User Reviews

Even when he adapts Dostoievski,Robert Siodmak's fondness for film noir can be felt.In the first scene,when Fedor meets Pauline ,how not to think of that scene in "the killers" when Swede sees Kitty for the first time?In both films ,Ava Gardner is the femme fatale.Ditto for the last scene in the pawn shop where you can see the reflections of the crosses on the ceiling.

Fedor's motive is first love ,but little by little,he realizes he is actually in love with gambling,with the numbers.His desire for an "8 " is almost sexual;in the hotel,every number (the key number, etc) calls him to the casino.The depiction of the place where people are feverishly waiting for the stopping of the roulette is absolutely extraordinary.Gregory Peck gives a riveting performance as the gambler down on his luck,and Ava Gardner's beauty shines all along the film.The supporting cast is up to scratch: Melvyn Douglas is like a puppeteer (the scene when he pretends he can't find Ostrovsky's notes belongs to him); Frank Morgan as a fallen mathematic teacher and Agnes Moorehead as the owner of a seedy pawn shop make all their scenes count.Ethel Barrymore is so talented an actress she does not need any words (except "banco" ) to express her gambling fever.

Like this ?try these.....

"Le Joueur" Claude Autant-Lara 1958 another Dostoievski adaptation,inferior to Siodmak's version.

"lo scopone scientifico" Luigi Comencini 1972

"La dame de Pique" Leonard Keigel 1965

At first glance, the writers of this unusual Hollywood film took the characters, location, period and premise of Dostoyevsky's novel "The Gambler" and reworked them in outrageous fashion in order to bring even more sex, moralizing guilt, titillation, debauchery and fun into the mix. It works and is very entertaining on that level. Anyone curious about the real thing might want to check out the French film "Le Joueur" by Claude Autant-Lara (1958), starring Gérard Philipe, which actually names it source, and its innumerable remakes. On the plus side, it gives Ava Gardner one of her most articulate roles and composer Bronislau Kaper a chance to incorporate a record number of light classics into his score.

The people who are raking this little gem over the coals must either 1) not really like movies; 2) have seen the film on a bad videotape; or if we want to be generous, 3) be having a bad day.

I just came from a screening of a beautiful 35mm print, and I loved it! LOVED IT! Granted, the Christian allegory is laid on a bit thick at times, but the performances are wonderful, and the story will resonate with anyone mature enough to have grappled with his/her own dark side. It's a story of sacrifice and redemption, truly a battle writ large between good and evil.

I also highly suspect that Jacques Demy's BAY OF ANGELS (1963) is an homage to this film. Both use the casino as an apt metaphor for Hell, and in both films, characters are saved by love.

Siodmak is one of the great, underrated filmmakers of the 1940s, and while I don't like this film quite as much as his films noirs (The Killers, Criss-Cross) or his other masterful period drama, The Spiral Staircase, I do think The Great Sinner will satisfy anyone who appreciates the classical Hollywood style.

A young writer (Gregory Peck) goes to Wiesbaden to write about gambling and gamblers, he helps a beautiful woman (Ava Gardner) to leave the game , only to ultimately become a compulsive gambler himself . He finds that the only people who will have anything to do with him are those to whom he owes money . Losing all his wealth, as well as his moral fibre, carries out the definitive degradation of robbing a church poor box in order to feed his compulsion . Eventually , he decides to make a big score to win big and pay off everyone to stay alive and keep his dignity and come out ahead. Possessed by a power more devastating than the seven deadly sins! He Gambled His Life on Her Love!

An entertaining and enjoyable period piece , this film does an admirable and adequate job of portraying the addictive aspect of gambling, tempting and drawing the roles as well as the viewer , into the world of casinos frequently by the rich, the curious and the desperate. It displays a murky romance lavishly financed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) and producer Gottfried Reinhardt meandering along with a love story of Gregory Peck saving Ava Gardner from drowning in gambling fever , then catching it himself . A sad and some depressing movie in which the great main and support cast give stunning interpretations . Dealing with a writer who has the gambling vice , when he has lost all of his money, he borrows from his girlfriend, and finally a bad guy , as his habit becomes an incurable disease , despite all of this, he cannot stop gambling . But just as intriguing and attractive is the secondary plot of this picture , which looks in the complexities of relationships of some of the roles involved in the gambling and how easily it escalates beyond the imagination of those partaking in such thrills . Main cast as Gregory Peck and Ava Gardner are frankly well , being accompanied by a top-noth secondary cast , such as : Melvyn Douglas , Walter Huston, Ethel Barrymore , Frank Morgan , Agnes Moorehead , Friedrich von Ledebur , among others . Loosely based on Fyodor Dostoevsky novel "The Gambler" with interesting screenplay from Christopher Isherwood , René Fülöp-Miller and Ladislas Fodor . This Fyodor Dostoyevsky novel has been also adapted as The Gambler (1974) by Karel Reisz with James Caan , Paul Sorvino , Lauren Hutton ; The Gambler (1997) with Michael Gambon , Jodhi May , Polly Walker, Dominic West and The Gambler (2014) by Rupert Wyatt with Mark Wahlberg , George Kennedy , Griffin Cleveland, Jessica Lange.

