Nessieldwi Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

Married Baby Just intense enough to provide a much-needed diversion, just lightweight enough to make you forget about it soon after it’s over. It’s not exactly “good,” per se, but it does what it sets out to do in terms of putting us on edge, which makes it … successful?

Darin One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

Billy Ollie Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

ksf-2 Some fun names in this one... Chester Morris (Boston Blackie) , Lloyd Corrigan (who doesnt seem to be related to Ray, but they DID make a film together), Lyle Talbot, and a young Nancy Kelly. Even Dick Elliot, the mayor from Andy Griffith. In Gambler's Choice, a group of kids that grew up together, running scams here and there, meet up again as adults. Except that now, Mike is a cop, and the others still aren't grown up yet, running gambling shops and helping a friend throw the election the right way. When people start getting shot dead, the cops vow to track down the killers. Gambling houses are raided. It's all pretty formula. Good guys against the organized crime guys. All done in 66 minutes. Directed by Frank McDonald, king of the old westerns. It's okay.... i caught this one on Midnight Movies channel. Not bad.

mark.waltz From the Battery up to the top of the city back in the good old days (14th Street!), lots was happening, and a huge metropolis was in the planning stages. Thus minor historical account of New York City's bad old gambling days has childhood friends growing up from the strains of "East Side, West Side" to the strains of music coming from Tin Pan Alley. There's the usual amount of political corruption, a society dame with no real class putting her mark on the leading man, her getting taken down by the feisty heroine, and of course, a murder. Filled with humor, this is a period film lover's dream, tied up tightly in a short but detailed package.There's that cast, a who's who of who used to be, as well as some of the best character performers around. The three leads are Chester Morris, Nancy Kelly and Lyle Talbot as the three old pals, first seen as young thugs committing a scam, and reunited years later. I've seen this set up in various newer films, although not one involved a girl. Lee Patrick is get typical clinging, angry harridan and is delightfully coyish when alone with Morris and out of her element even bring imperious and uppity when confronted by Kelly. Of the other supporting cast, Lloyd Corrigan stands out with equally gregarious Dick Elliott very funny as a barber in the opening. This might be slight on important historical details of the time but overall is an above average time filler.

dougdoepke The movie never rises above programmer status, but it's a good lively cast that gets the most out of clichéd material. Three childhood friends meet up as adults. Ross (Morris) has become a big time gambling house owner while Mike (Hayden) is now a police lieutenant and Mary, a stage entertainer. The boys become friendly rivals over Mary; at the same time, Mike's friendship gets compromised by Ross's sometimes shady operations. Sound familiar. That's because this sort of theme was common during the 30's, from Cagney to Gable, that is, childhood friends graduating into different sides of the law and becoming friendly enemies. What did surprise me here was Russell Hayden as Mike. I'd only seen him as the happy-go-lucky Lucky in the Hopalong Cassidy series. Here, sporting a mustache, he plays a more dramatic role in fine fashion. Otherwise, the movie's a decent little time-passer.

MartinHafer I had a very strong sense of déjà vu as I watched this film. That's because although IMDb doesn't say it's a remake, it is a retooling of many popular films of the 1930s--particularly "Manhattan Melodrama". Because of this, I found the plot rather predictable. Now I am not saying that it's a bad film--it's competently made--but it's certainly not very original or inspired.The film begins with three kids out hustling. One, who you KNOW is destined to grow up bad, steals something and soon the cops catch them. The court scene pretty much shows what the future will be for the trio--the bad kid has a criminal-type father (so he'll grow to be a crooked guy), the girl's father a drunk (so she'll spend most of her life caring for the irresponsible guy) and the other has parents that are concerned (naturally, he grows to be a cop just like his old man).Years pass and now the bad kid has grown into Ross (Chester Morris)--a professional gambler who is willing to do just about anything to make his mark on the world AND be the biggest man in town. Mary is now a beautiful barroom singer (Nancy Kelly) and Mike (Russell Hayden) is a cop. Of the three, Ross is the center of the story--just like gambling Clark Gable was in "Manhattan Melodrama". I could explain more about the plot but don't particularly feel it's that important--as I said, so much of it is familiar territory. What is also familiar is that Ross and Mike are destined to have a confrontation and the question, as always, is can they avoid hurting each other in the process and also remain friends.Overall, well acted and a decent time-passer...but not much else.