Clevercell Very disappointing...

Intcatinfo A Masterpiece!

Merolliv I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

Kien Navarro Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

TheLittleSongbird With an interesting subject that is very much relevant today, a more than capable director who has done some decent and more films and it is hard to go wrong with talent like Clark Gable, Mary Astor and Frank Morgan, have fondness for all three. Seeing them individually in different films is always great, seeing them in the same film together is even more of a treat.'Any Number Can Play' is certainly an interesting film and does quite a good job with its serious subject. In terms of quality, everybody involved did much better in other things, especially previously, but mostly they are served well and 'Any Number Can Play' is a more than watchable and actually decent film in its own way. Some flaws here but also a lot of strengths, the film does try to do too much but the performances more than make up for it.Like said above, 'Any Number Can Play' would have been better if it tried to do less. It can have too much going on that it's occasionally a bit hasty and muddled. It would have benefitted from not having as many characters and fleshed out some of the characters more.Mary Astor and Audrey Totter should have had more to do. Astor deserved more than a cameo, but actually comes off better but she is quite touching here. Didn't really get very much from Totter, who is rather bland and her role fairly underwritten.Clark Gable however is excellent in the lead role, charming yet hard-edged. Frank Morgan, Marjorie Rambeau and particularly Lewis Stone are more than solid in support, Rambeau is a delight and Stone is quite affecting and understated. Morgan has a knack for stealing scenes without over-egging. Alexis Smith is fetching and has charm.The film is nicely shot and while the settings are few they are hardly ugly. The music doesn't intrude yet has enough presence to stop it from being bland. Mervyn Le Roy may have bring the most distinguished of all directing jobs but he keeps things moving and doesn't undermine the cast in any way.Overall the script is thoughtful and taut and the story may have its faults but the intrigue factor is high and it does a good job showing the dangers and horrors of gambling and how it affects the family without trivialising or overdoing. Didn't think that the moral was a weird one at all.In summation, interesting and worthwhile but with room for improvement. 7/10 Bethany Cox

danielj_old999 One of the great opening scenes of any Hollywood movie projects a kind of cinematic/theatrical authority in a league with O'Neill or Odets, first we see the black man, filled with jolly self denial, buffing the crap tables, his tragedy is implicit from the first moment, believing in his heart that he is on a social par with the other white employees... and with quick, methodical grace the other supporting characters are sharply introduced - they're waiting for lefty, or godot,or the Iceman, or their savior,who happens to be Gable in one of his greatest roles...this is the refined essence of that great personality on screen...the man could simply manufacture chemistry not only with his leading ladies but with other men as well...too bad the crisp, exciting climax at the crap table does not quite live up to this glorious existential opening but it's still an eminently enjoyable Hollywood wrap up..one of the most underrated MGM movies.

finial12 This postwar movie was one of Clark Gable's last for the studio that made him a star--MGM. Gable is older, perhaps wiser, but here fully capable of playing this role with all of the insight into life that his 49 years have earned him. One has the feeling that after the great '30s roles such as Rhett Butler, after the death of Carole Lombard, and after the war, Gable was perfect for the world-weary professional gambler that he plays here--the part fits him like a glove. And he's surrounded by great character actors such as Frank Morgan, Lewis Stone, and Mary Astor, to name a few. I don't agree with the other review that said this was a totally unrealistic, if watchable film: I grew up in a small city that had a gambling house similar to the one depicted here. It was well run, had many regulars, and was quite well known to the authorities. In any case, this movie is well worth a view, if you're not a Gable fan, you might be after viewing this one.

telegonus A much underrated film from the late forties, it features a middle-aged Clark Gable as the owner of a gambling house, where he plays host to a variety of colorful characters. The plot is fairly foolish but at least two of the actors, Barry Sullivan and Wendell Corey, are quite good, and cast somewhat against type.Mervyn LeRoy directed, and either he or the studio bosses decided that the characters would scarcely venture out of doors for the entire run of the picture. As a result we get to explore the casino, Gable's office and home, a restaurant, a hallway, and a few other places, most of them nicely paneled and well appointed, with no sense of urgency regarding action, as we know that the next scene will also be indoors, perhaps upstairs this time, where we will have an opportunity to observe a lamp or a fine mahogany desk. LeRoy moves his people around nicely, and wisely emphasizes the film's geographical limitations (agoraphobic? agoraphilic more likely)--one might even say he revels in them.There's no sense of reality to the story, which is never the least bit convincing. Yet it has a kind of authority, due largely to the admirable professionalism of the people responsible for giving the film its look. One never mistakes such Hollywood stalwarts as Frank Morgan, Marjorie Reambeau or Lewis Stone for real people. William Conrad, in a small role as a hold-up man, does not seem the least bit menacing. I found myself smiling when he turned up. Good old Cannon.Yet for all its faults the movie has going for it something that many a larger budgeted and more realistic film doesn't have: it is watchable. One likes the people in it. There's a confidence in the way it's done; and a fine sheen to the finished product. While it fails at drama and psychology, it succeeds in being an extremely well-crafted piece of work.