A Natural Born Gambler (1916)

A lovable scoundrel is busted for gambling and thrown into jail, where he dreams of playing poker - but even in his dreams, he loses.

Director:

Bert Williams

Writer:

Bert Williams

Stars:

Bert Williams

Cast

Cast overview:
Bert Williams	...	The Hon. Bert Williams, walking delegate

Storyline

Our story centers upon the activities of a Negro fraternal organization, the Independent Order of Calcimine Artists of America. [Inside joke: "calcimine" is whitewash, and yet most of these black actors appear to have darkened their complexions with blackface makeup.] The group meets in the back of a saloon. Their leader, Brother Scott, is a lawyer who disapproves of gambling-- although, after breaking up a poker game, he doesn't object to appropriating others' winnings. Our protagonist is lodge member Bert Williams, described as a "walking delegate," who is clearly in arrears with both the saloon's barkeep, Hostetter Johnson, and with the lodge itself. Early on, he is compelled to remit the dues he owes (three dollars), which he does reluctantly. [Some prints of the film omit the next sequence: After leaving a meeting with his friend Limpy Jones, who is handicapped with gout and must ride on Bert's shoulders, Bert passes a graveyard where he overhears two chicken thieves splitting up...

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Genres:

Short | Comedy

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Details

Country:

USA

Release Date:

24 July 1916 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Biograph Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

22 min

Sound Mix:

Silent

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In an unprecedented move for its day in 1915, Biograph Company executives hired actor Bert Williams to star, produce, direct, and write his own films, having full control, the first time a Black-American ever had such control given by a mainstream movie company. The two films made for Biograph were "A Natural Born Gambler" 1916, and Fish.

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Connections

Featured in Ethnic Notions (1986)

User Reviews

Leave your brains at the door and laugh

Yeah, it's pretty un-PC. But Bert Williams was the foundation of modern American comedy as well as a Black pioneer, so with this film (which is MUCH better than his other short "Fish"), you're getting history in the making.

The plot has been dealt with, as well as highlights such as the one-man poker game, the courtroom scene, and the graveyard hijinks. But what most modern viewers don't know is that Williams actually wrote and directed this film and it was actually a compilation of his classic stage routines (based largely on a skit called "The Darktown Poker Club" which also exists in record form) strung together in a makeshift story. The graveyard scene, by the way, is also a Williams' stage gag based on authentic Black folklore.

Bert made two other films, "Darktown Jubilee" (now lost) and "Fish" (mighty weak). This one preserves what made him so appealing on stage to audiences of the early 1900s. Laugh and learn from the foundation.