The scenario, rather banal, is bought by the splendors of the sets and the costumes as well as by the beauty of the photography. This movie won't remain permanently in our memory, but it can be seen without displeasure. Is it a Western or not a western? Definitely not western! The gentleman from Louisiana is rather the protagonist of a melodrama with a background of amorous imbroglio: he loves a woman who cannot love him and he doesn't like the woman who loves him... What a dilemma... At the helm was Rudolph Maté, who had been master cinematographer for more than 25 years serving great directors like Carl Theodor Dreyer, Alexander Korda, Alfred Hitchcock and Orson Welles. He directed thirty films in all genres, of which Death on arrival (DOA) was definitely his best achievement.
Review of The Mississippi Gambler
The Mississippi Gambler
(1953)
Louisiana story: an Americana saga definitely far from Flahertiana
24 November 2019