What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.
Today on Classic Movie Review, we are taking on the Film Noir Las Vegas Shakedown (1955). Las Vegas Shakedown (1955) is rated 5.5 on iMDB.com[1]. It’s not that bad. On Rottentomatoes.com,[2] there is no mention of this movie, and it does not show up under the names of any of the major actors.
On August 27th, 2015, Bob Stoldal wrote an article for Nevada NPR titled Vegas Goes Dark. He spoke of the affection that Film Noir has for the gambling mecca of Las Vegas, saying:
…film noir has long had a fascination with the extreme behaviors that Las Vegas seems to squeeze out of people. My 10 favorite noir films are among the genre’s darkest, but they also preserve a visual record of a long-gone Las Vegas.
Stoldal rated his top ten Las Vegas Film Noirs with Las Vegas Shakedown (1955), saying:
“One of the highlights of the 1955 Las Vegas Shakedown is the visual record of Las Vegas. Images of the original Mirage Motel with the above-ground pool with windows, the Thunderbird Downs race track, the Union Pacific rail yards near Charleston Boulevard, and the interior and exterior images of the Hotel El Rancho Vegas are well-preserved for posterity.”[3]
New York Times film critic Bosley Crowther said of the movie in a June 18th, 1955 review:
“The best to be said for “Las Vegas Shakedown,” which came to the Palace yesterday, is that it offers some mildly instructive glimpses of that fabulous Nevada gambling town. The views of the night clubs, casinos, filling stations and luxury motels that backdrop this routine melodrama are candid and colorful. But the story itself—well, read the title and you’ve pretty well got the whole tale, exclusive of incidental vignettes of various transients who have the gambling urge.”[4]
How did I know that Crowther was not going to like this film? That is the way to bet.
Actors – Las Vegas Shakedown (1955)
Returning
Coleen Gray played teacher and author Julie Rae. She wore her hair up and was wearing glasses. She may have been the original nerd girl in movies, who when they let their hair down and take off their glasses, you realize they are beautiful. Gray was first covered in the carny Film Noir Nightmare Alley (1947).
Thomas Gomez played psychotic gangster Al ‘Gimpy’ Sirago. This great actor was first mentioned in Key Largo (1948).
Veteran actor Robert Armstrong played the role of an aging hood named Doc. Armstrong was first covered in King Kong (1933).
New
Dennis O’Keefe played Joe Barnes, the cleanest casino owner in Vegas. O’Keefe was born in Iowa in 1908. His parents were vaudevillians, and like all of those children, he soon joined them on the road. O’Keefe attended the University of Southern California but left school in his sophomore year[5].
Beginning in 1930 and lasting through 1937, O’Keefe made a living as an extra in films. After the film Saratoga (1937), Clark Gable recommended O’Keefe for better roles. O’Keefe received more prominent roles in films such as Topper Returns (1941), The Leopard Man (1943), and The Story of Dr. Wassell (1944). He was also active on the radio during his career.
O’Keefe continued with films like The Fighting Seabees (1944), Brewster’s Millions (1945), and The Lady Wants Mink (1953). O’Keefe made a significant mark in Film Noir with Hangmen Also Die! (1943), T-Men (1947), Dishonored Lady (1947), Walk a Crooked Mile (1948), Raw Deal (1948), Woman on the Run (1950), The Fake (1953), Las Vegas Shakedown (1955), and Chicago Syndicate (1955).
O’Keefe continued to work in film and television until 1966. A long-time smoker, he died in 1968 at the age of 60.
Mara McAfee played shunned girlfriend, Angela. She is known for being the uncredited nurse in Kiss Me Deadly (1955).
Story – Las Vegas Shakedown (1955)
Inside the El Rancho casino and theater in Las Vegas, owner Joe Barnes (Dennis O’Keefe) is rudely brushing off a showgirl named Angela (Mara McAfee). She is in love with him, but he shows no interest. Joe requests Sam Costar (James Alexander) come to his office with the day’s reservations.
Angela approaches Joe again. He tells her to get lost. A lady that has been gambling at one of the tables asks about Joe. Angela says he is nice but just doesn’t know how to love. The lady gambler, Mabel Dooley (Mary Beth Hughes), goes to talk to Joe. She explains that she has a gambling problem and lost two of the three thousand dollars she had from a land sale. She says her husband will go berserk when he finds out. Joe has no sympathy and sends her away.
Sam comes in with the reservations, and he and Joe start going through them one by one. Sam knows a lot of the people. Joe says one of the people is coming to kill him. Joe is drawn to a name on the list, J.L. Rae.