It contains an atmospheric cinematography in black and white by George Folsey with plenty of lights and shades. As well an evocative and rousing musical score by Bronislau Kaper . The motion picture was compellingly directed by Robert Siodmak (and uncredited Mervyn LeRoy) who realizes a skillful filmmaking , though it failed at the box office , resulting to be one of the less known movies played by Gregory Peck. Robert made important works in the American-Hollywood cinema and had an inferior European-German career . Siodmak directed Burt Lancaster in two classic Noir films titled ¨The Killers¨ and ¨Criss Cross¨, his two better movies. Siodmak had a long career , as Robert was a good director who made a lot of films in all kinds of genres as ¨Quick¨, ¨Son of Dracula¨, ¨Christmas holidays¨, ¨The strange affair of uncle Harry¨, ¨The file of Thelma Jordan¨, ¨The great sinner¨, ¨The crimson pirate¨, ¨The devil strikes at night¨, ¨Custer of the west¨ . Outstanding in Noir Film as ¨Phantom lady¨, ¨Criss cross¨, ¨The suspect¨, ¨The dark mirror¨, ¨The killers¨, ¨Cry of the city¨, among others . It's a good film that ensures the nervous tension never lets up from the first moment and realized in efficient style by Robert Siodmak , then at the peak of his Hollywood career . The picture will appeal to Gregory Peck and Ava Gardner fans . Rating : 6.5/10 . Better than average . Worthwhile watching.

Any person can change his behavior up to his degradation according to the circumstances, and this film is an evidence of it. One may have a normal life without difficulties, but one day that life is strongly changed by an unpredictable factor. That factor may be love, and those things which appeared to be non sense are becoming important, and the life's person is seriously shaken. Young then Gregory Peck stars this film in the role of the writer Fedja, probably Feodor as full name, while beautiful Ava Gardner, for me probably the three women most beautiful ever in Hollywood, co-stars as attractive Pauline Ostrovsky. The rest of the cast has excellent actors as Walter Huston, Melvyn Douglas and already old Ethel Barrymore. It is clear that the environment of the film is during the XIX century. The value of the film is in its morale, at that time gambling was like the nowadays drug, rich people used to be vicious of gambling. Love may also affect the

Great cast, but unfortunately a mediocre film, amounting to a morality tale. As I watched it, I considered its two obvious sources - the first, Dostoevsky's novella 'The Gambler,' and the second, Dostoevsky's own gambling addiction, which of course informed the first. A truer account to either of those would have been preferable to what we see on the screen here. In the film, a virtuous young writer (Gregory Peck) is led into the temptation of gambling by a young woman (Ava Gardner), gets addicted, and then seeks redemption in his faith. There are a few subplots (with nice work from Ethel Barrymore, Agnes Moorehead, Walter Huston, and Frank Morgan), but really that's about it, and the problem is it's so predictable, and black and white in tone.

Missing from Dostoevsky's novella are the broader sweep of controlling one's passions, e.g. To women and money, on top of gambling. Dostoyevsky writes of these passions convincingly, particular the love/hate, obsessive relationship with the young woman ("When I talk to you I long to tell you everything, everything, everything." .... "I often have an irresistible longing to beat you, to disfigure you, to strangle you.") This kind of raw passion is completely missing from the film. Missing too are the insights into the Russian psyche in the 19th century, and the struggle with their own identity, wanting to preserve their country from Western influences but at the same time feeling inferior to the French, and caught between admiration and envy (and with French being routinely spoken in wealthy Russian parlors). Here these characters really could have been any nationality; it's a Hollywood period film that's removed everything but the costuming.

