Don't Gamble With Strangers

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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

directed by William Beaudine
USA 1946

When Mike Sarno (Kane Richmond) out-cheats Fay Benton (Bernadene Hayes) in a crooked poker game, the two gamblers bury the hatchet and agree to become partners in crime. Posing as brother and sister, the pair finally hits the big time when Mike runs into a gambler (Phil Van Zandt) who owes him a debt and takes over his casino to square it. So as the high-rollers' dough starts pouring in and Mike eventually tires of Fay, he dumps her to get his hands on a gorgeous heiress (Gloria Warren) and her cash, a double-cross that will lead to murder and a shocking surprise when the cops reveal the killer's name.

Posters

Theatrical Release: 22 June 1946 (USA)

Reviews DVD Reviews

DVD Review: Warner Home Video (Warner Archive Collection) - Region 0 - NTSC

Big thanks to Gregory Meshman for the Review!

DVD Box Cover		CLICK to order from:
Distribution	Warner Home Video Region 0 - NTSC
Runtime	1:06:44
Video	1.33:1 Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 7.95 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate
Audio	Dolby Digital Mono (English)
Subtitles	None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Warner Home Video Aspect Ratio: Fullscreen - 1.33:1 Edition Details: • None DVD Release Date: June 11th, 2013 Keep Case Chapters 7

Comments

Don't Gamble with Strangers is a standard crime B-picture from a poverty row studio Monogram with no name actors and pretty standard premise for these low budget programmers. The film has been pretty rare and hard to see until this welcome release from Warner Archive Collection. Monogram library is divided between MGM and Warner, so we are very lucky that these films exist in quality prints that can be released on digital format. Films from some other poverty row studios (PRC, Film Classics) usually end up on public domain discs, often derived from unwatchable 16 mm prints, even films as important as Detour can't get a decent release. Don't Gamble with Strangers is a brief, enjoyable yarn that never outstays its welcome, directed by a very productive William Beaudine.

Warner Archive release is very good. The film has its share of marks and flickering, mostly due to the source print used for this transfer, but the image is stable and we can't expect anything better as original materials for most of Monogram library no longer exist. The mono sound is unremarkable and there is no extras, but we still can commend Warner for releasing this rare film that otherwise might have fallen through the cracks.

- Gregory Meshman

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