The Las Vegas Story (1952)

The Las Vegas Story is a 1952 American suspense film noir directed by Robert Stevenson and starring Jane Russell and Victor Mature. The film was produced by Samuel Bischoff, Robert Sparks and RKO Radio Pictures head Howard Hughes. The story linking the scenes is narrated by Hoagy Carmichael.

Plot

Happy, the piano player at the Last Chance Casino in Las Vegas, wonders what caused the breakup of Linda Rollins and Dave Andrews. Linda reluctantly returns to Las Vegas by train when her loser husband Lloyd Rollins insists on vacationing there. Fellow passenger Tom Hubler hurriedly disembarks along with Linda and Lloyd. When registering at the Fabulous Hotel, Rollins requests a line of credit and Linda discovers that her husband is in some kind of financial trouble, possibly criminal as well, and suspects that he is trying to raise money by gambling. Rollins insists that she wear her necklace, appraised at $150,000.

Linda encounters Dave, now a lieutenant with the sheriff's department, who is initially displeased to see her again. They discuss the end of their relationship. The next day, Hubler tries to talk to Linda at the hotel pool, but she rebuffs him. He tells Lloyd that he has been assigned by his insurance company to watch Lloyd and the necklace. Mr. Drucker, the hotel's managing director, discovers that Rollins is a fraud and expels him from the hotel.

Rollins obtains $10,000 in credit from Clayton, owner of the Last Chance Casino, by offering Linda's necklace as collateral, but he loses it all while gambling. He tries to convince Clayton to advance him more credit, but Clayton refuses, telling Rollins that he will sell the necklace to him for $10,000. Early the next morning, Clayton is found stabbed to death, and the necklace is missing. Dave assumes that the murderer took the necklace. Dave arrests Rollins, who tries to persuade his wife to provide an alibi, but she cannot, as she was with Dave at his home at the time.

With a suspect in custody, Hubler returns to the scene of the crime with Linda and asks her to reenact her steps from the previous night, thereby implicating himself. Dave determines the real killer's identity when Happy tells Dave of Hubler's interactions with Linda. Dave realizes that Hubler erred by revealing the location of the stabbing. After the murderer had departed, the dying Clayton crawled toward a telephone, but Hubler did not know that.

Dave phones Linda to warn her, but Hubler, who has been pursuing the necklace, kidnaps Linda. With roadblocks on all major highways and a description of his car broadcast to police, he steals another car, killing the owner. Dave engages a helicopter and spots the speeding vehicle. He and the pilot force Hubler to leave the car at an abandoned base. Hubler wounds the pilot and forces Dave to discard his gun by threatening to kill Linda, but after a chase and a fight, Dave retrieves a gun and shoots Hubler dead.

Back in Las Vegas, Linda leaves her husband. Lloyd, who has been cleared of the murder, is arrested on charges including embezzlement.

Cast

Jane Russell as Linda Rollins

Victor Mature as Dave Andrews

Vincent Price as Lloyd Rollins

Hoagy Carmichael as Happy

Brad Dexter as Tom Hubler

Gordon Oliver as Mr. Drucker

Jay C. Flippen as Captain H. A. Harris

Will Wright as Mike Fogarty

Bill Welsh as Mr. Martin

Ray Montgomery as Desk Clerk

Colleen Miller as Mary

Robert J. Wilke as Clayton

Paul Frees as District Attorney (uncredited)

Production

The film, originally called The Miami Story, is based on a story by Jay Dratner and was initially conceived as a vehicle for Robert Ryan.

Filming was to have begun in December 1950 but was delayed to March 1951, and the title was changed to The Las Vegas Story. Production was scheduled to begin on March 19 but was again delayed until April 9 and then to April 19. Production wrapped by the second half of June.

RKO studio head Howard Hughes ordered the removal of screen credit for communist writer Paul Jarrico. In response, Jarrico sued RKO but lost the case because it was decided that he had voided the contract's morals clause.

Reception

In a contemporary review for The New York Times, critic Bosley Crowther called the film "one of those jukebox gambling films that gives the impression of being made up as it goes along" and wrote: "Miss Russell is slightly grotesque to look upon in the tacky costumes and pinched-in get-ups with which she is cheaply adorned, and for the rest she contributes to the drama nothing more than a petulant pout and a twangy whine. But, then, the scriptwriters, Earl Felton and Harry Essex, have not made demands in their loose-jointed, tabloid-tinted fiction for more than the lady gives. And the rest of the cast does not embarrass her by playing above her head. The best to be said on behalf of this hit-or-miss R. K. O. film is that, in throwing side glances at the sap-traps of Las Vegas, it points its own indeterminate moral: patrons proceed at their own risk; the odds are in favor of the house."

Critic Edwin Schallert of the Los Angeles Times wrote: "Colorful Nevada background of 'The Las Vegas Story' unquestionably will add to its special appeal to audiences here. A swank impression of the resorts in Las Vegas is a highlight, and the gambling issue is effectively woven into the plot, with possession of a diamond necklace as the special gimmick to keep the story going. ... [I]t is entertainment of varied character that is supplied by the picture, with performances that genuinely carry it along."

The film lost an estimated $600,000 at the box office.

See also

List of films set in Las Vegas

References

External links

The Las Vegas Story at IMDb

The Las Vegas Story at the TCM Movie Database (archived)

The Las Vegas Story at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films

The Las Vegas Story film trailer on YouTube