Gambling with Souls (1936) (NTSC)

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General		Extras
Category	Cult	Short Film
Rating
Year Of Production	1936
Running Time	68:09 (Case: 70)
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Elmer Clifton
Studio Distributor	Gryphon Entertainment	Starring	Martha Chapin Wheeler Oakman Bryant Washburn Gay Sheridan Vera Steadman Edward Keane Robert Frazer Gaston Glass Florence Dudley Eddie Laughton
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Dual
RPI	$19.95	Music	None Given

     Under the guise of educating the public about the perils of sexual promiscuity, such as sexually transmitted diseases, unmarried mothers, prostitution and homosexuality, filmmakers from the 30s to the 50s sought to get away with raising otherwise forbidden topics in a titillating way, “sexploitation”, as long as there was a message and moral at the end. Gryphon have released a 6 film, 3 DVD collection entitled Horny – Sexplotation Films from the 30’s to the 50’s, which is a fascinating look at how sexual topics were portrayed in films during those three decades.

     Gambling with Souls is directed by Elmer Clifton, who directed over 90 films in a career spanning over four decades including Assassin of Youth (1937) (about the perils of marihuana), The Whispering Skull (1944) and the Republic Pictures serial Captain America (1944). In Gambling with Souls - “an authentic expose of New York’s white slave racket” according to the publicity - he directs a cautionary tale that certainly has its “sexploitation” elements.

     Gambling with Souls begins dramatically with a Police raid upon a gambling and prostitution club. There are some shots, and breaking down a door the Police find a dead body on the floor and an attractive blonde with a smoking gun in her hand. She turns out to be Mrs. Mae Miller (Martha Chapin) and the body is that of club owner “Lucky” Wilder (Wheeler Oakman). In the office of the D.A. (Ed Keene) we get to hear her sad story.

     Mae is happily married to Doctor John Miller (Robert Frazer) but yearns for a few more of the good things in life, such as new dresses, than his struggling medical practice can provide. Encouraged by her “friend” Molly Murdock (Vera Steadman) she attends the gambling club run by “Lucky” Wilder, where she initially wins at roulette and embarks upon a good time and a spending spree. But Molly is secretly in the employ of Wilder and her job is to lure naïve woman into debt. Within a few visits Mae is heavily in debt to Wilder and is forced into prostitution as the only means of paying off the money she owes. Feeling dirty and degraded, she cannot tell her husband and falls ever deeper into Wilder’s clutches. Then one night she is aghast to see that Molly and Wilder have a new victim; Mae’s innocent younger sister Carolyn (Gay Sheridan). And when Carolyn dies from a botched abortion (although the cause is not actually named in the film), Mae decides to take her revenge.

     Gambling with Souls is a taut little melodrama, with a strong message about the parasites who prey on naïve young women and lure them into prostitution. Martha Chapin, who only appeared in three films, is certainly beautiful and looks good undressed, and if her acting is not great she is not alone there. The film does come under the “sexploitation” category: there are a number of shots of the scantily dancers in the club, the camera lingering upon their legs and behinds, a few scenes of women in their underwear, and we have Chapin undressing to her underwear on a couple of occasions. This would be quite risqué in 1936, and there is evidence that it may have been originally even a bit more risqué: at 24:30 there seems to be a few frames missing as she walks across the room removing clothes. The film is also interesting for what can be shown of seduction in 1936: in one sequence we get shadows on a wall, clothes thrown into camera shot and a dreamy look in the actress’ eyes! This is an interesting film and quite a fascinating look at 1930s sexploitation filmmaking.

     Gambling with Souls is included in the 6 film, 3 DVD collection Horny – Sexplotation Films from the 30’s to the 50’s, a box set from Gryphon. The films are: Sex Madness (1938) and The Wild and Wicked (1956) on disc 1 with the additional short film Boys Beware (1961), Damaged Lives (1933) and Gambling with Souls (1936) plus the short film How Much Affection (1957) on disc 2 and Test Tube Babies (1948) and Child Bride (1938) with the short film What Makes a Good Party (1950) on disc 3.

Video

     Gambling with Souls is presented in a ratio of 1.33:1, and is not 16x9 enhanced. The original ratio was 1.37:1.

     This is a very, very soft print, with detail very much lacking so that at times people are just a haze (pause around 8:18, for example). Blacks are really various shades of gray and shadow detail basically non-existent; contrast and brightness varied quite considerably and at times the film took on different hues. There are numerous dirt marks and scratches throughout the print; most are reasonably small but some bigger ones, such as at 19:43 are quite noticeable. The print also has reel change markers and a lot of macro blocking (pause on the dancers at 11:22) plus some missing frames.

     At 49:27 what appeared to be a logo appeared in the bottom right hand corner of the frame.

     There are no subtitles.

     The summary? This is a 75 year old unrestored print, and it looks it. It is by no means unwatchable, and the artefacts are not too excessive, it is just very hazy. Note that the scores given have been adjusted, as it is not valid to compare this print with those of modern films.

Video Ratings Summary

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Audio

     Audio is an English Linear PCM track at 1536 Kbps. It comes with a constant loud hiss and the occasional drop out. Dialogue on occasion was difficult to understand; turning up the volume only turned up the hiss. Effects are predictably dull and tinny. There is no surround or sub woofer use.

     There is no-one credited with the score, and in truth there was almost no music in the film anyway.

     I did not notice any lip synchronization issues.

Audio Ratings Summary

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     There are no extras as such, but on the same disc as Damaged Lives and Gambling with Souls is the short film (19:47) How Much Affection (1961).

     This short film is part of the “Marriage and Family Living Series” from McGraw-Hill, cautioning teenagers against “wrong behaviour”: that is, sex before marriage, and extolling they exercise “judgment rather than emotion” as too much affection leads to unwanted pregnancies and your life ruined forever. Better to wait. Quaint, and the clean cut boys and the girls’ party frocks are a treat! Black and white; frequent marks including a vertical scratch over the titles, murky shadow detail and the analogue tape origins are apparent. A slight hiss throughout the audio.

     I cannot find a record on sales sites of Gambling with Souls being available in other regions.

     I cannot find any equivalent of the Horny box set package in any other region.

     Gambling with Souls is a taut little melodrama, with a strong message about the parasites who prey on naïve young women. The film does fall under the sexploitation category: there are a number of shots of the scantily dancers, a few scenes of women in their underwear, and the attractive lead actress undresses to her underwear on a couple of occasions. Quite titillating for 1936.

     The video and audio are as one would expect from a 75 year old unrestored black and white, non-mainstream film.

     Gambling with Souls is included in the 6 film, 3 DVD collection Horny, a box set of sexploitation tales from the 1930s to 1950s from Gryphon for a RRP of $19.95. The films taken together are a fascinating window on how sexual topics were portrayed in films during those three decades.

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