Introduction
The Lady Gambles is an all-time classic film dating back to 1949. It’s an American Noir drama film starring Barbara Stanwyck ( Joan Boothe ) and Robert Preston( David Boothe). Robert is a reporter from Chicago who is on assignment at Hoover Dam, leaving his wife Joan staying at a Vegas hotel.
The Main Story
Joan Boothe is staying at a Las Vegas Hotel while her husband is on assignment. Joan is looking for a story of her own and snoops around the hotel’s casino with a hidden camera. She is caught by the casino owner Horace Corrigan and on closer inspection realizes she is not a hustler. Horace then provides her with some free chips to play casino games, which is the start of Joan’s gambling. Remember this is long before the days of online casino united states, which is why it’s likely set at the heart of 1940’s casino life in Vegas.
Joan loses $600 of David’s expense money and pawns a camera before winning it back. Corrigan then starts subtly flirting with Joan and convinces her to be his proxy in a Poker Game – one of the many casino games such as machines a sous en ligne that feature in this eventful movie. She wins $4000 and receives her share thereof. During the game which lasted until dawn David phones the room only to be told by Joan’s sister that Joan has not slept in her bed all night. Upon David’s return, he sees she is in deep.
David quits his job and takes Joan to Mexico, where he intends to write a book. In Mexico, a couple Joan met in Vegas get her into a dice game where she loses their life savings. Having had enough of her gambling, David leaves her, intending to file for divorce.
The Ending
Joan returns to Vegas and works for Corrigan to front a horse racing operation (never a dull moment with her!). Joan double-crosses his partners. She then descends into a world of disreputable characters and lands up being badly beaten and hospitalized. With David back in the picture, he convinces her to take a more sedate path going forward!