The Gambler from Natchez (1954)

In New Orleans, discharged army Captain Vance Colby learns of his father's killing done by three local Creole gents at a card game, and he sets out to punish the killers.

Director:

Henry Levin

Writers:

Gerald Drayson Adams (story and screenplay), Irving Wallace (screenplay)

Stars:

Dale Robertson, Debra Paget, Thomas Gomez

Cast

Cast overview:
Dale Robertson	...	Capt. Vance Colby
Debra Paget	...	Melanie Barbee
Thomas Gomez	...	Capt. Antoine Barbee
Lisa Daniels	...	Ivette Rivage
Kevin McCarthy	...	André Rivage
Douglas Dick	...	Claude St. Germaine
John Wengraf	...	Nicholas Cadiz
Donald Randolph	...	Pierre Bonet
Henri Letondal	...	Robert Renard
Jay Novello	...	René Garonne
Woody Strode	...	Josh

Storyline

Returning to New Orleans, following four years of army service in Texas in the 1840s, Captain Vance Colby finds his father, a professional gambler, has been killed. The police tell him his father was killed while caught cheating in a card game by Andre Rivage, an arrogant young dilettante. Vance protests that his father was an honest gambler and never used marked cards, but the police inspector tells him there were witnesses. Aided by a riverboat owner, Captain Barbee, and his daughter, Melanie, Vance sets out to clear his father's name and avenge his death.

---

Plot Keywords:

police | texas | riverboat | police inspector | 1840s | 

---

Taglines:

Melanie, the tempestuous river girl who could fight as well as she loved...and Yvette, the aristocratic southern belle who knew a gentleman by the way he kissed her! (original poster)

---

Genres:

Action | Adventure | Mystery | Romance | Western

---

Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 August 1954 (USA)

Also Known As:

Baton Rouge

Filming Locations:

RKO-Pathé Studios - 9336 Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Panoramic Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Remake of The Mississippi Gambler (1953)

User Reviews

Murdered with all the proprieties

Dale Robertson stars in the title role as The Gambler From Natchez who has come home after a furloughed leave to join Sam Houston in Texas. Which would put the year at around 1836 in the ante-bellum south and in New Orleans.

Robertson has come home to visit his father whom he finds out has been killed. His father was a gambler by trade and he was murdered with all the proprieties of the Creole code covered. Robertson himself is a gambler and good one.

He identifies three men Kevin McCarthy, Douglas Dick, and John Weingraf, as the perpetrators and he's marked them in his little black book of revenge.

The comparisons of The Gambler From Natchez with films like Mississippi Gambler and The Iron Mistress are rather obvious. But a very astute previous reviewer saw the elements of The Count Of Monte Cristo here and I salute that person.

The most harrowing scene in the film is Robertson with a knife in his back eluding the people pursuing through the shore marshes of the Mississippi. Those pursuers included the overseer who put said knife in his back and some of his slave charges. I'm sure it was with a great sense of irony that 20th Century Fox filmed black people pursuing a white runaway in the swamp.

Later on said overseer meets a most timely end at the hands of Woody Strode. How many times did black man kill a slave overseer and suffered no consequences.

Aiding and abetting Robertson's cause is riverboat captain Thomas Gomez and daughter Debra Paget. McCarthy has a fetching sister in Lisa Daniel who also intrigues Robertson. You never know on which side she will fall.

The Gambler From Natchez is not as good as the other cited films, but it certainly holds its own in the entertainment department.