When Joan Boothe accompanies husband-reporter David to Las Vegas, she begins gambling to pass the time while he is doing a story. Encouraged by the casino manager, she gets hooked on gambling, to the point where she "borrows" David's expense money to pursue her addiction. This finally breaks up their marriage, but David continues trying to help her.
Acting
Stanwyck's sweaty, trembling desperation—no glamour, all wreckage.
Direction
Gordon's flashback structure turns addiction into inescapable spiral.
Director
Michael Gordon
Barbara Stanwyck
Joan Phillips Boothe
Robert Preston
David Boothe
Stephen McNally
Horace Corrigan
Edith Barrett
Ruth Phillips
John Hoyt
Dr. Rojac
Elliott Sullivan
Barky
John Harmon
Frenchy
Philip Van Zandt
Chuck (as Phil Van Zandt)
Leif Erickson
Tony
Curt Conway
Bank Clerk
Houseley Stevenson
Pawnbroker
Don Beddoe
Mr. Dennis Sutherland
Nana Bryant
Mrs. Dennis Sutherland
Tony Curtis
Bellboy (as Anthony Curtis)
Peter Leeds
Jack Harris - Hotel Clerk
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Stanwyck researched at real Vegas casinos, watching compulsive gamblers for hours—method acting before it had a name.
Rare 1940s film treating female addiction seriously, not as moral punishment—though the happy ending was studio-mandated.
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