The Gambler from Natchez (1954)

Dale Robertson is Capt. Vance Colby, who returns home to New Orleans looking forward to a reunion with his father after four years as an officer in the Mexican-American War.

But he finds his father dead. He’s been killed in a card game in which he was accused of cheating.

And since his father never cheated, Colby knows something’s afoul and sets out to clear his father’s name.

With the help of small-time riverboat owner Antoine Barbee and his lovely daughter Melanie (Debra Paget), Colby eventually learns what really happened.

His father was partners with aristocrats Andre Rivage, Claude St. Germain and gambling house owner Nicholas Cadiz in building a new steamboat called the Baton Rouge.

One night when gambling, the elder Colby not only won majority interest in the Baton Rouge, but wound up owner of the Rivage plantation as well.

Enraged, Andre killed him, then conspired with his friends to plant a marked deck in the dead man’s hands.

Colby sets out to get revenge. Andre’s involvement is the most problematic, since his lovely sister Ivette (Lisa Daniels) turned the captain’s head no sooner than he landed in New Orleans.

Dale Robertson as Capt. Vance Colby, realizing the father he came to visit is dead in The Gambler from Natchez (1954)

Debra Paget as Melanie Barbee, meeting Vance Colby after saving his ‘beautiful head’ from harm in The Gambler from Natchez (1954)

Review:

One of the better Dale Robertson Westerns from the 1950s, made more unique by the fact that our hero must get his revenge without violating the New Orleans code of conduct for gentlemen.

The film also benefits from a wonderful performance by Debra Paget as the fiesty, jealous and absolutely ravishing Melanie Barbee.

She gets our attention early by conking one of Robertson’s adversaries over the head with a frying pan and steals every scene she’s in from that point on.

And when it comes to winning the hand of her man, Melanie doesn’t care how lady-like she is. One of the film’s best moments is her arm-biting, hair-pulling catfight with Ivette Rivage.

Lisa Daniels as Ivette Rivage, meeting Vance Colby for the first time in The Gambler from Natchez (1954)

Kevin McCarthy as Andre Rivage, planning to lay a trap for Vance Colby in The Gambler from Natchez (1954)

Directed by:
Henry Levin

Cast:
Dale Robertson … Capt. Vance Colby
Debra Paget … Melanie Barbee
Thomas Gomez … Capt. Antoine Barbee
Lisa Daniels … Ivette Rivage
Kevin McCarthy … Andre Rivage
Douglas Dick … Claude St. Germaine
John Wendgraf … Nicholas Cadiz
Donald Randolph … Pierre Bonet
Henri Letondal … Robert Renard
Jay Novello … Rene Garonne
Woody Strode … Josh

Runtime: 88 min.

Douglas Dick as Claude St. Germaine, one of the men in on the death of Colby’s father in The Gambler from Natchez (1954)

John Wengrab as Nicholas Cadiz, owner of the gambling house where Colby’s father was killed in The Gambler from Natchez (1954)

Memorable lines:

Capt. Colby, after Melanie has knocked out a man who was about to stab him in the back: “I can’t tell you how grateful I am. You took a great risk. May I ask why?”
Melanie Barbee: “Because I see you have a beautiful head, and I do not want it to break.”

Melanie Barbee, upon learning of Capt. Colby’s parentage: “Then he is not a fine gentleman. His father is a gambler, just like mine. I am so happy.”

Capt. Colby: “You’re wrong about her (Ivette). She’s not like her brother or the rest of them.”
Melanie Barbee: “Rabbits don’t have children without long ears.”

Melanie Barbee, spotting Ivette Rivage for the first time: “She is pale.” She smiles wider. “And skinny!”

Thomas Gomez as Capt. Antoine Barbee, helping Colby even a score in The Gambler from Natchez (1954)

Peter Mamakos as Etienne, the man who carries out Rivage’s dirty work with his knife in The Gambler from Natchez (1954)

Donald Randolph as Pierre Bonet, a friend of Colby and his father in The Gambler from Natchez (1954)

Jay Novello as Rene Garonne, the gambling house waiter who fills in Colby on the truth behind his father’s death in The Gambler from Natchez (1954)

Debra Paget as Melanie Barbee, trying again to keep Vance Colby from harm in The Gambler from Natchez (1954)

Dale Robertson as Vance Colby, taking his turn to fire in a duel in The Gambler from Natchez (1954)