Don't Bet on Blondes

1935 "HE'D BET ON ANYTHING!"
6.1| 0h59m| en| More Info
Released: 13 July 1935 Released
Producted By: Warner Bros. Pictures
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Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
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Synopsis

Owen, a small time bookie, decides to open an insurance business as it involves lesser risk. His first client is Colonel Youngblood who insures his daughter, Marilyn, against marriage.

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Reviews

Exoticalot People are voting emotionally.
Breakinger A Brilliant Conflict
Helllins It is both painfully honest and laugh-out-loud funny at the same time.
Tyreece Hulme One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.
MartinHafer The fact that this was the last film Errol Flynn made before he became a mega-star is reason enough to watch this movie. Just after completing "Don't Bet on Blondes", he starred in "Captain Blood"-- one of the biggest hits he ever made and which led to one of the fasted rises to stardom in Hollywood history.Apart from the Flynn angle (and he's only a relatively minor character), the film is still worth seeing--though I'll admit that the plot is incredibly weird and just plain wacky! Warren William stars as 'Odds' Owen, a professional gambler and bookmaker. However, he's tired of taking bets on horse races...especially since races can and are rigged. So he decides to try something similar but a surer thing...insurance! He plans on insuring bizarro things much like Lloyds of London was famous for at the time (such as insuring that actor Ben Turpin's eyes remain crossed)...especially since the odds of ever having to pay off are slim.One of the crazy policies he takes is NOT one that is so easy...and Odds shouldn't take it but he did. A goofball author (Guy Kibbee) announces he wants a policy AGAINST his daughter marrying during the next three years! But to make sure that Odds doesn't have to pay off, he sets out to interfere with the young lady's love life! In one case, a poor sap (Flynn) is set-up to make it appear as if he's some sort of gangster and eventually Odds decides the best thing to do is just date her himself! What's next? See the film.Why does this silly plot manage to work? Warren William! He was a wonderful actor and although mostly forgotten today, he was wonderful and often made ordinary films amazing films. While he's not the sleazy jerk he often played so well in earlier films due to the new Production Code, he IS enjoyable to watch...and is still a bit of a jerk...and he played jerks so very well.
pronker pronker 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.
blanche-2 "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.
Michael_Elliott 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.