Pre Code Hollywood Season: FD Cinematheque
Street Of Chance (1930)
Director: John Cromwell
Cast: Kay Francis, William Powell, Jean Arthur, Regis Toomey, Stanley Fields, Brooks Benedict, Maurice Black, Irving Bacon, John Risso, Joan Standing
75 min
Street of Chance is a 1930 American pre-Code film directed by John Cromwell and starring William Powell, Jean Arthur, Kay Francis and Regis Toomey. Howard Estabrook was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Writing, Achievement.
Contents
Plot
John Marsden, a famed and powerful New York gambler who refuses to throw a game, is devoted to his wife, Alma, and his impressionistic younger brother, “Babe,” to whom he sends a wedding gift of $10,000, which Babe may keep on the condition that he does not indulge in gambling. Alma, dismayed by John’s ruthless tactics and his obsession with gambling, threatens to leave him unless he takes his winnings and leaves the city with her. He agrees.
However, that evening Babe, who has become a cardsharp, comes to town with his new wife, Judith. He goes to see his brother, whom he believes is a stockbroker, unaware of John’s true profession and the reality that he is trying to quit and rebuild his marriage. Babe insists on playing and tries to win a fortune with his savings in an organized gambling session. He wins remarkably. The professional gambler sees that his card-playing sibling is preparing to make the same mistakes he did.
John therefore decides to risk his life and gamble one more time, and to break the gambler’s code and cheat by throwing the game, in order to disillusion Babe, thereby teaching him an unforgettable lesson. However, John is caught cheating by Dorgan and becomes a marked man. John is later mortally wounded, in spite of his wife’s attempts to save him.
Cast
- William Powell as John D. Marsden
- Jean Arthur as Judith Marsden
- Kay Francis as Alma Marsden
- Regis Toomey as “Babe” Marsden
- Stanley Fields as Dorgan
- Brooks Benedict as Al Mastick
- Betty Francisco as Mrs. Mastick
- John Risso as Tony
- Joan Standing as Miss Abrams
- Maurice Black as Nick
- Irving Bacon as Harry
See also
Film Collectors Corner
Watch Street of Chance Now – Instant Video on Internet Archive
Blu Ray
Not released on Blu Ray
Film Dialogue 