In This Deadly Game... He Could Lose Only Once!
1952-02-28
N/A
89 min
In World War II France, American soldier Michael Blake captures, then loses Nazi-collaborator art thief Paul Rona, who leaves behind a gem studded gauntlet (a stolen religious relic). Years later, financial reverses lead Mike to return in search of the object. In Paris, he must dodge mysterious followers and a corpse that's hard to explain; so he and attractive tour guide Christine decamp on a cross-country pursuit that becomes love on the run...then takes yet another turn.
I can't help think that Glenn Ford was just the wrong man for the part here. He portrays "Mike" - a GI who returns to France after WWII to track down an artefact that he encountered at the end of the war - one that could reverse his rather meagre financial fortunes. When in Paris a corpse is found in his hotel room so he must flee the pursuing gendarmes and others on the look out for the eponymous, gem-laden, gauntlet. Luckily, he is helped by local tour guide "Christine" (Geraldine Brooks) and our adventure takes him deep into the French countryside. The story is quite good, but the execution is pretty lacklustre - Ford's heart just doesn't seem to be in it (though he isn't terrible). Brooks looks the part, but again doesn't really set any sparks flying and Sir Cedric Hardwicke's billing belies his almost cameo appearance as the Priest in the church where the glove is supposed to rest. George Macready is quite good as the nasty art dealer "Count Paul" but it's all just a bit flat. It may well have been better had it been made ten years earlier with a lesser-known star, but as it is, it is just a bit dull.