Dostoevsky's own life would have made for a more interesting story, and if you're interested in an account of this, Tsypkin's 'Summer in Baden-Baden' is brilliant. Quite frankly, Dostoevsky was irritable, petty, jealous, obsessive, and an overall pain in the ass. He was extremely awkward, and blurted out all the wrong things in social situations - which is far from the very suave character we see in Gregory Peck. His treatment of his second wife was poor to say the least, pawning off her things again and again to throw money away at the roulette wheel, thinking he had a system. He wrote 'The Gambler' at the same time as 'Crime and Punishment' in the attempt to offset his business failure and gambling debt. He famously met the more polished and Westernized Russian author Ivan Turgenev at Baden, and the pair took an instant dislike to one another because of their differences. Dostoevsky had been humiliated in prison, suffered from epileptic fits, was afraid of being laughed at, and desperately wanted to be accepted. He knew what suffering was, and gave alms to every beggar he saw, almost to a comical degree, but he was also a nationalist and an anti-Semite.

There is so much material there and my expectations were low relative to an American film in 1949 (even from Siodmak), but when I think of the simplicity of what was actually put on film - relative to the novella or its author - it just seems very bland. It probably could have been trimmed; it takes 50 minutes for Peck's character to begin to get gambling fever. The back half is laborious and it's also got a silly moment when the owner of the casino forgives a massive debt out of honor, which certainly didn't ring true. Overall watchable for the cast, but a missed opportunity.

I think a lot of people are looking at this movie like the Twilight Zone episode called "The Fever." They want a short little story about gambling addiction, The End.

I prefer to look at this movie like a "Shakespeare in Love" for Dostoevsky. It has so many little hints about his faith, seizures, and influences on his books. A fan of all his works will catch the obvious inferences (like the ax and the pawn shop, and the scenes straight out of the Gambler). But there are a lot of subtle references to the Idiot and the Brothers Karamizov. The title "The Great Sinner" is a reference to Dostoevsky's planned final works (which included the Bros. K.) but he was unable to finish it. Anyone who is put off by the "heavy handed" religious message of the film obviously has no idea how religious Dostoevsky was. His books are full of redemption by Christ. I think this movie was great. Peck played the part very well. He wasn't supposed to be Alexi from the novel, he is the author. The gambling scenes are intense enough to turn your stomach.

Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner, Walter Huston, Melvyn Douglas, Ethel Barrymore, and Frank Morgan star in "The Great Sinner" about a writer who gets the gambling bug big-time. Set in the 1860s, the story concerns a writer (Peck) who falls for a woman (Gardner) whose life, and that of her father's (Huston), is dedicated to gambling. They're waiting for the matriarch of the family (Barrymore) to die so that they will no longer be beholden to the owner of a casino (Douglas). He has 200,000 (francs, I think) of the father's notes, and in return, he wants Gardner. One can hardly blame him - she's so gorgeous in this movie, and her costumes so stunning, she nearly burns up the celluloid. The writer tries his hand at gambling and soon becomes a complete addict.

The gambling scenes in this film are quite exciting, as anyone who has tasted the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat at a slot machine will attest. Unfortunately, other than that, it's a rather talk-heavy movie without much action and seems to go on too long. Nevertheless, there are some good performances. Was Walter Huston ever anything but great? Peck is handsome and convincing as the fallen man. Agnes Moorhead has a small part, but she's excellent, as the nasty owner of a pawnshop. Frank Morgan also makes an appearance as an unlucky gambler.

Worth seeing for Gardner's looks and gowns alone.

This is a sumptuously-staged costume drama, the kind Hollywood always did so well. Only there's a dark side to "The Great Sinner", as the richness of the production begins to coexist with sordid tales of gambling addiction and related human tragedy that soon unfold. No one is immune here; even stolid Gregory Peck falls to the lure of the cards, and hard. Ethel Barrymore is subtly wonderful, as ever, and steals every scene. This becomes a powerful, suspenseful film with a fine cast and a relentless tale to tell. Not to be missed!

