Another entry in the Mill Creek Entertainment collection of 'Cult Classics', a neat compilation of twenty films from the 1930's focusing on exploitation flicks that sidestepped the Hays Code to offer scenes of sexual titillation or the evils of substance abuse. "Gambling With Souls" falls in the former category, telling the story of a married woman gone wrong by virtue of going after the finer things in life. I actually found it to be one of the better stories in the set I have with only a couple pictures left to see.
One of the things I just don't get from movies of the era is the disregard for real time events as presented to the viewer. The story opens with a stunner, 'Beauty Kills Lucky Wilder' the headlines proclaim, as we see a montage of newspaper stories devoted to the raid on a local gambling club. Assuming that it took at least some time to put out a newspaper, it would seem that Mae Miller's (Martha Chapin) husband would know about it before arriving at the district attorney's office during her interrogation in an early scene.
Overall, the story is a pretty grim affair, as Mae, and then her sister Carolyn (Gay Sheridan) get sucked into a spate of gambling losses leading to prostitution to pay off their debts. It's all pretty sordid, with a momentary break of comic relief offered by the guy with the hat bit who's too much of a rube to realize that he's being suckered. The biggest kick I got though was the quick flash of a byline acclaiming Dr. John Miller's (Robert Frazer) 'New Technique for Brain Surgery'! What??!!
I guess you have to put critical viewing aside and just relax to take in a film like this. The fun is more in seeing how things were done in a simpler time than in paying close attention to the story. I couldn't help noticing the resemblance between actress Martha Chapin and Britney Spears, perhaps a cautionary warning from seventy years ago that history is doomed to repeat itself. Seriously, if you enjoy this kind of stuff, or just want to sample a handful, I recommend that Mill Creek DVD set. Just remember, it's not brain surgery.
One of the things I just don't get from movies of the era is the disregard for real time events as presented to the viewer. The story opens with a stunner, 'Beauty Kills Lucky Wilder' the headlines proclaim, as we see a montage of newspaper stories devoted to the raid on a local gambling club. Assuming that it took at least some time to put out a newspaper, it would seem that Mae Miller's (Martha Chapin) husband would know about it before arriving at the district attorney's office during her interrogation in an early scene.
Overall, the story is a pretty grim affair, as Mae, and then her sister Carolyn (Gay Sheridan) get sucked into a spate of gambling losses leading to prostitution to pay off their debts. It's all pretty sordid, with a momentary break of comic relief offered by the guy with the hat bit who's too much of a rube to realize that he's being suckered. The biggest kick I got though was the quick flash of a byline acclaiming Dr. John Miller's (Robert Frazer) 'New Technique for Brain Surgery'! What??!!
I guess you have to put critical viewing aside and just relax to take in a film like this. The fun is more in seeing how things were done in a simpler time than in paying close attention to the story. I couldn't help noticing the resemblance between actress Martha Chapin and Britney Spears, perhaps a cautionary warning from seventy years ago that history is doomed to repeat itself. Seriously, if you enjoy this kind of stuff, or just want to sample a handful, I recommend that Mill Creek DVD set. Just remember, it's not brain surgery.