The Mississippi Gambler (1953)

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, ... See full summary »

Director:

Rudolph Maté

Writer:

Seton I. Miller

Stars:

Tyrone Power, Piper Laurie, Julie Adams

Nominated for 1 Oscar.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Tyrone Power	...	Mark Fallon
Piper Laurie	...	Angelique 'Leia' Dureau
Julie Adams	...	Ann Conant (as Julia Adams)
John McIntire	...	Kansas John Polly
Paul Cavanagh	...	Edmond Dureau
John Baer	...	Laurent Dureau
Ron Randell	...	George Elwood
Ralph Dumke	...	F. Montague Caldwell
Robert Warwick	...	Gov. Paul Monet
William Reynolds	...	Pierre Loyette
Guy Williams	...	Andre Brion

Storyline

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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Plot Keywords:

gambling | riverboat | poker | mississippi river | sword fight | 

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Genres:

Adventure | Romance

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 April 1953 (France)

Also Known As:

Der Held vom Mississippi

Filming Locations:

Corriganville, Ray Corrigan Ranch, Simi Valley, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal International Pictures (UI)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

"Lux Radio Theater" broadcast a 60 minute radio adaptation of the movie on March 1, 1954 with Tyrone Power reprising his film role.

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Soundtracks

"HAITIAN DEVIL SONG"
Written by LeRoi Antoine; sung by him with chorus
Danced by Gwen Verdon

User Reviews

Beautiful example of dear old classic movie

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.