On a bus, a teacher is traveling to Las Vegas. She is an author named Julia L. Rae (Coleen Gray). Julia is a math teacher researching a book highlighting how you cannot win at gambling.
Sam and Joe continue going through the list. The next name that they don’t know is Wheeler Reid (James Millican). Reid is traveling by airplane and tells his fellow passenger that he is an auto salesman. Reid says that his wife is in Las Vegas getting a six-week divorce.
Back in the casino, an old dude is hitting on Dorothy Reid (Dorothy Patrick). She gives him the shovel off. Mabel Dooley is at the bar throwing back drinks.
Sam and Joe continue their list. Ernest Raff (Charles Winninger) and Mary Raff (Elizabeth Patterson) are the following names of interest. They are an older couple driving in for a bit of fun. Ernest is the president of a bank in his hometown.
A worker brings in a reservation that was just made. The reservation is for Al ’Gimpy’ Sirago (Thomas Gomez), which Joe thinks is the person that is going to kill him and is using his real name. Sam asks if Sirago was the guy the Kefauver committee nailed. The Kefauver committee was a Special Senate committee that was investigating organized crime[6]. Kefauver was one of the last Senate holdouts on opposing African American’s rights to vote.
The conversation continues, and they mention that Sirago was convicted of tax evasion. Sirago is traveling in a car with two tough guys, Doc (Robert Armstrong) and Matty (Joe Downing). He said he made the reservations at the El Rancho just to scare Joe. In conversation, Sirago says he is buying the club out for the syndicate. He also says he is going to kill Joe slow and easy.
Fortified with booze, Mabel Dooley goes back to the gambling table.
Mr. Dooley (Frank Hanley) is calling different gambling joints looking for Mabel and the money. She gets a page over the intercom and is slow to leave the table. Mr. Dooley gives up.
The Raft’s check-in, and Joe meets them. Julia has also arrived and has left a message for Joe to come see her. Raft asks that his presence in the casino not be announced to the papers because he is a small-town banker.
Joe meets with Julia in the breakfast area. She has letters of introduction. Julia says she will be asking him for favors. Joe has to meet with the city manager and the sheriff Charles Woods (Charles Fredericks). Joe says he will have a bathing suit sent to Julia’s room, and he will meet her at the pool later.
The city manager tells that Sirago is out of jail and has some hitmen with him. They recommend Joe leave the city for a few days. They say they will take care of Sirago for him. Joe won’t run.
Julia gets the bathing suit.
Reid shows up looking for his soon-to-be ex-wife.
A wake-up call wakes Mabel in her room. Hungover, she searches her purse and only has a few hundred dollars left.
Ernest Raff wants to start gambling, but first, he is going to study the game.
Sirago and his men plan what they are going to do at El Rancho.
Joe meets Julia at the pool. She has let her hair down and lost her schoolmarm glasses. Julia confesses that she has come to study gambling for her book. Joe is not worried because people believe the house odds don’t apply to them. He then says she looks like his old flame Maxine. Joe asks if he can get to know her better. She is timid and a prude. Joe thinks that is good. Joe tells her to meet him for lunch in an hour.
Mabel is admiring herself in the mirror. She then counts her money, has a drink, and plans to win it all back.
Mr. Dooley is hitching a ride to Las Vegas in a truck.
Joe and Julia meet for lunch and accelerate through the courting process. They leave for his place, which is inside the casino.
Sirago sends Matty and Doc to case El Rancho.
At Joe’s place, he and Julia continue to talk. She says men run from her when they find out she is virtuous. They get all kissy-face, but she leaves.
Reid is shooting craps, and Mr. and Mrs. Raft are there too. Mrs. Raft is sent away to shop. Julia hears that Joe is going to be killed. She decides not to leave town. Matty and Doc enter the casino and are spotted by Joe. They are pulled into Joe’s office on a false counterfeiting charge. They lie about who they are, and the guards take their guns. Joe says he has a gun because he might need to kill Sirago. Joe throws them out of the casino.
Joe follows Matty and Doc, and Julia runs after Joe. She apologizes and asks to be his someone. He says if he is not back in 10 minutes, she should call the cops. Matty and Doc go straight back to Sirago’s room.
Joe pulls his gun and kicks in the door to the room. The gangsters get the jump on Joe and beat him down. Julia calls for help. Sirago tries to beat Joe into signing an agreement to sell El Rancho for two cents on the dollar. Sirago and his crew hear sheriff’s sirens and flee before the law gets there.
Mrs. Raft goes to the hotel operator to place a call to her daughter. Mr. Raft has the knack of craps and is winning. Mrs. Reid finds her husband and starts chewing on him about the divorce.
