A Review of Movie Called Gambling Daughters

In 1941, the American mystery drama, Gambling Daughters, was released and the film’s plot proceeded to shed light on the dangers of irresponsible gambling.

A production influenced by the popular 1930s/1040s style of film noir, the 65 minute film follows the lives of young, extremely wealthy students attending a high-end university called Lakeside School for Girls.

After making the decision to follow their French professor, the girls get caught up in a world of gambling, debt and danger.

Cast & Crew

Among many other films, including the 1946 take on Black Beauty, Gambling Daughters was directed by Max Nosseck. The film was produced by T.H. Richmond Productions, Inc and the story was originally written by Ben Roberts and Sidney Sheldon, while the screenplay writers were Arnold Phillips and Joel Kay.

Gambling Daughters featured an interesting cast consisting of actors such as Robert Baldwin, who plays the role of an undercover insurance investigator named Jimmy Parker and Gale Storm, playing the role of the youngest of the students, Lillian Harding.

Other roles in Gambling daughters include Diana Cameron, one of the students played by Cecilia Parker, professor Bedoin played by Sig Arno and gambling club manager, Chance Landon, who is played by Roger Pryor.

Gambling Daughters Synopsis

Diana Cameron, Lillian Harding and Katherine Thompsen (played by Janet Shaw), are roommates at the elite university, Lakeside School for Girls. The film highlights an often-seen gap between certain wealthy parents and their children, when Diana is constantly upset by the fact that her father never has time to visit her.

One night, an impulsive move leads the girls to follow their French professor, Bedoin, and straight into an illicit casino called Angel’s Roost. The manager of the gambling joint, Chance Landon, takes an interest in the wealthy young ladies and, after him and his assistant Nick (played by Eddie Forster) regularly extend them credit, Katherine and Lillian become regulars at the roulette table.

Initially, they don’t see Diana’s father, Walter (played by Charles Miller), who is in fact in so much debt that he is being payed by the owner of the casino to sit at the gambling tables as a punter, in order to convince players the roulette wheels weren’t rigged and subsequently lure wealthy businessmen in.

The girls get into a fair amount of debt and are urged to rob their parents of their valuable jewels. Some of Lillian’s jewels were rejected by Chances boss and Chance threatens blackmail with love letters that she wrote to him, after he quite clearly seduced her in the beginning of the film.Lillian then tries to rush into the office but only see’s the hand of Chance’s boss picking at a flower, a movement that later makes her aware of who this mysterious boss actually is.

An insurance investigator, Jimmy Parker, who later falls for Diana, is hired following the suspicious jewel robberies of both families. The film then evolves into a climatic sequence of events with the once-innocent wealthy daughters living a nightmare of gambling debt, seduction, kidnapping, and even murder.

Notes

Gambling Daughters’ originally viewed print had the title The Professor’s Gamble and although Ben Roberts and Sidney Sheldon are credited as story writers, the SAB credited Adrian Johnson with the original story.

It is also said that Gale Storm was actually loaned by RKO Pictures for the production of Gambling Daughters. So, from film, we can learn whether you are gambling at casino or doing the Australian Open betting, always remember to do responsibly.