Displaying items by tag: Grahame Greene

LOSER TAKES ALL

UK, 1956, 88 minutes, Colour.

Glynis Johns, Rossano Brazzi, Robert Morley, Tony Britton, Felix Aylmer, Joyce Carey, Geoffrey Keane, Albert Lieven, A.E.Matthews.

Directed by Ken Annakin.

In retrospect, the biggest surprise about this film is that it is based on a Graham Greene short story and the screenplay has, in fact, been written by Graham Greene. (He is said not to have been so happy about the finished product – he would not have given it a good review in the days when he was a film reviewer!).

It has lavish treatment, a strong cast and Monte Carlo locations and fashions. But, it has a brief running time, a type of British screwball comedy. Characters are not meant to be consistent and, here, they definitely are not. And they are slightly sketched overall.

Rossano Brazzi is a meticulous accountant, wins the favour of businessmen, Robert Morley, who invites him to Monte Carlo for a holiday where he is to marry his fiancee, Glynis Johns. The wealthy man does not turn up and the couple have very limited resources. However, they do get married. A stranger offers a gambling system to the husband and he becomes absorbed, winning a great deal of money and enabling the couple to live something of a high life. But, the husband gets so involved that he neglects his wife and she has caught the eye of a British gambler, played by Tony Britton in his first film.

The plotline is somewhat predictable but the credibility of the characters following the predictable plotline is very doubtful. Perhaps the actors are doing their best, but Rossano Brazzi becomes too serious and avaricious and Glynis Johns more flighty.

There are several character actors in support, a surprising turn by Joyce Carey who has her own schemes in the casinos, Geoffrey Keane as a manager being very superior to the customers.

The film is an early film directed by Ken Annakin who was to have a successful career in the UK and the US, dramas as well is blockbusters.