Load of rubbish!!

Brilliant and touching

What a freaking movie. So many twists and turns. Absolutely intense from start to finish.

Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

Certainly, a classic portrayal of the gentleman riverboat gambler who excels at playing cards when no trickery is involved. He is also an expert swordsman, taught by his father. Along with dancing, these seem to be his main skills, but should be sufficient to support a wife and children, in the right environment. We might contrast Mark with Gaylord Ravinal, of "Showboat", also a riverboat gambler. After marrying Magnolia, his gambling luck turns sour, and he leaves Magnolia. Her father says "Ï told you so". In contrast to the aristocratic Leia in the present film, who tried to deny her attraction to this social underling, Magnolia practically threw herself at Gaylord, who was handsome, dressed as a gentleman, and was an excellent singer, besides apparently skilled at gambling. Gaylord left Magnolia, but eventually came crawling back to her. In contrast, in the present film, it's Leia who comes running to Mark, asking forgiveness for all her putdowns.John McIntire, as John Polly, serves as Mark's sidekick, sharing Mark's dream of creating a no-cheating gambling establishment. Ralph Dunke, as Caldwell, tries to prevent the two from accomplishing this goal, as he has made his fortune cheating at gambling. His goons try to rough up and dump overboard Mark and Pool. The two manage to beat their opponents and dive overboard in a shallow stretch, to take another boat the rest of the way to N.O.. Surprisingly, the pair don't seem to encounter Caldwell in N.O..Another villain is Laurent(John Baer): Leia's brother, and the son of Edmond Dureau(Paul Cavanagh), who runs a fencing club in N.O., and knew Mark's father in Paris. Both Laurent and Edmond are marked for death in the near future. Laurent considers Mark an unqualified upstart in the quest to win the hand of Leia. He challenges Mark to a formal duel. Surprisingly, Mark chooses pistols instead of rapiers as the weapons. Laurent cheats by firing his pistol before the count is finished. He misses, in his haste, leaving Mark to spare his life. However, Laurent was ostracized for his cheating. Why did Mark choose pistols rather than rapiers, which he was sure to win with? Apparently, he wanted to be seen as giving Laurent a sporting chance. Laurent would later again attempt to kill Mark, but only succeeded in killing himself. Laurent's father was mortally wounded in another duel. His death symbolically opened the way for Mark to become his successor as the champion swordsman of N.O..Yet another villain is George Elwood(Ron Randell). He is a banker and becomes Leia's husband. Some rumors are spread about what he does with the bank's money, causing a run on the bank. He absconds with the remaining money, and Leia has the marriage annulled.Piper Laurie, as Leia, isn't exactly a pleasant character. If I were Mark, I would have chosen the non-aristocratic Ann(Julie Adams)over her. Apparently, Mark preferred aristocratic breeding over personality and usefulness. Tyrone Power isn't my favorite actor, and I find many of his films dull. However, this one is OK, although he can look menacing when he scowls, at this age.In the middle, the acclaimed Gwen Verdon stars dancing to ""Haitian Devil Song". It's pretty long and ornate. See all at YouTube

While I am a fan of Tyrone Power's film, I gotta admit that this is not one of his finer moments. The story is about a very, very successful riverboat gambler, Mark Fallon (Power) and the weird infatuation he has with a very screwy young lady (Piper Laurie). Throughout the course of the film, the lady's brother is a shiftless jerk--gambling away their money and behaving VERY impulsively. He also seems to blame Fallon for everything and tries to kill him a couple times. As for Fallon, he's practically perfect in every way and repeatedly lets the bother off the hook for his own awful behavior. Ultimately, however, the jerk brother tries (again) to murder Fallon and Fallon kills him while trying to protect himself...and the stupid sister STILL acts like Fallon is the Antichrist! As for the father of the two dopes, he knows what's going on and likes Fallon. Can all this get straightened out by the end of the film AND can anyone tell me why Fallon wants to marry this flaky lady? Sure, she's gorgeous but the guy could easily find another lady who apparently isn't totally stupid.While my summary might sound a bit flippant, it IS essentially the story and this all gets tiresome after a while. Not terrible...the film has its moments, but it suffers from a silly cliché-ridden script. Not one of Power's finer endeavors.By the way, look for Dennie Weaver in a small role as an even stupider gambler...the guy who offs himself after gambling away his company's funds.

Mississippi Gambler was Tyrone Power's first film since Darryl Zanuck loaned him to MGM for Marie Antoinette away from Twentieth Century Fox. Ty produced this one and filmed it under the banner of Universal- International. It got deserved good reviews.No actor in the history of cinema was better suited to period pieces and costumes as Tyrone Power. If Power had been possessed of a good singing voice he'd have made the ultimate Gaylord Ravenal.As Mark Fallon he's a gentlemen riverboat gambler who gets involved with a pair of women, the spoiled Piper Laurie from an aristocratic New Orleans family and Julie Adams, a down to earth person of few pretensions, but she comes to love Ty deeply. Who could blame her.Ty with partner John McIntire set out to and succeed in owning a gambling palace where honest games of chance are the rule. They don't need to cheat because they're both the best at their trade.Villain of the piece is John Baer, Laurie's weakwilled and spoiled brother. He becomes a truly hateful person in this film, the kind audiences love to hiss. Making a film debut here is Dennis Weaver as a man who goes broke at Power's tables and then commits suicide. You could tell Weaver was going to have a big career from this brief role. You can also spot Guy Williams as one of Baer's aristocratic friends.If Universal had used one of their contract players for Mississippi Gambler, the part would undoubtedly have been played by the fast rising Rock Hudson. But I don't think Rock could have touched what Power did in a role perfectly suited for him.Hopefully Mississippi Gambler will come out on Video and DVD soon. Too many of Tyrone Power's performances are unseen by today's generation.

Excellent and a bit different action type story line. Great mix, of old world, upper echelon Mississippi River gambling life. Also the rift between "commoners" and the "rich elite" who like to make believe they don't have all the same feelings and faults like us average folk. It has a good supporting cast as well. Tyrone Power was a bit older by this move but we all age and he still looks darn good. He also is still a fine actor and personality and can command the screen too. It's has some excellent sword play and it also provides a bit of a real fencing education. Besides all that it's in color and It's got Julie Adams and Piper Laurie too!