There are two famous films that deal with the problem of alcohol addiction. One, The Lost Weekend, spotlights the disease as a fully formed illness that slowly causes the protagonist to descend into an unrelenting personal hell. The other, Days of Wine and Roses, shows us how alcoholism innocently begins with a newly married "ordinary" young couple-----subtly takes over their lives----and in the process virtually destroys one spouse and almost does the same thing to the other. The second named film more closely resembles The Great Sinner (TGS) than The Lost Weekend, because the gambling addiction that profoundly afflicted the Gregory Peck character in TGS becomes apparent only after we are well into the story. The other principal roles in TGS (with the exception of those played by Melvyn Douglas and Ethel Barrymore) feature people who were already hooked on gambling earlier in the tale. And similar to Days of Wine and Roses, Peck's obsession with gambling starts in an unremarkable and understated way, and develops into a full scaled compulsion so quietly and gradually that its ultimate effect on him was not fully appreciated until it was almost too late to do anything about it.

It took an unusual amount of courage-----a commodity generally in short supply in Hollywood-----for its most prestigious studio to make such a downbeat movie about the depressing subject of gambling addiction. To MGM's credit, they did so by mounting it as a major high-budget vehicle with a top-notch cast. That TGS failed at the box office should have come as no surprise. Tough stories often have to search long and hard to find an appreciative audience. Serious well-intended films that utilize these subjects can generate some positive critical acclaim, but these vehicles may (and often do) elude financial success. As we have been told many times by the studio moguls, making movies should be viewed primarily as a business intended to turn a profit.

TGS is an absorbing narrative that clearly illustrates the many facets of gambling addiction, and its powerful and destructive nature. As with Days of Wine and Roses, we witness the grim tragedies they usually cause as well as the possibility that hope and redemption can sometimes overcome such outcomes. The acting, direction, photography and physical setting in TGS are all very fine, and they significantly contribute to the overall level of TGS's artistic achievement.

In terms of his oeuvre, TGS is positioned between Peck's superior early Western Yellow Sky and his great dramatic war film Twelve O'Clock High. You could not identify three more different movies starring the same actor. This is a clear example of Peck's considerable range as an artist------and he would continue to similarly challenge himself with quite diverse role choices throughout his long and impressive career.

Gregory Peck is one of my very favorite actors and if you were to skim my reviews of his films, you'd find that I often praised his movies as well as his wonderful acting. So, it is with deep regret that I say I have found another one of his films that I just didn't like (the other one that immediately comes to mind as well is his first film, DAYS OF GLORY). Now this movie started off very well and sustained its energy through the first half or so of the film. Seeing Peck fall for Ava Gardner and the movie's exploration of the evils of gambling was very interesting--though a bit heavy-handed. In particular, I liked the part played by Frank Morgan in one of his last films. His broken and dissipated gambling addict was heart-breaking and poignant.

However, the film just never knew when to stop. When Peck eventually gets the money to pay off Ava's and her father's gambling debts, I would have loved to see the movie end there. I would also have not minded if the movie had gone in the same direction it did--but had done it at a much faster and less tedious pace. Okay, having nice guy Peck save Gardner and her daddy from gambling only to be bitten by the gambling fever as well was interesting,...but not for another 30 or 40 minutes of the film--this portion of the film seemed to last hours!!! It was definitely a case of over-kill. Less would have definitely been more successful. But, instead, we are "treated" to watching Peck gamble again, and again, and again, ad nauseum. I can definitely see why this is one of Peck's lesser-known films. Take my advice and see him in any other film--it would be an improvement in most every case.

Well, if it has Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner, Melvyn Douglas, Walter Huston, Ethel Barrymore, Frank Morgan, and Agnes Moorehead, I'm there. But the fact is, this costume epic aims for the grandeur and tragedy of 19th century European literature without laying the groundwork. It's a listlessly plotted gambling melodrama, with Noble Writer Peck succumbing to the charms of Gambling Lady Gardner (and she was never more luscious), then reversing roles with her as he becomes addicted to the roulette wheel and she comes to her senses. Some lively bitch-dialogue from Christopher Isherwood helps, and the starry supporting cast contributes incisive miniatures; Barrymore, who pops in 90 minutes into the running time, is a special hoot, subtler and less grand than usual. But as so often happens in late-'40s Hollywood, the production values are stultifying, and a God-will-provide fadeout is tacked on to provide Moral Redemption where there logically should be none. It's a painless two hours, and good for stargazing -- but hardly the serious look at a decadent aristocracy it might have been.

"The Gambler," an 1866 novella, is the basis for this story, with a strong cast, led by Gregory Peck and, at 27, the extraordinarily beautiful Ava Gardner. The twists of the plot are many and varied; the glimpse of mid-nineteenth century life is very welcome. The contest between love and virtue on the one hand and obsession and greed on the other is vividly portrayed. DP George J. Folsey did a fine job, but Bronislau Kaper's music is somewhat raucous at times. At 110 minutes, it seems a bit long and anti-climactic and the conclusion is a tad inconclusive. But the message is clear: gambling doesn't pay and faith in God is the best bet.

