Smart Money

Plot synopsis:
Nick Venizelos (Robinson), a prosperous small-town barber, provides his customers with gambling in his back room. He is so lucky that one suggests he go to the big city to take on famous gambler named Hickory Short. Not lacking in self-confidence, Nick puts up half of the $10,000 stake himself, while the others raise the rest. He leaves the shop under the supervision of his assistant, Jack (Cagney), and takes the train into the city.
He learns from Marie, the pretty blonde working at the hotel cigar stand, where Hickory is holding his illegal, high-stakes poker game. Nick sits down at the game, but loses all his money. Later, however, he sees a newspaper article reporting that the real Hickory Short has just been released from prison far away in Florida. The man he thought was Hickory is actually conman Sleepy Sam (Ralf Harolde), and Marie is his girlfriend and accomplice. When Nick foolishly tries to get his money back, Sleepy Sam and the other fake poker players beat him up. After he gets out of the hospital, he vows to get revenge.
Nick goes back to barbering and raises another stake. Six months later, he tracks down Sleepy Sam and his gang in another city. He proposes a one-on-one game, each man putting up $50,000 and playing until one man has all the money. Sam accepts. Nick insists on sending out for fresh decks of cards, just to be safe. When Nick wins and tries to leave, the con artists reach for their guns, but Jack and another man burst in with their guns already drawn. Nick then gloats, pointing out that he simply cheated better than Sam by using shaved cards.
Nick becomes very successful. He finally gets to play the real Hickory Short; a Walter Winchell column reports the rumor that Nick beat Hickory to the tune of $300,000. Nick becomes the king of illegal gambling in the city, with Jack as his right-hand man.
However, he still has a weakness for women, particularly blondes. As they are driving by, they are stopped and asked to take a young woman (Evalyn Knapp) who has been fished half drowned out of the river to the hospital. Irene revives during the ride, but Nick insists she stay at his mansion until she is fully recovered, over the very suspicious Jack's protests. Eventually, she is so touched by Nick's kindness, she confesses she is fleeing from a charge of blackmail, but he is unconcerned.
Nick is so brazen that public outrage puts pressure on District Attorney Black (an uncredited Morgan Wallace), who is up for re-election soon. He has Irene picked up. Black threatens to prosecute her unless she cooperates in incriminating Nick, but she refuses at first. Finally, he gets her to agree to put a racing form in Nick's coat, which will be enough to put Nick in jail for a month. Jack finds out, but when he tries to warn his friend, Nick becomes furious and knocks him to the floor. The police raid the illegal casino, and Black arrests Nick. Then they discover that Jack is dead. Aghast, Irene begs Nick for forgiveness, which he generously gives. He is sentenced to ten years. As he is boarding the train to go to prison, he offers to bet that he will be out in five.

Tags: revenge

Review:
While he was well-known for his gangster roles, this character isn't a saint by any stretch, but he's far from vicious or deadly like "Little Caesar".
Cagney, at this point, was the lesser star and has a rather small role in the film as Robinson's right-hand man.
The breakout film, THE PUBLIC ENEMY, was released just before SMART MONEY and at the point of making this second film, the studio didn't know that he was now a mega-star.Robinson is a barber with an uncanny ability to gamble and win.
Eventually, he and his friends pool their money and send him to "the big city" and even though he at first is bankrupted, he eventually becomes the biggest and most famous gambler around the country.
Plus, there are a few neat scenes that took place since the film was created before the strict Production Code was created--so you get to see Eddie kick a woman in the rear as well as have another lady try to offer him sex to pay off her debt to him!
Just a good drama with some nice twists and decent acting.PS--When you watch the film, look for a brief cameo by Boris Karloff.
The only film ever to star both Edward G and Jimmy Cagney together.
Made in 1931 during the Warner Bros heyday of gangster blood and guts, it represents a slight departure for them both.Eddie G plays a small town gambler - a big fish in a little pond so to speak - with big ideas.
He is then humiliated by the sexy blonde and Sleepy Sam, played with delicious menace by Ralf Harolde.He is joined by his pal Jimmy Cagney, and they put together another grubstake.
1931's "Smart Money" is the only time Edward G.
Robinson and James Cagney were paired in a film.
Robinson plays Nick the barber, who gets 10K together to gamble in one of the syndicate's big games.
This turns out the way you'd expect when a small time guy goes up against the mob and expects them to play on the level.
