Main Cast: Clark Gable, Alexis Smith, Wendell Corey, Audrey Totter, Mary Astor, Frank Morgan
Release Year: 1949
Country: US
Run Time: 102 minutes
Plot
In this light drama, Clark Gable once again played his stock-in-trade role of a rogue with a heart of gold. Charlie King (Gable) runs a casino, but, in a business that thrives among the unscrupulous, Charlie takes pride in running an honest game and treating his customers with fairness and respect. However, Charlie's wife Lon (Alexis Smith) doesn't care if he runs a fair game -- she regards gambling as a dirty and corrupt business, and no matter how honest Charlie may be, he's still involved in a wicked activity. Charlie's son Paul (Darryl Hickman) is also against him; when Paul gets in trouble and Charlie bails him out of jail, he refuses to leave with him, instead going home with mother. Charlie invites Paul to see what his casino is like, and Lon agrees that Paul should know just what his father does. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Review
Any Number Can Play is a moderately entertaining if unspectacular little flick, given extra "oomph" by the presence of Clark Gable in the leading role. It's a familiar role for Gable -- an honest rogue, a man's man who lives by his own code of honor and always plays fair, even while making sure no one makes a sucker of him. By 1949, Gable could have played this role in his sleep, but he finds ways of breathing new life into this familiar part. It's a good thing he does, too, as he gets little help from co-star Alexis Smith, also playing a familiar role -- the ice queen who longs to be melted -- but never managing to imbue it with more than a spark of life. The rest of the cast is quite good, especially Frank Morgan, Lewis Stone, Barry Sullivan, and Mary Astor. And if the non-stop interiors stifle director Mervyn LeRoy a bit, he still keeps the pacing fairly taut and makes the most of a routine screenplay. Any Number Can Play is not all aces, but Gable and his colleagues turn it into a winning hand -- barely. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Cedric Gibbons - Art Director, Urie McCleary - Art Director, Mervyn LeRoy - Director, Ralph Winters - Editor, Lennie Hayton - Composer (Music Score), Harold Hal Rosson - Cinematographer, Arthur Freed - Producer, Richard Brooks - Screenwriter, Edward Harris Heath - Book Author
