the money into $50,000. Babe is determined to be a high-rolling gambler. He's heard about the great 'Natural' Davis ... and now Babe has come to Manhattan, intending to beat Davis at the card tables. Surprise, surprise! 'Natural' Davis is actually Babe's older brother John, conducting his gambling activities under a false name. (We're constantly hearing dialogue about how scrupulously honest this Davis geezer is, so why does he use an alias?)
John/"Natural" doesn't want Babe to become a gambler like himself, apparently feeling that Babe isn't cut out for it. To teach Babe a lesson, he agrees to play against him in a high-stakes poker game, clearly intending to win Babe's money and send him home skint. John gives Babe fair warning: 'I don't want to hear any "brother" stuff.'
MORE SPOILERS NOW. 'Natural' Davis invites some gangsters to sit in on the poker game, and he stakes them to some of his own bankroll, telling them in advance that his intention is to clean out Babe. (All in a good cause, of course.) But the game goes Babe's way, with Babe taking the pot. In desperation, Davis deals cards from the bottom of the deck ... cheating so that Babe will lose. (We keep hearing dialogue about how totally honest Davis is ... so how come he just happens to be skillful at crooked card deals?) Babe learns his lesson and goes home with his wife, remarking on the train to Hickburg about what a wonderful guy his brother John is ... not realising that John is dead, because the gangsters caught him out cheating and they took him 'for a ride'.
I found this ending utterly implausible. We keep hearing thick-ear dialogue about how all the gangsters respect Davis, and how he has an impeccable reputation for honesty. Why didn't he warn the crooks in advance that he was planning to beat Babe by fair means or foul, and promise to reimburse the crooks for any stakes they lost in the process?
Despite its faults and its very many clichés, 'Street of Chance' is extremely well directed by the underrated John Cromwell (who also plays a small role as a plainclothes officer), and the editing and photography are splendid. I'll rate this movie 7 out of 10.