Gambler's Choice


Gambler's Choice is a 1944 film directed by Frank McDonald and starring Chester Morris and Nancy Kelly.

Plot

The professional gambler Ross Hadley is the owner of a posh gaming establishment in the heart of New York. Hadley's main antagonist is his childhood friend Mike McGlennon. McGlennon, now a police lieutenant, is determined to stop the gambling activities of Hadley. Hadley's and McGlennnon's relationship becomes more complex, when they notice, that they both are in love with the attractive Mary Hayes. Mary sings in nightclubs under the stage name 'Vi Parker'.

Cast

In 1942, MGM remade Manhattan Melodrama, a film about two boyhood friends who grow up on opposite sides of the law. It was titled Gambler's Choice, then Northwest Rangers. This movie has a similar storyline, with two boyhood friends growing up on opposite sites of the law.
In June 1943 Pine-Thomas signed a new contract with Paramount which included three musicals, and two bigger budgeted pictures, plus three wartime movies which would co-star Chester Morris and Russell Hayden as a team. Hayden had just left Columbia Pictures.
In September 1943 Pine Thomas bought a story by James Edward Grant and Howard called Tenderloin as a vehicle for Chester Morris. Russell Hayden and Nancy Kelly were cast in November 1943 when the film's title was changed to Gambler's Choice.
Filming took place in December 1943.
During one scene where a cop and some arrested gamblers are in a carriage a character says "sit down you're rocking the boat".

Soundtrack