Men of Chance

Ricardo Cortez and Mary Astor star in "Men of Chance" from 1931, also starring John Halliday.

Astor plays Marthe, a literal starving artist in Paris who is picked up by Dorval (John Halliday). He makes her an offer she can't refuse in her present situation: he will dress her, put her up in the best hotel, and introduce her around as a French countess. She attracts a wealthy man, rich American gambler Johnny Silk (Cortez), who proposes to her. At first she's interested in him for his money, but later, she falls in love with him.

Dorval and his partner Farley are actually after Johnny and want to bring him down. Without realizing it, Marthe is feeding racing tips to them, and they're winning and depleting Silk's fortune.

Good, straightforward film, with a nice horse race sequence at the end. The lovely Astor gave a winning performance as poor Marthe, the regal Countess, and finally a woman in love. She was an interesting actress - an ingénue in the silent era, a leading lady with a beautiful speaking voice in the '30s, and made her big mark as the mysterious, treacherous Bridget O'Shaunessey in The Maltese Falcon in 1941. By the mid-40s, she was doing character roles, which she did until 1964, a 43-year-career.

Ricardo Cortez to me has never been anything but okay, though he was pleasant looking. He entered silents during the Valentino era and promptly changed his name from Jacob Krantz. There was just nothing special about him or the films in which he appeared. He slid to B films and then character parts and finally returned to working on Wall Street though he kept acting until 1960.

John Halliday is appropriately evil and slimy.

If you catch this on TCM, see it, you'll like it. Even though it's precode, though, the only racy thing is the horses.

She's a starving artist in a fetching studio-bound Paris, entrapped for soliciting (Implausibility #1) and bailed out by John Halliday, who sees something.unique in her and offers to set her up as a countess, a disguise nobody bothers to look into (Implausibility #2). In that guise she meets a smitten Ricardo Cortez, who falls instantly in love with her and demands that they get married (Implausibility #3), taking her best pal (a fun Kitty Kelly), who's been posing as her maid, along on the honeymoon (Implausibility #4). Cortez, who's at his most boisterous and leading-man-handsome here, is a gambler and horse aficionado, which leads to Mary innocently feeding info to Halliday that ruins Cortez, who instantly turns on her and throws her out (Implausibility #5), until she engineers a way of turning around her innocent mistake. It's not, in short, credible, but the two stars are photogenic, and Astor already owns the screen, offering a layered performance of a not very layered character. The horse racing sequences are exciting, and the horse Cortez bets it all on is a real beauty; the scene between him and the horse is truly touching. I'd expected this to be Warners, but it's RKO, and it's a good-looking, lively early talkie. With many implausibilities.

"Men of Chance" is one of those romances where one or both of the parties accidentally fall in love. In this case a woman named Marthe (Mary Astor) was being used as a plant to sink Johnny Silk (Ricardo Cortez).

I'd seen both actors in other movies. Mary Astor in "The Royal Bed," "Other Men's Women," and "Behind Office Doors"--always the romantic interest. Ricardo Cortez in "Ten Cents a Dance" and also "Behind Office Doors."

Marthe was bailed out of a sticky situation in France by a man named Dorval (John Halliday). For that she was to pretend to be a countess in order to be in a romantic relationship with Johnny Silk. Johnny was a professional gambler who repeatedly beat the bookies. One bookie who had had enough was Farley (Ralph Ince). He and Dorval hatched a plan to finally sink Silk.

The phony identity worked like a charm. Johnny wasn't attracted to regular girls, no matter how pretty, but a countess was something else. Marthe pretending to be a countess was just the ticket to lure Johnny.

He had lived a charmed life to that point and he let it get to his head. As he exclaimed to Marthe, "There are three things that I know: horses, gambling, and women. Why I'd stake my bankroll on you." Yet, little did he know he was getting played.

He was so goofy he asked her to marry him after two weeks and didn't even allow her to say no. If he had half a brain he would've noted her hesitation and protestations, however soft they were. This guy wouldn't take no for an answer and it was quite unnerving. I know I'm watching through 21st century eyes, but seeing a guy make wedding plans without a full consent from the bride-to-be didn't sit well with me. And if that wasn't odd enough, Marthe was pressured by Dorval to go through with the marriage. All to avoid sixty days in jail!

Yes. When Dorval found Marthe she was being booked for vagrancy (though she hadn't done that) and she was sentenced to 60 days in jail. She was willing to sleep with Dorval to avoid the jail sentence, but Dorval didn't want that, he wanted her for his scheme involving Johnny Silk. I could almost understand a woman having sex with a stranger to avoid a jail sentence, but marriage? And for a sixty day sentence at that?? Is sixty days in a French jail so horrible that she'd agree to a lifetime commitment to avoid it???

So, Marthe agreed to marry Johnny and continued to be Dorval and Farley's plant until she fell in love. And love always complicates things.

The movie was a little of "Smart Money" (1931) starring Edward G. Robinson with a splash of "The Lady Refuses" (1931) starring Betty Compson.

Edward G. Robinson was a big time gambler who was ruined by a woman in "Smart Money," and Betty Compson played a woman hired to woo a man who fell in love with her in "The Lady Refuses." Both movies were better than this one because this was really all about money and not love. When Silk thought Marhe ruined him, he didn't love her; as soon as she restored his wealth, he loved her again. How convenient.

Free on YouTube.

The title of this film is deceiving. The film is really about Mary Astor and her involvement with the "Men of Chance", John Halliday and Ricardo Cortez. Cortez and Halliday are both gamblers on the horse races. They are shady and fix the races. But they are in rival associations and compete. Halliday has lost hundreds of thousands due to Cortez's trickery and he wants his money back and revenge.

Halliday brings in Mary Astor to find out what Cortez is up to and to fix the bets so the odds are against Cortez. At first Astor goes along, but then she ends up falling in love with Cortez.

The film is not great but it is very good as it kept me guessing as to Mary Astor's character's motives. Is she really helping Cortez or Halliday? If you are not familiar with Mary Astor's work, she will show you what she can do in this film! She is great. And really kept me guessing.

I fell in love with Mary Astor when I first experienced her in "Dodsworth". And now I really look forward to films where she has a role, no matter how small. But, in this film, she is the central character.

So, I recommend this Classy Classic! It is just on the border of being great, but it is worth the viewing!

I'm not quite sure what happened to Ricardo Cortez' career. True enough, he was pretty shaky in his early talkies, still (mis)cast as the foreign lover with a Bowery accent, but by the time this movie was made, he was absolutely solid and well cast as a gambler. Perhaps by this point in his career, people were no longer interested in paying money to find out.

Mary Astor, on the other hand, had finally learned her craft. In silent movies, she had relied on her immense, youthful beauty. In her early talkies, she seems timid and overwhelmed, but by this time she knew how to steal a scene by repose: in a swirling sea of movement, she was the still spot. Think of her in THE MALTESE FALCON, seated in the armchair. Think of her in DODSWORTH offering her hand to Walter Huston. Think of her in PALM BEACH STORY chattering a mile a minute.... but no. Everyone is brilliant in a Preston Sturges comedy, and unexpected.

She is not note perfect here: a bit weak in the early scenes. But still, by the 20-minute mark in this one-hour programmer, she owns it. Take a look at it.