1935 Film

THE GAMBLER

The Gambler is a movie set during the depression. It's about your average, everyday man named Harry Johnson (Clark Gable) who is fighting to earn enough money to support his wife Alice Johnson (Joan Crawford) and son Tommy Johnson (Jackie Cooper). However, this becomes difficult when Johnson gets laid off from his job. He then becomes desperate for money and begins to play poker with some dangerous men. After hustling and winning $300 he makes enemies with Greg Erhart (Robert Montgomery). In order to get his money back, Erhart kid naps Johnson's son and holds him hostage. The movie is a desperate battle of a man trying to get his son back and make his life right again. 

The movie has a strong message of the value of family. During the depression people began to lose sight of their values and morals due to all the problems going on. Therefore, it was important to make a movie that causes people to remember what's really important. In the end Johnson realizes how important his family truly is to him. He also realizes how important it is for him to set a good example for his son. Therefore, he turns his life around in order to be that great role model. 

We chose MGM to produce this movie, because they make a lot of drama movies. This movie is mostly a drama, therefore we felt it was appropriate. We also chose Clark Gable to star in it, because he is the biggest star of MGM. Also, Gable seems to be paired up with Joan Crawford a lot, that's why we chose her to be his wife. She also is a big name in MGM. Robert Montgomery worked in MGM as well, and had the "bad guy" look we were going for. Lastly, Jackie Cooper was a young star in MGM, and perfectly fit the part of a young child. 

We chose Victor Fleming to direct this movie, because he later will make big films (like The Wizard of OZ and Gone with the Wind) and is very talented. He also works with MGM and Clark Gable, so he seemed like a good fit. We chose Hugh Wynn as our editor, because our movie will rely heavily on the editing. We chose to focus on editing in order to make quick cuts that create suspense. Our movie will also be suspenseful, due to the kidnapping, and the editing with help to create that suspense. Also, we chose to have the movie in color rather than black in white.

Due to the Hayes code we refrain from having any killing, sexual activity, or profanity in our movie. Although we do plan on showing gambling, since it's a big aspect of our plot, it is not shown positively. This is because gambling is what leads Johnson's life to go down hill. It is also the cause of his son's kidnapping. Therefore, gambling is negatively shown and, therefore, makes it okay for the Hayes Code. 

I loved our movie and didn't have any disagreements with my group. There's nothing I would change.