At this point he begins to attract the attention of law enforcement.Don't expect Robinson's Little Caesar character to show up here - Nick the Barber is a kinder gentler gangster.
Robinson (as usual), and supporting roles by a young James Cagney and a series of blondes who will more or less look alike at first.
It might have been something of a formula production for the cast and crew, but it's during the lively pre-1934 sound era where, especially at a studio like Warner Bros., things manage to pop one way or another.As much as this is a very good film, completely engaging and without gaffes or sentimental slow downs, it remains secondary for 1931 because of several interesting things.
First, Robinson had just become famous for "Little Caesar" where he had a shining (and roughly similar) role as a sort of good guy gangster.
But you should watch "Smart Money" for what it does so well--tells a fast, multi-layered story with economy and life, and with great performances by the leads.
This is a nicely tailored story about the rise of Nick the Barber( a real barber)from the small gambling environs of Irontown to his rise to the big time gambling scene.
Robinson's Nick is one of the kindest, most liked, and honest "crime" bosses you will ever see in film.
Nick is a sweet, at times naive, resilient guy with a weak/blind spot for pretty blondes.
Aiding Eddie is none other than Jimmy Cagney playing Jack his friend and fellow business associate.
It's a treat seeing Karloff and Robinson and Cagney in a brief yet memorable scene..
Well, maybe a little more Cagney, as he is just a supporting player here, but overall I had no complaints watching this 1931 film.Robinson was great in the lead as "Nick the Barber," (full name "Nick Venizelos.") Cagney is "Jack," an old friend who is employed by Nick.
The Greek is a barber, but he's really a full-time gambler or evolves into that role quickly during this story.
He gets taken by the big crook in town twice, gets hustled by a couple of blondes (Nick's real weakness) but overcomes all of them to be gambling czar.After Nick's successful jaunts at revenge are completed, the last third of the film is devoted to the city's district attorney trying to get some goods on Nick and put him away and get him out of his city.This movie, as expected considering the year it was made, is very dated but another of those early '30s films that has a lot of snap, crackle and pop to it.
The dialog is crisp and edgy with the expressions of the day and everybody is just nasty enough to make them all interesting characters.Robinson, as in "Little Caesar," is super in here, much like the cocky gangster roles Cagney also would play in the same period ("The Public Enemy," "Lady Killer," etc.).The blondes all look similar with the short curly hair of the period and the sexism, racism and other "isms" are all on display here in this fun "gangster movie." The ending was odd but that, too, was the mark of these Pre-Code films which certainly were different.
Robinson and James Cagney in the only time they shared the screen.
Of the two of them, Robinson comes off far the better.I'm not sure why Cagney did this film, more than likely because he was told to and was not yet rebelling against Jack Warner.
Cagney plays the best friend of Greek barber Edward G.
He likes to play, but when friends raise a bankroll for him to try his luck in the big city he gets good and clipped.Robinson's down, but not out.
I would like to have seen them both in a film with a more typical Jimmy Cagney.Still when it's broadcast it should not be missed..
Robinson is a barber who owns his own barbershop, but who goes off to gamble with some real card-sharks.
Of course Robinson, as the barber, is great, and James Cagney is a secondary character with not much development to make him really interesting.
But, it's Robinson that makes this film worth watching.
Robinson and Jimmy Cagney team up in their only picture together(strangely enough).
Robinson plays Nick, an immigrant Greek barber who loves to gamble and can't stay away from a poker game or betting.
Cagney plays Jack, his good friend who is amused by him, and he and their other friends bankroll him in a big betting game in the city, though Nick's weakness for women gets him cleaned out in a rigged game, Nick decides to get even by joining in on the racket, which makes him rich at first, but of course things later go wrong, though Jack does what he can to help.
The same year that he starred in Little Caesar and Five Star Final, Robinson made the Oscar-nominated film that shows the rise of a small-town gambler that goes to the big city and gets suckered.
Six months later he is back vowing to never let that happen again and he rises to the top of the gambling world.With James Cagney (Yankee Doodle Dandy, Angels With Dirty faces)at his side to watch out for him, he manages to elude capture by the authorities - mainly because he has bought off most of them.
That will prove his down fall.It was not the "Little Caesar" Robinson, but a happy-go-lucky guy that just seemed to take things as they come.
