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6/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 6/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. Men of Chance remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
If you're a fan of old black-and-white studio dramas where people talk in snappy, clipped sentences, Men of Chance is fine for a rainy afternoon. It’s got that specific 1930s energy—all hats, high stakes, and people walking into rooms just to announce bad news. If you hate melodrama or need your plots to actually make sense in the third act, you’re going to be frustrated by how quickly Martha just decides to fold under pressure.
Mary Astor is doing a lot of heavy lifting here. She has this way of looking at the camera that suggests she knows the script is a bit thin, but she’s going to sell it anyway. There's a scene near the middle where she’s supposed to be playing a sophisticated countess, and she leans into it just enough to make you giggle. It’s not Shakespeare, but it’s charming in a sort of haphazard, rushed way.
The whole premise relies on Johnny Silk being the most gullible man on the planet. I mean, the guy is a professional bookie! You’d think he’d have a better radar for fake countesses. Watching him fall for it feels less like a grand romance and more like a car crash you can’t look away from. 🏎️
The racetrack scenes are… well, they’re clearly stock footage or a backlot set that saw better days. Sometimes the extras in the background are just standing there, waiting for the director to yell cut. It gives the whole movie this strangely hollow, stagey vibe. Reminds me a bit of the frantic pacing in The Last of Mrs. Cheyney, though that one had a bit more polish on its shoes.
The middle act is where the movie just sort of spins its wheels. Martha feeds the bookie bad info, he loses his shirt, and then he gets mad. We’ve seen this exact dynamic in a dozen other films, like Weak But Willing, but here it lacks that extra bit of bite. It’s just people yelling in offices.
By the time they get to the final betrayal, I was already half-checked out. The movie doesn't really know how to wrap up the tension, so it just kind of ends. It’s the cinematic equivalent of a shrug. 🤷♂️
Still, if you like watching actors who know their craft try to salvage a lukewarm screenplay, there’s worse ways to spend an hour. It’s not a masterpiece, but it’s definitely not a total waste of time either. Just don't go in expecting something as tight as Adventure Mad.
IMDb —
1923
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