The Mississippi Gambler

1953 "His game is fancy women ... and his fate is Lady Luck !"
6.6| 1h39m| NR| en| More Info
Released: 29 January 1953 Released
Producted By: Universal International Pictures
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
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Mark Fallon, with partner Kansas John Polly, tries to introduce honest gambling on the riverboats. His first success makes enemies of the crooked gamblers and of fair Angelique Dureau, whose necklace he won. Later in New Orleans, Mark befriends Angelique's father, but she still affects to despise him as his gambling career brings him wealth. Duelling, tragedy, and romantic complications follow.

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Director

Rudolph Maté

Production Companies

Universal International Pictures

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The Mississippi Gambler Audience Reviews

Bea Swanson This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.
Alasdair Orr Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.
Guillelmina The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.
Kinley This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows
MartinHafer While I am a fan of Tyrone Power's film, I gotta admit that this is not one of his finer moments. The story is about a very, very successful riverboat gambler, Mark Fallon (Power) and the weird infatuation he has with a very screwy young lady (Piper Laurie). Throughout the course of the film, the lady's brother is a shiftless jerk--gambling away their money and behaving VERY impulsively. He also seems to blame Fallon for everything and tries to kill him a couple times. As for Fallon, he's practically perfect in every way and repeatedly lets the bother off the hook for his own awful behavior. Ultimately, however, the jerk brother tries (again) to murder Fallon and Fallon kills him while trying to protect himself...and the stupid sister STILL acts like Fallon is the Antichrist! As for the father of the two dopes, he knows what's going on and likes Fallon. Can all this get straightened out by the end of the film AND can anyone tell me why Fallon wants to marry this flaky lady? Sure, she's gorgeous but the guy could easily find another lady who apparently isn't totally stupid.While my summary might sound a bit flippant, it IS essentially the story and this all gets tiresome after a while. Not terrible...the film has its moments, but it suffers from a silly cliché-ridden script. Not one of Power's finer endeavors.By the way, look for Dennie Weaver in a small role as an even stupider gambler...the guy who offs himself after gambling away his company's funds.
Jimjnx Excellent and a bit different action type story line. Great mix, of old world, upper echelon Mississippi River gambling life. Also the rift between "commoners" and the "rich elite" who like to make believe they don't have all the same feelings and faults like us average folk. It has a good supporting cast as well. Tyrone Power was a bit older by this move but we all age and he still looks darn good. He also is still a fine actor and personality and can command the screen too. It's has some excellent sword play and it also provides a bit of a real fencing education. Besides all that it's in color and It's got Julie Adams and Piper Laurie too!
pzanardo A joyous technicolor is the symbol of what dear old classic movies mean for us: entertainment, relax, simple but beautiful stories, nice and talented actors, great cinematography and costumes, accurate direction, and, of course, a due happy ending. "The Mississippi gambler" is a perfect instance of what I've just said.The whole cast works beautifully. I like Tyrone Power. He succeeds in the difficult task of being a beautiful man and an incredibly nice guy. He is a very good actor, too, largely underrated, in my opinion. For the talent of pretty Piper Laurie just refer to "The hustler". Here she manages to be brilliant even in the somewhat straightforward role of the spoiled girl. And then we have John McIntire: he is a member of the club of the all-time-greatest supporting actors, together with Walter Brennan, Thomas Mitchell etc. His mere presence improves a film.The story is quick-paced, interesting, entertaining, romantic, much 1800ish. The good taste rules. There's plenty of amiable 19th century cliches. Who doesn't like the old gentleman (great job by Paul Cavanagh) who faces a duel to defend the reputation of a young woman? According to the literature of the 19th century, brothers seem to exist mainly to cause major troubles and misery to their affectionate sisters. In "The Mississippi gambler" we have no less than two independent examples in this direction. By the way, John Baer is very good in the role of the debauched, arrogant but coward youngster. The photography, costumes, and locations are gorgeous. The interiors are outstanding: look at the furniture, it's magnificent. Everything is merged in a glorious, shining technicolor, the main ingredient of our dreams, the vehicle for us to be transferred into another epoch.Something to add? A fine design is made of the 1800ish psychology of the characters: romanticism, honor, duels, pride, want of adventure, and all that sort of likeable things."The Mississippi gambler" is a really good movie, worth of a golden age of cinema.
rowiddow Tyrone Power does a fine turn as a gambler who prevails at cards and life by playing honestly at both. Director Billy Wilder later used Power's talent at playing the honest-joe in Witness for the Prosecution. In the latter movie, Power's characterization is richer and more nuanced than here(but you'll need to see Witness to find out why!). Seton I. Miller, the chief screenwriter for Mississippi Gambler, worked with Powers in an earlier movie, The Black Swan. Both movies feature a dance sequence highlighting black "ethnic" musicians and dancers. Gwen Verdon provides the dancing talent in Mississippi Gambler. Worth watching for the lavish costumes, detailed sets, and excellent cast. Sadly, by the time this movie was made, Power had lost the aura that caused him to shine as a younger star.