Dennis O" Keefe, Looking a Bit Long in the Tooth from His Hey-Day of Top Tier Film-Noir Outings in the 1940's.
He of the Perpetual Dangling Cigarette, seems to have Ditched the Habit,
for a Habitat Better Fitting a more 50's Nod to the "Clean-Cut" Eisenhower Era Persona.
It Probably made Him More Appealing to the Squeaky-Clean, Bespectacled Coleen Grey.
Fresh-Faced from Her Small-Town.
A Woman-Girl and a School-Teacher-Author.
The Two Immediately Match Pheromones and Play Footsie before Getting Serious.
That Helps the Already Too-Good-To-Be-True Casino Owner become the "Jackpot" that the Repressed, Lonesome, Woman can Cash-In.
But the Silliness Really Kicks-In with 3 Sub-Plots about "Gambling Addiction" that All Have a Message and then a Happy-Ending.
The Thing that Most Folks came to See,
the Crime and Underworld Element.
Arrives in the Form of a Growling Mobster with a Limp, Thomas Gomez...
Nicknamed...the UN-PC..."The Gimp".
He was Recently Released from "The Rock",
and is Hell-Bent on Shaking Down/Murdering O'Keefe.
The Confrontation has some "Oomph" with Knives, Guns, and Fisticuffs.
The Taut Finale in the Train Yard Showing some Grit.
However the "Cinderella" Sub-Plots Hollow Out the Movie and Leave an Ultra-Clean Sheen on the Thing.
It Bogs the Movie Down,
to Laughable Status at Times.
Still, for the Best of it and the Better Scenes, it is...
Worth a Watch.