The Las Vegas Story (1952)

A woman (Jane Russell) returns to Las Vegas, where she had previously worked as a lounge singer, but this time she has a rich husband (Vincent Price) in tow. The visit proves disastrous however for several reasons: her bitter ex-lover (Victor Mature), a stalking insurance investigator (Brad Dexter) and her husband's reckless gambling. This routine blend of romance and action needed a stronger script. Such as it is, the characters aren't sufficiently interesting enough for us to care much about their problems but the director Robert Stevenson (MARY POPPINS) devises a bracing chase sequence between a helicopter and a car late in the film that's the best part of the movie. This was the only on screen pairing of Russell and Mature so it's a pity it's not a better vehicle. As actors, they're two peas in a pod: bodies built like Olympians, minimal acting abilities, but good natured enough that one would have to work awfully hard to dislike either of them. With Hoagy Carmichael, Colleen Miller, Jay C. Flippen, Robert J. Wilke and Clarence Muse.