Perhaps it's his fine acting, his delivery style or his distinguished good looks. Whatever it is, Gregory Peck had displayed it in all his films. Here is one of his best, called " The Great Sinner. " If you've read Dostoyevsky's novel 'the Gambler', penned in 1867, you will have a pretty good idea where the movie came from. It's the story of a successful young writer named Fedja (Gregory Peck) who, while traveling through Europe, meets and is immediately struck by Pauline Ostrovsky (Ave Gardner) the daughter of a retired General. Through her, he discovers, she and her father are in great debt to the Casino owner, Armand de Glasse (Melvyn Douglas). Once in love, he realizes there is only one way to win her and that's to pay off her family's notes. With great but innocent naiveté he cautiously enters the world of gambling and is surprised by his extraordinary luck when he continues to win, win and eventually break the bank. Believing he can quit, he begins making plans to wed and move to the countryside. Unfortunately as most gamblers realize there is a subtle, yet, powerful addiction to winning and slowly it compels him to return to the alluring and enticing realm of the roulette wheel. This early Black and White movie is nearly a forgotten Classic of Peck's early career and were it not for his co-stars like, Walter Huston, Ethel Barrymore, Agnes Moorehead and Frank Morgan, it may have remained in obscurity. Instead, this wonderful, (albeit lengthy) and dramatic film has become a milestone for Gregory Peck and one which created an enduring legacy for this great actor. ****

As Kirk Douglas's career was progressing nicely he had a choice of two different offers. He could play the title role in The Great Sinner, a big MGM film with a supporting cast of name players with Ava Gardner as a leading lady. Or he could do a small independent film for Stanley Kramer who was just starting out. Douglas chose the small film and wound up with an Oscar nomination for Champion.

Which left Gregory Peck who was apparently a second choice to play the Russian writer who stops off at the gambling resort of Wiesbaden in the 1860s just before German unification. He's on his way to Paris, but one sight of Ava Gardner getting off at Wiesbaden, makes Peck decide to abruptly change his plans.

As for Ava, certainly one can understand that she's beautiful enough to let one's hormones take over, but I got the feeling Ava just wasn't into the part really, as Greg was also not. It's also hard to believe that Walter Huston had won an Oscar for his previous film, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. To overcome a trite story, Huston overacts outrageously, pulling everything out of a ham's bag of tricks.

Even Melvyn Douglas as the scheming casino owner takes his nineteenth century villainy from the Snidely Whiplash tradition. Agnes Moorehead as the old crone of a pawnbroker also indulges in some scenery chewing, her best example of that since Dark Passage.

Best in the film in my humble opinion is Frank Morgan as the former mathematics professor and now addicted gambler. He brings a real aura of tragedy to his small role.

The Great Sinner is a sluggishly paced film with a lot of very talented people just going through the motions. For a gambling story, I'll take Casino.

Don't believe me, Wanna bet?

Before Gregory Peck played heroes in movies about American integrity, he took a few villainous, or at least troubled, roles. In The Great Sinner, Greg plays a compulsive gambler, and he gives a wonderful performance.

At first, he's just a writer who wants to write about the incredible sickness of gambling, but before long, he finds out firsthand how the sickness can take over a man's life. What I love most about this movie is the realism of the script and performances. I've heard this movie compared to The Lost Weekend, a movie about alcoholism, but I found The Great Sinner to be much more realistic in its portrayal of addiction. Greg's performance is fantastic, and it's great to see the contrast of how he was before he started gambling. As the movie continues, he becomes desperate, cruel, and self-loathing. Many times Hollywood shows the glitz and glamour associated with gambling, but since this is a period piece, there's no neon lights or Las Vegas strip. It's in black-and-white, it's dirty without being filthy, it warns without becoming melodramatic, and it's heart-wrenching.

Greg is flanked by an all-star supporting cast, including Melvyn Douglas, Ethel Barrymore, Frank Morgan, Agnes Moorehead, Walter Huston, and his favorite leading lady Ava Gardner. I don't usually like Ava Gardner, but this movie is an exception. She actually looks beautiful in this movie, with gorgeous hairstyles and gowns, and she's very believable as a tormented heroinne who loves Greg but feels trapped by Mel's money and power. Mel is a convincing villain, so if you're not used to seeing him as the bad guy, get ready for a shock. He can be quite awful when he wants to be. Frank Morgan has a very brief part, but it's quite sad. In real life, he died from alcoholism, and in this movie he shows Greg a negative example of what can happen when your life becomes ruled by an addiction. Check this one out if you've never seen it. If I can recommend it so highly, it's got to be good!

