I enjoyed this low-budget "poverty row" picture way more than I thought I
would. The story is about a professional gambler (Kane Richmond) who teams
up with another professional gambler (Bernadene Hayes) and together they travel
around acting like a brother and sister all the while liberating money from
suckers. One day they come across a rich guy on a train who takes a liking
to the sister, so they let him win a little thinking it'll lead to a bigger
score. Making up a story about going to the same town as him, they start
working on him when out of nowhere an even bigger score appears. Next
thing you know the two are making money hand over fist when Kane sets his eyes
on a local young lady that's set in to inherit a fortune!
There isn't much action, but the 67 minute runtime flies by watching the
unscrupulous Kane running over whoever he has to to make money. Fast
story, interesting ways to get around an obviously low budget, a young lady who
singing voice sounds like a tea kettle whistling, solid direction by the
workhorse William Beaudine (who also directed the previous year's
BLACK MARKET BABIES
as well as 70 other movies between 1942 and 1953!!!) and good performances by a
number of familiar faces including Addison Richard, Charles Trowbridge, Anthony
Caruso, Philip Van Zandt, Edith Evanson, Harold Goodwin, Mary Field, Leonard
Mudie and more.
Recommended.
