Don't Bet on Blondes (1935)

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

I'd like to give it more stars just because of William, but at 60 minutes or thereabouts the thin amount of footage did not warrant it. It's fast enough and the image of furiously betting and calculating clients of bookie William carry along the first part. It's the romance that slows things down. I don't mind predictability, though. Dodd is pretty enough for anyone's taste and William's dapper persona makes him and her nice looking as a couple. The most memorable scene to me, not the funniest, was the part at the end when Dodd is set to marry unloved suitor #1 rather than William. Did she compromise her self and future happiness by settling simply to have the title 'Mrs.'? It looks that way. The entire huge church attendance stares at the door where Suitor #1 ought to enter and the eager crowd's demeanor and growing look of dismay on Dodd's countenance as she faces being stood up make the scene poignant. Then William enters unexpectedly and weds his dream girl. I liked how he in the first 10 minutes completely bowed out of being a bookie and tried for a more respectable career. Naturally, he was immediately successful. All in all, any Warren William is good Warren William, and I'd not seen this picture before, so I watched it. Meh.

The Warner Brothers really should have been warned by the script office when this was submitted and approved for production that it really had a major stinker on its hands. Smooth-talking Warren William gives his usual touch of class to a screenplay with nothing but clever words while Guy Kibbee is eccentric as usual as a retired Southern colonel. Williams is a con-artist gambling bookie giving out bets on such odd occurrences as how many babies a pregnant woman will have, with the leading one a bet that he can keep Kibbee's daughter (Broadway actress Claire Dodd) from getting married. Really, there's nothing more than that except a couple of amusing moments (one featuring a really young Errol Flynn as Dodd's date who keeps getting interrupted by Williams' men as part of his sabotage) and that leads to an almost entirely forgettable film. Maude Eburne is fun in a small part as a Southern woman who can scream "Henry!" as if it was entire group of people coming out of her mouth. Basically, this is the dumbest blonde joke ever written where the roots are shallow in the skull of stupidity.

"Don't Bet on Blondes" is a short Warners comedy from 1935 starring Warren William, Claire Dodd, Guy Kibbee, William Gargan, and Errol Flynn in an early appearance.William is a bookie who decides to go legitimate and become an insurance man, but a special kind of one. He's going to take high risk cases, and some of them are real doozies: whether a man will have twins, whether someone will lose her voice, etc.One case concerns a southern man (Kibbee) who is supported by his daughter. He's writing a book proving that the south won the Civil War and he doesn't want his daughter to marry before he finishes it. It's a high risk because she's a gorgeous showgirl (Dodd) and she's practically engaged already.William steps in as a distraction. You can guess the rest.Warren William was all but forgotten before TCM; now he's very familiar to viewers and there's a new appreciation for his work. In silents, he played dark, villainous characters; in sound he could be a con man, a detective, or Perry Mason. He had a wheezing laugh and his line readings often indicated wonderful humor. It's interesting that this type of leading man -- the Barrymore-type profile, the mustache -- went out of style.This is a fast film, briskly directed, and enjoyable.

Don't Bet on Blondes (1935) ** (out of 4) Robert Florey (Murders in the Rue Morgue) directed this comedy about a bookie (Warren William) who decides to go straight by becoming an insurance man who sells claims to freaks. William is good as usual and there's a young Errol Flynn in his second role but director Florey does very little with the material and things get really dry before we even hit the 30-minute mark. There are very few laughs to be found and all the romantic side story are pretty boring and don't lead to any real excitement.