Sirago and his companions’ hide out at an abandoned dog racing track.
Julia is back at Joe’s apartment, and they are getting along well. She extracts his life story. He says he fought in Korea at Heartbreak Ridge. Heartbreak Ridge is a battle from September 13th — October 15th, 1951[7] and is the plot floor for Heartbreak Ridge (1986). Joe’s wife left him while he was at war. Joe and Julia get kissy-face again.
Mr. Raft is now a master of craps. Reid is still there, and Mabel shows up to gamble as well. Mrs. Reid is still waiting to talk divorce. Mrs. Raft tells her husband that the state examiners are coming to the bank, and there is a shortage. Holy, It’s A Wonderful Life (1946). The sheriff comes with the news that Sirago and company are still on the loss.
Joe offers to buy a complete evening outfit for Julia so they can go to a floor show. He then says she will be his wife.
Sirago is obsessing about Joe like he is a white whale. Doc is trying to get him to calm down and try later. Sirago and crew head out to get Joe.
Mr. Reid has won $10,000 and plans to head home to take care of the bank. Mrs. Reid says they can’t take the money home. Mr. Reid says he will gamble a few more hours and lose the money.
Sirago’s car is stopped at the sheriff’s roadblock. Sirago shoots the two deputies. A deputy gets a shot off, killing Matty. Sirago and Doc run off into the desert. One of the deputies dies.
Mr. Reid can’t lose the money and just keeps winning.
Mabel’s husband, Mr. Dooley, arrives at El Rancho. He grabs the wrong woman and gets picked up by security. Mr. and Mrs. Dooley are taken to Joe’s office. She is back up to $1,700. Joe has a check made out for $2,500, so Mr. Dooley can buy a lunch truck. Joe explains that gambling is a disease. The couple reconciles. Joe gets the news about Sirago’s escape. Angela comes and grabs onto Joe. Julia sees it and is upset.
Doc says he is leaving, but Sirago pulls a switchblade and stabs him. Sirago hides in the railyard as the deputies continue to search for him. Doc flees as Sirago hides on a train.
Mr. Reid is flat broke and sitting with his future ex-wife. He tries to make a fairer deal with his wife. Mr. Reid suddenly asks her to reconcile. Mrs. Reid is happy to go back as long as he promises to get them out of debt.
Joe gets a call from Doc. Doc wants Joe to come to his location, but Joe won’t go. Doc says he will come to Joe. Joe lets the staff know to let Doc inside.
The Reid’s come in to talk with Joe. Mr. Reid tells about his mathematical system and how when he reversed the system; he kept winning. He now has $15,000. Joe offers to hold the money, but the Reid’s want to leave it all behind. Joe suggests that the money be given to an Indian mission school near town. Julia is so happy with her man. The Reid’s say they are not coming back to Vegas.
Doc staggers in and falls. They take him to Joe’s office. Doc will tell where Sirago is located if Joe helps him get out of the cop-killing charges. Joe decides to go after Sirago by himself. Julia says she can’t live without Joe.
Joe drives to the railyard to find Sirago. He is still wearing a tux. Joe starts taunting Sirago to get him to come outside. Sirago is like a rat in a barrel. Sirago is a big man but he jumps out a window and runs away. Joe follows the limping man. Sirago finds a ladder leaning against a building and climbs to the roof. Sirago tries to shoot Joe but is out of bullets.
Sirago leaps on Joe from the roof. He cuts Joe’s arm, and Joe loses his gun. A sheriff’s car is approaching as Sirago makes cuts on Joe. Joe knocks Sirago back and recovers his gun. He shoots Sirago three times. A crowd arrives, along with Julia still wearing an evening gown. She says, don’t ever leave me, Joe.
I’ll be back with the conclusion and World-Famous Short Summary following a word from our sponsors.
Conclusion – Las Vegas Shakedown (1955)
The major problem I have with this movie is the assortment of stores. It looked to me that three couples, a writer, and three gangsters were all converging on the same point, with that point being Joe. I figured they would somehow all affect the story and conclusion. Instead, they were simply used as props to issue happy endings all around. A happy ending is not your typical Vegas experience.
World-Famous Short Summary – What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.
Beware the moors.
[1] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0048285/
[2] https://www.rottentomatoes.com/
[3] https://knpr.org/desert-companion/2015-08/vegas-goes-dark
[4] https://www.nytimes.com/1955/06/18/archives/the-screen-shakedown-las-vegas-is-setting-of-palaces-film.html
[5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_O%27Keefe
[6] https://www.senate.gov/about/powers-procedures/investigations/kefauver.htm
[7] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Heartbreak_Ridge