Smart Money offers viewers a chance to see two well-known stars of the 1930s gangster film cycle, together in action: Edward G.
Mr. Robinson plays the lead in this picture, with Mr. Cagney offering excellent support.
Smart Money (1931) *** (out of 4) Nick the Barber (Edward G.
Robinson) is a whiz gambler but doesn't have the money to enter the big time.
His friends (one played by James Cagney) eventually raise the money, which sends Nick to NYC where he soon takes over.
This is a very entertaining early gem from Warner, which was clearly the studios attempt at making a gangster film with cards instead of alcohol.
Cagney and RobinsonOnly Screen PairingIt's Pre-Code Gangster Lite.
Fluffy and Breezy Pre-Code Star-Combo Featuring Robinson and Cagney in a Somewhat Whimsical Tale of a Small Town Gambler Pooling Friends and Money to Score Big Time.
Made on the Coat Tails of Little Caesar (1931) and Shot Simultaneously with Public Enemy (1931) Robinson was a "Shooting" Star and Cagney's Signature Role was Yet to be Released.
It Emphasizes Character and Both Cagney and Robison Bring It All Home, Supported by a Bevy of Blondes and Some Sharp Story Turns.Pre-Code Stuff is Evident Throughout, the Most Glaring is the Racial Rubbing of a Negroes Head for Luck, Not Once, Not Twice, but Three Times.
Small-town barber Nick Venizelos (Edward G.
So lucky that his friends pool their money and send him to a high-stakes poker game in the city.
Together with his friend Jack (James Cagney), Nick gets even and then rises to the top of the gambling empire.
Not sure exactly what that means since the movie is pretty vague about what Nick is doing besides playing poker.
Robinson and James Cagney, two of WB's biggest stars of the 1930s.
Robinson's the lead here, with Cagney in a supporting role.
So here we get to see the first and last time James Cagney and Edward G Robinson are teamed up, simply two of the best and the reasons?
Alongside these two greats we get a small cameo with Boris Karloff and Evalyn Knapp, a good crowd to be with.The story is of Mick the Barber {Robinson} a small time gambler who is itching to make his fortune but along the ways he gets Hustled by the women and stitched up by those he is gambling with.
Cagney has a smaller role as he was only into his 5th film with warner but he plays that part well.its a great little film filled with not the gangster you would normally expect from the two big stars but a little humour and a soft side.overall a great print with some great acting..
Robinson as barber turned big shot gambler.
Robinson is flashy but vulnerable as a lucky barber who aspires to become a big city gambler.
Encouraged by his success in the backroom dice game in his barber shop, Robinson convinces his friends that he's got the touch, borrows a stake, and heads off to make his fortune.
at the top of his profession: Nick the Barber runs the biggest gambling joint in town.
James Cagney is fine in what is definitely a secondary role as Robinson's friend and chief assistant.
Cagney is sure she's a spy working for the D.A. and looking for evidence; Robinson trusts her completely.
Whom can you trust, anyway?Like many of these early 30s dramas, this film offers no pat ending or definite moral message...it's a tale about taking a shot and stopping at nothing.
Robinson's performance, self-assured and stubbornly optimistic, makes it worth watching.Quick cast note: Boris Karloff has a bit as a shadowy figure who loses $100 to Edward G.
Robinson and Cagney in their only film..
Whilst "Smart Money" was being filmed, Edward G.
Robinson had become a star at "Warner Bros," thanks to his film, "Little Caesar." James Cagney had just finished making "The Public Enemy" and that film hadn't yet been released.
"Smart Money" isn't another gangster film as the story doesn't allow for that kind of character and Robinson isn't a hoodlum either.
For a while in the film, Robinson is small time but after avenging himself upon the con men who took all his money, he carves out a gambling empire with Cagney as his right hand man.
Robinson dominates "Smart Money" but James Cagney is right there after the half way stage.
A talented gambler moves up from small town action to big city, where a string of blondes can't be trusted.Not so much a gangster film as a Robinson charm fest.
I like the early part best, when the super-confident Nick (Robinson) gets fleeced in a crooked poker game by a guy named Hickory Short (great name).
Robinson and James Cagney would appear together on the silver-screen.
The established Robinson and the soon emerging star Cagney play together quite well.
Robinson plays an immigrant Greek barber, Nick Venizelos; a guys guy hooked on poker.
