This light drama and love story is based on a pulp fiction novel by Val Lewton, "No Bed of Her Own." Lewton was a successful producer, screenwriter and writer who died at age 46 from a heart attack. He is most known for his horror films, but he contributed extensively to screenplays for some major films, including "Gone With the Wind."
Clark Gable and Carole Lombard are cast in their only film together – a few years before they would marry. When this movie was made in 1932, they were married to their second and first spouses, respectively.
This story is something of a morality tale. Gable's Babe Stewart is a card shyster who operates a fixed poker game with partners who fleece an occasional rich man. The law is on his trail, but Detective Dickie Collins (played by J. Farrell MacDonald) can't get the goods on Babe because none of his victims will talk. The patsies taken to the cleaners can all afford to lose the $4,000 or $5,000 in each game. And, the partners run such a smooth operation that their victims never suspect they've been cheated. The only way they find out is when Collins tells them about it on the phone. He stakes out Babe's place and watches who comes and goes, then calls the victims and tells them the routine. But, Babe knows that the rich guys won't file complaints because they don't want the publicity.
After one particular game, the female member of the group, Kay Everly (played by Dorothy Mackaill) is upset because she's no longer Babe's moll. Babe is worried she may go to Collins, so he decides to skip town for a while. He winds up in the town of Glendale. We don't know where that is, but it must be some distance from New York by an overnight train ride. (The only Glendale in NY is in Queens, but the fictitious Glendale of this film would have been at least 600 miles from New York City based on the speed of train travel in the early 1930s.) There he meets the city librarian, Connie Randall (played by Carole Lombard). She's just been itching to leave her small town.
The two fall for each other, but she won't be taken advantage of. On the toss of a coin, he agrees to marry her. They head for New York, and after a time Connie becomes aware of Babe's game. By now the two are deeply in love. When he decides to go to South America with his two buddies, Charlie Vane (Grant Mitchell) and Vargas (Paul Ellis), Connie tells him that she'll be waiting for him. She gives him a pep talk that he's more than a card shark, and that he can be so much more. She loves him and he loves her.
He has an idea from that and his plans change. You'll have to watch the movie to see the rest. It's very worthwhile. This is a nice story of love and redemption. As I watched the end of this film, I thought of how any other woman might have reacted – either going along with the cheating operation, or complaining and scolding Babe. But, Connie bared her soul and love for the guy. And, that led to a change and the end of this movie with a warm and humorous touch.
All of the cast are very good. This is a good film that doesn't celebrate dishonesty and cheating, or elevate the perpetrators. Instead, it shows the effect real love can have in shaping lives. It may not have started out that way – in the minds of the producers, but it's a good morality tale with a happy ending. Justice is served up nicely.
Clark Gable and Carole Lombard are cast in their only film together – a few years before they would marry. When this movie was made in 1932, they were married to their second and first spouses, respectively.
This story is something of a morality tale. Gable's Babe Stewart is a card shyster who operates a fixed poker game with partners who fleece an occasional rich man. The law is on his trail, but Detective Dickie Collins (played by J. Farrell MacDonald) can't get the goods on Babe because none of his victims will talk. The patsies taken to the cleaners can all afford to lose the $4,000 or $5,000 in each game. And, the partners run such a smooth operation that their victims never suspect they've been cheated. The only way they find out is when Collins tells them about it on the phone. He stakes out Babe's place and watches who comes and goes, then calls the victims and tells them the routine. But, Babe knows that the rich guys won't file complaints because they don't want the publicity.
After one particular game, the female member of the group, Kay Everly (played by Dorothy Mackaill) is upset because she's no longer Babe's moll. Babe is worried she may go to Collins, so he decides to skip town for a while. He winds up in the town of Glendale. We don't know where that is, but it must be some distance from New York by an overnight train ride. (The only Glendale in NY is in Queens, but the fictitious Glendale of this film would have been at least 600 miles from New York City based on the speed of train travel in the early 1930s.) There he meets the city librarian, Connie Randall (played by Carole Lombard). She's just been itching to leave her small town.
The two fall for each other, but she won't be taken advantage of. On the toss of a coin, he agrees to marry her. They head for New York, and after a time Connie becomes aware of Babe's game. By now the two are deeply in love. When he decides to go to South America with his two buddies, Charlie Vane (Grant Mitchell) and Vargas (Paul Ellis), Connie tells him that she'll be waiting for him. She gives him a pep talk that he's more than a card shark, and that he can be so much more. She loves him and he loves her.
He has an idea from that and his plans change. You'll have to watch the movie to see the rest. It's very worthwhile. This is a nice story of love and redemption. As I watched the end of this film, I thought of how any other woman might have reacted – either going along with the cheating operation, or complaining and scolding Babe. But, Connie bared her soul and love for the guy. And, that led to a change and the end of this movie with a warm and humorous touch.
All of the cast are very good. This is a good film that doesn't celebrate dishonesty and cheating, or elevate the perpetrators. Instead, it shows the effect real love can have in shaping lives. It may not have started out that way – in the minds of the producers, but it's a good morality tale with a happy ending. Justice is served up nicely.