JLRMovieReviews Clark Gable is a casino owner who has tried to give all he can to his wife and son, but maybe all they needed was his time. Alexis Smith and Dwayne Hickman is his wife and son, and the movie is peppered with great supporting actors like Frank Morgan, Wendell Corey, Mary Astor and Marjorie Rambeau. The film begins rather slow, but is rewarding to those who like character studies and get into family dynamics. This seems to be the type of film that doesn't rely so much on active plot but on the way the characters relate to each other, which in some ways, puts it ahead of its time. While others may find fault with the film and I do admit it has its faults, I thoroughly enjoyed it and appreciated what it was trying to convey, that in life we have to give a second chance not only to others but also to ourselves. A new beginning is always the best perspective. Watch Any Number Can Play and see what you get out of it.

vincentlynch-moonoi While this is not a "great", as were a number of Clark Gable classics, it is a very solid and very good film that is well worth watching.It would have been easy to simply tell the story of a small-time gambling casino, and to paint some of the patrons as pathetic losers at life. But this film goes beyond all that and tells its story from various perspectives.For example, the owner of a casino (Gable)...but also a family man who is having problems with his son because the son disapproves of the gambling aspect of his father's life. The owner of the casino also has a serious heart condition, and he needs one thing to thrive -- retirement. The scenes with the son (Darryl Hickman, who is excellent) and wife (Alexis Smith, also excellent) are sentimental, but well done, and flesh out Gable's character more than one might expect from reading the blurb about the film.While Gable is the star here, and the focus of the film, there's a wonderful parade of performances by terrific character actors to round out the film:Lewis Stone is a down-and-out gambler...definitely quite a long ways from his days as Andy Hardy's father. He plays it superbly.Mary Astor as the almost-other love of Gable.Marjorie Rambeau as a high society lover of poker and a force of nature.And, one of Gable's frequent costars -- Frank Morgan, although here Morgan is not quite so likable, but does very nicely as the opponent.Not all of Gable's post-war films were gems, but this one is. And I know that because I don't like gambling, don't gamble, and don't understand gambling. But this film help my rapt attention. Highly recommended. Frank Morgan as Jim KurstynBarry Sullivan as TycoonEdgar Buchanan as EdLeon Ames as Dr. Palmer

bkoganbing Believe it or not, Any Number Can Play was one of the few non-musicals produced by Arthur Freed over at MGM. To show you it was a Freed film, please note that the background music includes such Freed tunes as This Heart of Mine and Should I.Richard Brooks who would soon get a big directing break in another Freed produced non-musical, Crisis, wrote a very fine story that Mervyn LeRoy directed with class and finesse. LeRoy got a stellar cast together and really mixed the ingredients well.Clark Gable is perfect as an aging gambler with a lot on his plate. He's just been told by Dr. Leon Ames that he's got angina pectoris and for the sake of his health he'd better give up a very high stress profession. He's got a loving wife in Alexis Smith and a rebellious teenage son in Darryl Hickman who he barely knows. Living with them is her sister Audrey Totter and her husband Wendell Corey. Gable employs Corey at his gambling establishment where Corey does a little chiseling on the side and he's also into racketeers Richard Rober and William Conrad for some big bucks. They've got ideas how to cancel the debt. And Totter measures her own husband against Gable and finds Corey quite wanting.That's just in his own household. Gable's got a lot of friends and enemies playing at his high class establishment which the police all know about, but do nothing because half the town's establishment is in the place on a given night. Such habitués might include Frank Morgan, Marjorie Rambeau, and Mary Astor a divorcée also carrying a huge torch for MGM's king.The story involves all these issues and how they're resolved over one 36 hour period. What makes Any Number Can Play such a good film is that even the smallest characters do have their moments. Art Baker plays the owner of a country club where Hickman gets in a fight over his father. Note how in his brief moments, Baker tries oh so hard to keep Gable out of it when he discovers who Hickman is. Astor has only one real scene, but it's a beauty involving Gable having an angina attack and then with minimal dialog the two of them talking about a lost love of many years ago. Staged brilliantly, I might add.One thing about Any Number Can Play that is frighteningly real are those angina attacks, remembering just how Gable died as the result of doing some very high stress stunt work on The Misfits. Absolutely eerie.Any Number Can Play is one of Gable's best post World War II films and not to be missed by any of his fans. And if you're not a Clark Gable fan, you might become one after seeing this.

blanche-2 Clark Gable's immediate post-war films were the weakest of any of the returning stars. For one thing, his wife had died; for another, unlike many of the other actors, he was in his forties. "Any Number Can Play" is a good example of the kind of movie he made. In it, he plays the owner of a gambling house who has developed angina pectoris and is advised to give it all up for a more peaceful life. His son hates him, one of his employees is stealing from him, and a gambler gets on a roll that threatens to bankrupt the house.The stars - Gable, Alexis Smith, Audrey Totter, Darryl Hickman, Marjorie Rambeau, Wendell Corey, Frank Morgan, William Conrad et al. are not at fault, but the script of "Any Number Can Play" is. It's difficult to pin down what the film is actually about - one waits for a definitive clue either in the gambling house or at home. Is it about a dysfunctional family, a sick man, or the activities of a gambling establishment? Hard to tell, as the director, Mervyn LeRoy, seems to focus the film in all three directions.Nevertheless, there are some exciting scenes, particularly Frank Morgan's gambling run. The acting is uniformly excellent, although Audrey Totter is wasted - she plays Alexis Smith's sister - and Mary Astor has what amounts to a cameo. Marjorie Rambeau stands out as a dowager who gambles at the club. Gable, however, is not just the nominal star but the true one. Ruggedly handsome with that beautiful smile, he is wonderful as the world-weary but compassionate Charley. He had such a great presence and charm - fortunately, the quality of his post-war films was to improve.Dull patches but probably worth seeing for the acting.