Not quite a Damon Runyon type jest, there is that element among the colorful characters. "Odds" Owen (William) morphs from ordinary bookie into insurance adventurer who'll underwrite any thing if the odds are right. So he insures Col. Youngblood for fifty-g's that his daughter (Dodd) and sole support won't marry for at least three years. Good thing Owen's got a crew of roughnecks to discourage potential suitors. Trouble is he sort of likes the fetching daughter himself.William handles the central role in a compellingly good-natured fashion. Perhaps the programmer's most engaging part is the premise. That Owen will insure most anything if the odds are favorable leads him to insure things like a father not having twins, and a weary woman having a hog-calling voice for contests. The latter is a real room wrecking hoot. I don't suppose Owens' underwriting is illegal even though standard insurers won't take up the novel risks. Still, I doubt that using thuggish "persuaders" appears in the underwriter's handbook. Overall, it's typical WB 30's fare— fast moving with colorful characters and well-upholstered women. Otherwise, it's an early Errol Flynn walk-on as a luckless suitor, but little more than an entertaining 60- minute time-passer. Still that's usually enough.

The Warner Brothers really should have been warned by the script office when this was submitted and approved for production that it really had a major stinker on its hands. Smooth-talking Warren William gives his usual touch of class to a screenplay with nothing but clever words while Guy Kibbee is eccentric as usual as a retired Southern colonel. Williams is a con-artist gambling bookie giving out bets on such odd occurrences as how many babies a pregnant woman will have, with the leading one a bet that he can keep Kibbee's daughter (Broadway actress Claire Dodd) from getting married. Really, there's nothing more than that except a couple of amusing moments (one featuring a really young Errol Flynn as Dodd's date who keeps getting interrupted by Williams' men as part of his sabotage) and that leads to an almost entirely forgettable film. Maude Eburne is fun in a small part as a Southern woman who can scream "Henry!" as if it was entire group of people coming out of her mouth. Basically, this is the dumbest blonde joke ever written where the roots are shallow in the skull of stupidity.

"Don't Bet on Blondes" is a short Warners comedy from 1935 starring Warren William, Claire Dodd, Guy Kibbee, William Gargan, and Errol Flynn in an early appearance.William is a bookie who decides to go legitimate and become an insurance man, but a special kind of one. He's going to take high risk cases, and some of them are real doozies: whether a man will have twins, whether someone will lose her voice, etc.One case concerns a southern man (Kibbee) who is supported by his daughter. He's writing a book proving that the south won the Civil War and he doesn't want his daughter to marry before he finishes it. It's a high risk because she's a gorgeous showgirl (Dodd) and she's practically engaged already.William steps in as a distraction. You can guess the rest.Warren William was all but forgotten before TCM; now he's very familiar to viewers and there's a new appreciation for his work. In silents, he played dark, villainous characters; in sound he could be a con man, a detective, or Perry Mason. He had a wheezing laugh and his line readings often indicated wonderful humor. It's interesting that this type of leading man -- the Barrymore-type profile, the mustache -- went out of style.This is a fast film, briskly directed, and enjoyable.

DON'T BET ON BLONDES is the lesson New York City's most eccentric insurance broker learns the hard way.Fast-moving & fun, this is another example of the comedy crime picture that Warner Brothers was so expert at producing. Casts & plots could be shuffled almost endlessly, with very predictable results. While this assembly line approach created few classics, audience enjoyment could usually be assured.Suave and sophisticated, Warren William dominates this enjoyable little film with his debonair manner and slightly sardonic sense of humor. Playing a topnotch bookie who seamlessly switches to the more legal insurance racket, William is never less than absolutely in command of his performance. His pursuit of lovely Claire Dodd, even though she's the subject of his client's offbeat policy, illustrates his character's single-minded determination to get exactly what he wants. Whether in comedy or drama, Warren William was a most enjoyable actor to watch and it is a shame that he is almost forgotten now.A sturdy cast of costars gives fine support to William. Cuddly Guy Kibbee plays a Kentucky colonel desperate to retain his daughter's largess. Quick-tempered William Gargan is William's numbers expert, while Spencer Charters is his wise old company doctor. Clay Clement is a somewhat larcenous lawyer who has his eyes on Miss Dodd; Walter Byron portrays a prissy hypochondriac actor. Mary Treen is William's no-nonsense secretary; Hobart Cavanaugh plays a little man anxious to ensure his pregnant wife against having twins.Look fast for Herman Bing as a man with a dog. A young Errol Flynn, looking earnest & eager, plays a potential suitor for Miss Dodd; he would become a major movie star very shortly. Wonderful Maude Eburne steals her scenes as a champion husband caller from Iowa.Movie mavens will recognize W. C. Fields' longtime accomplice, Tammany Young, as an uncredited betting tout in the open scene.