wes-connors After he is apparently shot and hit by a car, we meet shady Dane Clark (as Jim Forster). An American in London, Mr. Clark operates a successful gambling casino. Clark served three years in prison because he got "crazy drunk" and beat a man to death. He would like to be accepted in polite society, but Clark still has a temper. He also talks like a Warner Brothers movie gangster, which doesn't help in "manners school." Clark decides to end his affair with common nightclub dancer Kathleen Byron (as Pat) and get intimate with classy socialite Naomi Chance (as Susan Willens). Underworld types give Clark a hard time...Writer Sam Newfield delivers some interesting characters here, especially upper-crust Anthony Forwood (as Peter Willens), who could be a con-man, and mean-looking henchman Meredith Edwards (as Dave Davies), who has a devilish haircut. Still, the production is weak. The women should be more interesting, but are late and sketchy. It would have been nice to see more of both Ms. Byron and Ms. Chance. Byron could easily have been in more of the early scenes, to establish her upfront as Clark's precarious moll. The opening turns out to be a teaser; later in the film, we get see who wanted Clark dead. Sadly, you may not care.***** The Gambler and the Lady (12/26/52) Sam Newfield ~ Dane Clark, Naomi Chance, Anthony Forwood, Meredith Edwards

Spikeopath The Gambler and the Lady is directed by Patrick Jenkins and Sam Newfield, the latter of which also writing the screenplay. It stars Dane Clark, Kathleen Byron, Naomi Chance, Meredith Edwards, Anthony Forwood and Eric Pohlmann. Music is by Ivor Stanley and cinematography by Walter J. Harvey.Clark plays Jim Forster, an ex-con and reformed alcoholic who is trying to climb the social ladder by way of his thriving gambling business. But all that is threatened when new gangsters on the scene want in on the action. Not only that but he also has a jealous ex-girlfriend to contend with just as he meets and falls for the blue blooded Lady Susan Willens (Chance).On the page it sounds terrific, a real chance for some noir nirvana, while the opening to the film is a cracker, with a moody night time cobbled street scene punctured by a hit and run collision. Yet the piece never rises above the routine crime thriller that it is, while visually it's flat and uninteresting.Out of Hammer Film Productions, there's an attempt at class distinction to drive the narrative forward, but it never really develops into something resembling dramatic worth. A shame because Jim Forster is an interesting enough character, he has done time for manslaughter, has anger issues but now he hates the rough stuff, even admonishing his staff for handing out bumps to bad debtors. And the women love him as well. Yet it's all so lethargically played that come the finale, the culmination of the dangled carrot at the beginning, you will struggle to care anyway. 5/10

J. Spurlin A social-climbing American (Dane Clark) with a business in illegal gambling falls in love with a blue blood (Naomi Chance), but gangsters and a jealous ex-girlfriend (Kathleen Byron) stand in the way of happiness."The Gambler and the Lady" is a typically weak attempt by the Hammer studio to replicate American crime films. A mildly exciting climax (part of which is shown at the beginning) is the only thing that livens up this dull affair. I would have liked to see more of Percy Marmont, who was so good as Col. Burgoyne in Alfred Hitchcock's "Young and Innocent." Here he only gets a brief part as Chance's father.

FilmFlaneur In 1950, American producer Robert Lippert formed a business alliance with Hammer studios. Under the agreement, Lippert would provide American acting talent - frequently shop-worn stars or just supporting actors who fancied a profitable trip out of the country - while Hammer would supply the rest of the cast and the production facilities. Together they would split the profits. Famous for his concern with the bottom line, Lippert produced over 140 films between 1946 and 1955, characteristically genre pieces such as I Shot Jesse James or Rocketship XM. For the British deal, most of the films were noir-ish thrillers - and include this title.Dane Clark, who appeared in several of these productions, plays the doomed gambler in question: a self made man, running a profitable London set up into which rudely intrudes his aspirational love life and the aggressive ambitions of some Italian gangster interlopers. His social climbing ultimately proves the straw that breaks the camel's back. Many of the British noirs interestingly import class considerations into the dramatic mix, concerns that are usually absent in the American model, and they are seen most strongly in this title. The gambler's end is ultimately determined by the suckering in of social mobility as much as the machinations of fate - but not before there is some effective sniping at the rudeness and untrustworthiness of the British ruling classes. Clark cuts a suitably doomed and somewhat pathetic figure as he struggle to gain acceptance.