Leofwine_draca THE LAS VEGAS STORY is a typical film noir featuring the usual '50s staples of cops, robbers, fences, gamblers, and the inevitable femme fatale, this time around played by the flame-haired Jane Russell (who I never liked much, but there you go). For much of the running time this is a three-hander between dedicated cop Victor Mature, gambler Vincent Price, and the latter's wife, played by Russell.The Las Vegas backdrop is a lively one but there's a lot of sub-romance stuff going on which drags the pace down somewhat, and the sub-plot about a pair of teenage lovers is hardly gripping material either. Mature seems to be sleepwalking through his role, although Russell works hard and Price is immediately likable (although I'm spoilt by his horror roles and wished he could have been a bit more, well, macabre).Things eventually pick up when murder enters the frame, which leads to a breathtaking extended chase climax involving helicopters, high rise stunts, and more besides. If only the rest of the film could have been more like this and less stodgy! The last half hour has all the hallmarks of a superior thriller, so it's a pity that the first hour is a bit dull. It works out average overall.

James Hitchcock The title "The Las Vegas Story" might suggest a film recounting the city's history, possibly centred upon the early days of the gaming industry under Bugsy Siegel and Meyer Lansky. It is not, however, a movie of that sort, any more than "The Philadelphia Story" deals with the early days of colonial Pennsylvania. It is sometimes classed as a "film noir", although to my mind that term is sometimes overused to describe virtually any crime drama made between 1930 and 1960. Certainly, "The Las Vegas Story" lacks some of the characteristics of classic noir, such as low-key lighting and a sense of moral ambivalence.A wealthy stockbroker named Lloyd Rollins arrives in Las Vegas to play the tables. Accompanying him is his beautiful, and much younger, wife Linda who used to work as a singer in one of the city's casinos. Linda meets her former boyfriend Dave Andrews, whom she knew before her marriage and who is now working as a local police officer. I won't recount the plot in any more detail as it gets very complicated- something to do with a valuable diamond necklace, an insurance fraud, a suspicious investigator and the murder of a casino owner.In many ways this is a fairly standard early fifties crime drama with little in terms of its plot that would make it stand out from dozens of others. There are, however, a few features which make the film (just about) worth seeing even today. There is a very good suspense sequence when Dave pursues the villain into the Nevada desert, involving a chase between a helicopter and a car and a cliffhanger in an abandoned military base. Like another viewer, I was reminded by this sequence of the work of Alfred Hitchcock, and wondered if it could have served as an inspiration for the famous "crop-duster" scene in "North by North-West".The leading man, Victor Mature as Dave, gives a rather static, wooden performance; he tended to be better in historical dramas in which his impressive physique and screen presence made him stand out. Vincent Price, however, is better as Lloyd, a smoothly plausible rogue with a few skeletons in his cupboard, and there is an entertaining cameo from Hoagy Carmichael, better known as a songwriter and musician, as Happy, the eccentric pianist in the casino bar. (The name Happy is presumably an ironic nickname, as he has a permanently mournful expression on his face).The best thing about the film, however, is the presence of the lovely Jane Russell. Jane's time at the top was a relatively short one, which is not surprising given that she was that rare breed, a thirty-something sex symbol. She only made three films while in her twenties, but another sixteen between the ages of 30 and 36, following which she retired from the screen, although she did make occasional comebacks. In the fifties a forty-something sex symbol was evidently regarded as a contradiction in terms, although Joan Collins was to reinvent herself as precisely that in the seventies. (There is an interesting comparison between Jane and her contemporary Veronica Lake; Lake's career was effectively over by 1949, whereas Russell's did really not take off until 1951, even though she was actually the older of the two by eighteen months).Jane was perhaps not the most technically brilliant actress in Hollywood, but she had a compelling screen presence, and although she may not have made any great films, she made some very watchable and entertaining ones. She also had a very good singing voice, which she puts to good use in this movie, singing among other things the well-known hit "My Resistance Is Low". (Following her temporary retirement from the cinema in 1957, she was to reinvent herself as a Las Vegas nightclub singer, like her character Linda). It is her glamour- by which I mean her charisma and presence as well as her physical attractiveness- which is responsible for raising "The Las Vegas Story" above the level of the mundane. 6/10

MARIO GAUCI Apart from being another entry in my planned month-long tribute to Vincent Price, this also served as a nod to the recently-departed Jane Russell (as should be the upcoming MACAO from the same year, to be included in my other ongoing retrospective dedicated to Josef von Sternberg). Anyway, this is a minor noir effort: indeed, it is one of the sunnier of its type, in that the narrative unfolds as much by day as it does during the night; besides, for all its intended gloom, there is a healthy vein of humor running through it! It is saved, however, by the RKO production values (the studio, above any other, gave the genre its quintessential look) and the star cast (which also includes Victor Mature, Hoagy Carmichael, Brad Dexter and Jay C. Flippen).The plot involves Russell's return to the gambling capital of the world after she had spent the war years as a chanteuse there (at a club where Carmichael – who else? – is the typically laidback pianist/observer). In the meantime, she has married wealthy Price but does not know he is close to bankruptcy (before noticing a wire he received reporting the suicide of his Boston colleague)!; another old acquaintance is cop-on-the-beat Mature, bitter at her apparent desertion of him. Needless to say, Russell and Mature ultimately get to rekindle their affair, but the path runs far from smoothly: apart from their own mutual resentment, Price does not look favourably upon his wife's former conquests, while complicating things further is the expensive necklace Price uses as a guarantee in order to try his luck at one of the leading casinos (which is being closely watched by insurance investigator Dexter). Eventually, the new owner of Russell's old haunt is found murdered (after he had denied Price further credit) and the necklace stolen. Of course, Price becomes the key suspect – and Russell accuses Mature of having framed him so as to get back at her! However, it is obvious from the get-go that the real culprit is the wolfish Dexter, and the film climaxes decently with a desert helicopter chase and a shootout in an abandoned hangar. As for Price, he is ready to pay the price {sic} of his own criminal activity back home i.e. embezzlement.The film is reasonably enjoyable, with most of the expected noir elements intact – including its fair share of hard-boiled dialogue, not to mention having Russell and Carmichael warble a number of songs – but the contrived scripting (by Earl Felton and Harry Essex, who ought to have known better!), cornball attempts at comedy (mainly having to do with Sheriff Flippen betting what Mature's next move will be with respect to both solving the case and sorting out his private life!) and an incongruous sentimental streak (clearly evoking CASABLANCA {1942} in the subplot involving a couple of underage elopers!) prevent the promising mixture from rising to greater heights.

edwagreen Routine crime drama with Jane Russell as a singer, disillusioned with life due to her marriage to gambler Vincent Price, who has a lot of other things on their mind. The two stop off in Las Vegas, where Russell used to sing at gambling place and play lover to Victor Mature, a cop on the local force.When Price experiences a losing streak at the tables, he borrows on Russell's expensive piece of jewelry. Mayhem breaks out when the owner of the hotel, who is holding the brooch, is found dead the following morning. All eyes point to Price with those evil sneers of his. Go know that while he is an embezzler, he is not the killer.There is the usual helicopter chase.Brad Dexter co-stars as an insurance agent with plenty more on his mind. Hoagy Carmichael is along as the piano player singing I Can Get Along Without You Very Well and Monkey Business. Problem is that there really is no monkey business in this very routine thriller.