But not satisfied being the 'big fish in a little pond'; Nick is backed with money from his friends and goes to "the city" to play with the big boys and bigger money.
But not totally down on his luck, one of his best pals, Jack(Cagney), shows up in time to turn the tables on the sleazy operator, who cheated Nick out of his bankroll.Story line well constructed with better than average dialogue(for the times.) It appears obvious that Cagney does not want to take anything away from Robinson in the scenes they share.
Smart Money is essentially a tale about the evils of gambling, and demonstrates the truth in the phrase "The higher you climb the further you fall" Edward G Robinson plays Nick 'The Barber' a guy who's two main loves in life are blonde's and gambling.
However, the rules of probability does not apply to him as he seemingly never loses.James Cagney plays Jack, his sidekick, who's loyalty to Nick is so strong that tragic consequences are bound to arise.After many of the local gamblers pool their wealth to send Nick to the City to partake in a high stakes poker game with known gambling big shot Hicory Short, (later to be unmasked as Sleepy Sam, a professional conman), the arrogant but big hearted Nick feels he can't lose.His pride comes before a very large fall, and he is cleaned out by the gamblers.
The next day he realises that he's been cheated with shaved cards and vows to get even with the crooks.He opens another Barber shop to raise funds for his 'rematch' and when the time comes, cheats the cheaters by using shaved cards himself, essentially becoming the Mr Big of the gambling world.However, this brings unwanted attention for the District Attorney's office who although not a gangster, murderer or even bootlegger, still views Nick as part of the City's 'undesirable' element.After helping in the rescue of a young blonde lady who's just been fished out of the river after a failed suicide attempt, Nick, who's still a kind decent man at heart takes her under his wing.
Much to the chagrin of right hand man Jack, who neither likes nor trusts Nick's new companion.Playing on Nick's love of beautiful blonde's, (and one in particular), the DA's office set up a 'honey trap' to bring him down a peg or two.Smart Money is not a brilliant movie by any stretch of the imagination.
It's a shame that Robinson's and Cagney's only pairing together wasn't a little better.At the time of filming, Cagney was still trying to fight his way out of the supporting player 'sidekick' roles and just before the film was released, The Public Enemy made only a few short months before, had already cemented Cagney's superstar status.One major criticism I do have about the film is the blatant racism shown toward the black characters.
Immigrant Nick(Eddie Robinson) runs a barber shop in a small town, but there's a gambling operation in the back room.
Nick rubs the head of an African American for luck, has Cigars made in Cuba to his specification, always dresses smartly, takes pride in his manicured finger nails, has a weakness for cute blonds, is pleasant to everyone except those who cross him, and likes to be recognized as a famous hood who always outsmarts the cops.Nick and his pall Jack(James Cagney) are out riding when they are asked to take care of a nearly drowned young woman(Irene) who has been fished out of the river.
Nick's right hand man, Jack(Jimmy Cagney), doesn't trust her and wants her to leave.
Cagney's best scene is when he does a pantomime for Nick describing who's at the front door.
So, how do they, as a group, make any money at gambling?When Sleepy's gang beat up Nick when he wants to run with his earnings, Nick only shows a small cut on his forehead and a sore jaw.
Robinson and James Cagney to be a hard edged gangster drama on the order of Robinson's own "Little Caesar" or Cagney's "Public Enemy".
In fact, "Smart Money" isn't a gangster flick per se, though it has it's seamy under world characters like Sleepy Sam (Ralf Harolde) and Hickory Short.
Robinson even has a colorful handle of his own - Nick the Barber.
When his buddy Jack (Cagney) comes up with the idea to stake him for ten grand to go big time, Nick sees it as an opportunity to rise above his meager Irontown surroundings.That's where the story gets a little sloppy for my taste.
I got a bit of a kick out of that actually, why not just call 'Another City' New York, since 'Walter Winchell on Broadway' headed one of his columns on the fast rising card sharp Nick the Barber.
Robinson gets to play against a number of pretty blonds in the picture as he fancies himself a ladies man, but boy, the lines they came up with in the 1930's were something else.
There's also the blatant racism of the era; when Nick tears a bill in half for the black porter on the train, he states that the other half would be "at the other end of the line, if you're a good boy".Back to Robinson and Cagney together in this film.
I almost hate to say it, but Cagney's character was a bit swishy in the story, getting touchy feely with Nick more than once.
Robinson's best SMART MONEY effort to warn us!