User Reviews

Charles Boyer is the star of this installment of "Four Star Playhouse". Roger (Boyer) is a reformed card sharp. He spent years cheating at cards and eventually was caught and sent to prison. Now, he's being asked to use his skills for good. It seems that a group of friends have been losing consistently to a new member of their club. Garry Anchor is quite affable but his friends are wondering how he could win so often...and want Roger to do some undercover work to see if their suspicions are correct.

There are a couple glitches with the plan. First, Garry is so nice towards Roger. Second, later Garry's wife figures out who Roger is and knows his background. Will this completely upset the plan?

This episode is not one of the best when it comes to the plot. However, as usual, Boyer is so smooth and professional that it really doesn't matter. It's still well worth seeing.

This well-written morality tale has a most impressive and subtle ending thanks to the talent of Charles Boyer. As the story concluded I couldn't help thinking that no other actor, not even his partner in this series David Niven, could pull off the suave and underplayed role better than Chuck.

He plays an ex-con, hired due to his dexterity as a "card manipulator" (that's a euphemism for cheat) to secretly monitor a local poker game in order to determine via his expertise whether a member of the small club of six players is cheating.

The story unfolds on a very small flame, with calmness and a modicum of suspense as we wonder if the friendly guy (played by Paul Langton) is actually cheating and what will happen to Chuck. Chief plot twist comes when the guy's wife (Jean Willes) recalls who Chuck is from many years back when he cheated her father on a transatlantic voyage.

There is surprising depth to this story and its psychology, and I will remember Boyer's special type of acting and its subtle power.