The movie never rises above programmer status, but it's a good lively cast that gets the most out of clichéd material. Three childhood friends meet up as adults. Ross (Morris) has become a big time gambling house owner while Mike (Hayden) is now a police lieutenant and Mary, a stage entertainer. The boys become friendly rivals over Mary; at the same time, Mike's friendship gets compromised by Ross's sometimes shady operations. Sound familiar. That's because this sort of theme was common during the 30's, from Cagney to Gable, that is, childhood friends graduating into different sides of the law and becoming friendly enemies. What did surprise me here was Russell Hayden as Mike. I'd only seen him as the happy-go-lucky Lucky in the Hopalong Cassidy series. Here, sporting a mustache, he plays a more dramatic role in fine fashion. Otherwise, the movie's a decent little time-passer.

Apparently there is a division of opinion among the critics. Some have said this was B picture ripoff of Manhattan Melodrama, others opt for Angels With Dirty Faces. If I had to choose I would choose the latter because I could see any number of other Warner Brothers features here that would have starred James Cagney and Pat O'Brien.Gamblers Choice was made by the Pine-Thomas producing team who did a lot of B films over at Paramount and early in their careers, their stars were a pair of guys who were big in the early sound era, but had slipped in status by the Forties, Richard Arlen and/or Chester Morris.Morris stars here as the ruthless gambler type who grew up in those years entitled the Gay Nineties. Without as much flash as James Cagney gave his parts, Morris gives a pretty good account of himself as the bad boy who is loyal in the end to his friends.Those friends being singer Nancy Kelly and policeman Russell Hayden who is the upright and honest cop that Pat O'Brien was always playing. Hayden's own sense of loyalties to his friends almost trips him up and Kelly has to choose between Morris and Hayden.The production values were not MGM gloss, but you did get a nice sense of New York in the Roosevelt-Taft era before World War I. Sheldon Leonard as Morris's rival gambling palace owner and Lee Patrick the bookmaker's widow who Morris romances and then throws over for Kelly standout themselves in their roles.Nothing terribly special, but no one need be ashamed of their work here. Gamblers Choice holds up very nicely for today.

Gambler's Choice is the kind of movie where halfway through, you're trying to guess how it's going to end. Why? Because the plot is so familiar and you've already wracked your brains trying to remember how it ended when Cagney and O'Brien and Gable and Powell and them were in it. –No, Gambler's Choice is not especially original; perhaps oddly, it's still quite watchable.Three childhood friends are reunited after many years apart: Chester Morris has grown up to become a charismatic but crooked casino owner; Russell Hayden is an honest cop in a city of corruption; and Nancy Kelly is the nightclub singer who loves them both. Which one will she eventually choose? and what will happen when Lucky and Blackie—er, Hayden and Morris—inevitably clash? Of the supporting cast, Sheldon Leonard as the rival casino owner looks most like he's enjoying himself, but his is only one of several familiar faces (Tom Dugan, Lloyd Corrigan, even Lyle Talbot). Morris does well in the second half but seems somehow unnatural in the early going. Hayden is okay but isn't given a lot to do that's really interesting. Kelly could also have been more interesting; again, there's not a lot that she does or says that remotely surprises. The performances are all fine, but the actors just aren't given much to work with.So it's corny and unoriginal, but hand it to the filmmakers for trying. Halfway through the picture, there's a scene where the three main characters gaze out a window over the growing city. "There it is, Mike," says Morris. "Little old New York….And it's all ours. Just like we dreamed about when we were kids." --A film that's strictly a quickie with no ambition doesn't pause for philosophical musings, corny or not. It's brief, but just for an instant there you get the feel of that epic moment that "big" movies shoot for.The last fifteen minutes—when things really start popping—are exciting, even tense, and satisfying. I was glad I stuck around to find out what happens.Funny scene: the horseless carriage chase. Even in 1911, apparently, you sometimes needed to lose someone following your auto in his own.

I had a very strong sense of déjà vu as I watched this film. That's because although IMDb doesn't say it's a remake, it is a retooling of many popular films of the 1930s--particularly "Manhattan Melodrama". Because of this, I found the plot rather predictable. Now I am not saying that it's a bad film--it's competently made--but it's certainly not very original or inspired.The film begins with three kids out hustling. One, who you KNOW is destined to grow up bad, steals something and soon the cops catch them. The court scene pretty much shows what the future will be for the trio--the bad kid has a criminal-type father (so he'll grow to be a crooked guy), the girl's father a drunk (so she'll spend most of her life caring for the irresponsible guy) and the other has parents that are concerned (naturally, he grows to be a cop just like his old man).Years pass and now the bad kid has grown into Ross (Chester Morris)--a professional gambler who is willing to do just about anything to make his mark on the world AND be the biggest man in town. Mary is now a beautiful barroom singer (Nancy Kelly) and Mike (Russell Hayden) is a cop. Of the three, Ross is the center of the story--just like gambling Clark Gable was in "Manhattan Melodrama". I could explain more about the plot but don't particularly feel it's that important--as I said, so much of it is familiar territory. What is also familiar is that Ross and Mike are destined to have a confrontation and the question, as always, is can they avoid hurting each other in the process and also remain friends.Overall, well acted and a decent time-passer...but not much else.