The professional gambler Ross Hadley is the owner of a posh gaming establishment in the heart of New York...
| Tagline | A Thunder bolt of thrills...with life betting on the turn of a card! |
| Release Date: | Apr 27, 1944 |
| Genres: | Drama, Crime |
| Production Company: | Pine-Thomas Productions, Paramount Pictures |
| Production Countries: | United States of America |
| Casts: | Chester Morris, Nancy Kelly, Russell Hayden, Lee Patrick, Lloyd Corrigan, Sheldon Leonard, Lyle Talbot, Maxine Lewis, Tom Dugan, Charles Arnt, Billy Nelson |
| Status: | Released |
| Budget: | $0 |
| Revenue: | 0 |
This is quite an enjoyable story about an "Hadley" (Chester Morris) who runs a fancy gambling joint. He manages to fix the local council election and get his decent, honourable, childhood pal "Mike" (Russell Hayden) made captain of the local precinct. "Chappie" (Sheldon Leonard), meantime, owns a rival establishment and puts out a contract on "Hadley". He survives, OK, but a policeman is killed and this forces his erstwhile buddy to mobilise the force to raid all the casinos in their "Tenderloin" locale. The ruthless "Hadley" soon flexes his muscle and "Mike" is soon demoted, and on traffic detail in some backwater. That is, until he is recruited by a special prosecutor and charged with breaking up these seedy operations - and the battle lines are drawn. Mary Kelly provides their (shared) love interest adequately enough, but she and the romantic elements feature but sparingly in this otherwise pretty decent crime thriller with just enough action and a few twists and turns to keep it interesting. It's got some nice old motor cars too.