This little-known gem is well worth checking. The fantastic script by Christopher Asherwood (one of the enfants terribles of the english literature of the 20th century) has some of the finest and memorable lines of the classic cinema. Ava Gardner never been so gorgeous. One cannot help feeling disturbed as the events go on, and the film is somehow unusual for the time for its moral and the pessimism it portraits. Definetely, Robert Siodmark's best. The allegorical final scene surely added by the studio is a real pity. After all we've seen, one can hardly find any hope in that universe, with or without the interceeding of God.

This was a fantastic film with great actors all appearing in this very convincing plot with a great moral theme. Gregory Peck,(Fedja),"Old Gringo",'89 started out simply trying to become a writer and got himself caught in the Web of Gambling. Fedja meets up with Ava Gardner,(Pauline Ostrovsky),"The Barefoot Contessa",'54, who really becomes involved deeply with Fedja and tries to give him comfort in many ways. Ava Garnder was very young and extremely beautiful in this black and white film. Ethel Barrymore,(Grandmother Ostrovsky),"The Spiral Staircase",'46, played a very wise like aged owl character, who was very handy with the card games and could read peoples minds! Frank Morgan,(Aristide Pitard),"The Wizard of Oz",'39 along with Agnes Moorehead,(Emma Getzel),"Bewitched",'64 TV Series gave great supporting roles. Emma Getzel was a pawn broker in this picture and acted more like a WITCH and ran into big trouble with Fedja when he tried to pawn a medal which she did not care to purchase. If you love to see a great Cast of famous actors all in one picture, I am sure you will find it worth your WHILE!

Only seven years after her great performance in "The Magnificent Ambersons," Agnes Moorehead is shrill and implausible as a pawnbroker in this expensive looking mess.

Gregory Peck (even when he's supposed to look dissipated, in stubbly beard) and Ava Gardner make a very appealing pair. She does her best and he is not bad.

The rest of the cast does what it can-- but Walter Huston and Frank Morgan in white wigs and beards?

Robert Siodmak directed some superb movies. This is not one of them. Dostoyevsky has been adapted and borrowed from by Hollywood -- sometimes successfully and, here, not very successfully at all.

Ava Gardner, Walter Huston, Melvyn Douglas, Ethel Barrymore, who not would want to see them together in a film. The screenplay written by Christopher Ishwood, based loosely on Dostoyevski's book, "The Gambler", but with elements of some of his other books thrown in.

I think this film is an improvement on Dostoyevski's book, "The Gambler", written to pay of the authors gaming debts. Besides the cast and dialogue, there's the philosophy of gambling. In the film, the spa of Weisbaden is also a casino and the author who visits the place (based on Dostoyevski) is after a woman he met on the train. But she is a symbol of Lady Luck, ready to give or take with equal measure.

Even Gregory Peck, usually such a log, is pretty good as the writer who turns to gambling to pay the debts of the woman he's mad about. At last, Peck goes to the casino to win back his love. This is the best part of the film, as Peck wins, he understands the sensual pleasure of winning large sums, and the feeling of invinceability it gives you. No film on gambling is better. The only false note is when the casino owner gives back some money that the writer loses.

Ava Gardener was in her prime at that time and she never looked or acted better than in this film. Walter Huston is good as the mountebank General, Ethyl Barymore his rich mother. Great film from the Golden Age.

There is little to no reasoning in this movie. We are supposed to believe that Gregory Peck's character, supposedly an intelligent writer, would throw away his entire life and future based on his compulsion to gamble after his initial exposure to gambling. Would you risk possibly losing the beautiful Ava Gardner to a spin of the roulette wheel or the turn of a card? Uhmmm...not this cowboy.

Too many great actors in this film for it to be so average.......Ethel Barrymore, Melvyn Douglas, Frank Morgan...When I think of the movie that could have been made with this cast I feel cheated by this movie. This is one of the few times I believe that Gregory Peck should have turned the script down. Like most Hollywood productions of the 1940's the sets and costumes are lush and believable. It's too bad that the plot didn't follow suit.