A Sporting Chance

A Sporting Chance

1919 · 60 min · ★ 6.0 · Mystery, Drama, Comedy

John Stonehouse (William Russell) checks into a hotel, intending to commit suicide. But instead he winds up helping a girl, Gilberte Bonheur (Fritzi Brunette), out of a jam. He finds her bending over a man who she has apparently killed, and since he's about to kill himself anyway, he offers to assume the blame. Throw a valuable emerald into the works, and the fact that the dead man suddenly comes back to life, and Stonehouse -- not to mention the audience -- becomes thoroughly befuddled by it all. Everything clears up, however, when Gilberte gives him a theater ticket -- it turns out that everything he went through was the plot to a stage play, enacted in real life by the actors. The critics roasted the play, saying it wasn't true to life, and this was their proof that the situations really could happen. Gilberte retires from acting when Stonehouse proposes.

Directed by Henry King · Written by Jules Furthman

Your Rating

Cast

William Russell John Stonehouse
Fritzi Brunette Gilberte Bonheur
George Periolat Edward Craig
J. Farrell MacDonald Luther Ripley aka Kennedy
Lee Hill George Cornhill
Harvey Clark Aaron Witt
Perry Banks Anthony James

Make it a double feature

3h 23m together

A Sporting Chance

Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ

Both from Henry King.

More from Henry KingSee all →

The Gunfighter

The Gunfighter · 1950

The fastest gun in the West tries to escape his reputation.

Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ

Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ · 1925

Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ

MovieAdventureDrama

Judah Ben-Hur, a wealthy Jewish prince in Jerusalem, is betrayed by his childhood friend, Roman tribune Messala, and wrongfully sent to the galley slaves.

Twelve O'Clock High

Twelve O'Clock High · 1949

Twelve O'Clock High

In the early days of daylight bombing raids over Germany, General Frank Savage must take command of a 'hard luck' bomber group. Much of the story deals with his struggle to whip his group into a disciplined fighting unit in spite of heavy losses, and withering attacks by German fighters over their targets.

The Song of Bernadette

The Song of Bernadette · 1943

The Song of Bernadette

In 1858 Lourdes, France, adolescent peasant Bernadette has a vision of "a beautiful lady" in the Massabielle grotto - the townspeople assume this lady to be the Virgin Mary. Pompous government officials think the girl is insane, doing their best to suppress her and her followers, while the church wants nothing to do with the matter. But as Bernadette attracts wider and wider attention, the phenomenon overtakes everyone in the town, ultimately transforming their lives.

O. Henry's Full House

O. Henry's Full House · 1952

O. Henry's Full House

MovieComedyDrama

Five O. Henry stories, each separate. The primary one from the critics' acclaim was "The Cop and the Anthem". Soapy tells fellow bum Horace that he is going to get arrested so he can spend the winter in a nice jail cell. He fails. He can't even accost a woman; she turns out to be a streetwalker. The other stories are "The Clarion Call", "The Last Leaf", "The Ransom of Red Chief", and "The Gift of the Magi".

In Old Chicago

In Old Chicago · 1938

MovieDramaHistory

The O'Leary brothers -- honest Jack and roguish Dion -- become powerful figures, and eventually rivals, in Chicago on the eve of its Great Fire.

The Bravados

The Bravados · 1958

Jim Douglass arrives in the small town of Rio Arriba in order to witness the hanging of the four men he believes murdered his wife. When the convicts escape, Jim tracks them into Mexico, determined to see that justice is done. But the farther Jim goes in his quest for vengeance, the more merciless he becomes, losing himself in an unrelenting spiral of hatred and violence.

This Earth Is Mine

This Earth Is Mine · 1959

This Earth Is Mine

Set during the Prohibition era, when wine makers were financially challenged and had to decide whether or not they wanted to cooperate with bootleggers to survive.

Jesse James

Jesse James · 1939

After railroad agents forcibly evict the James family from their family farm, Jesse and Frank turn to banditry for revenge.

The Black Swan

The Black Swan · 1942

MovieAdventureRomance

When notorious pirate Henry Morgan is made governor of Jamaica, he enlists the help of some of his former partners in ridding the Caribbean of buccaneers. When one of them apparently abducts the previous governor's pretty daughter and joins up with the rebels, things are set for a fight.

Stanley and Livingstone

Stanley and Livingstone · 1939

Stanley and Livingstone

MovieAdventureHistory

When American newspaperman and adventurer Henry M. Stanley comes back from the western Indian wars, his editor James Gordon Bennett sends him to Africa to find Dr. David Livingstone, the missing Scottish missionary. Stanley finds Livingstone ("Dr. Livingstone, I presume.") blissfully doling out medicine and religion to the happy natives. His story is at first disbelieved.

Seventh Heaven

Seventh Heaven · 1937

MovieDramaRomance

A Parisian sewer worker longs for a rise in status and a beautiful wife. He rescues a girl from the police, lives with her in a barren flat on the seventh floor, and then marches away to war.

Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing

Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing · 1955

Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing

MovieDramaRomance

A widowed doctor of both Chinese and European descent falls in love with a married American correspondent in Hong Kong during China's Communist revolution.

Beloved Infidel

Beloved Infidel · 1959

Beloved Infidel

MovieDramaRomance

In the late 1930s, Sheilah Graham’s Hollywood column quickly becomes popular for its biting tone. At a party, she meets author F. Scott Fitzgerald, and the two begin a torrid affair. Scott laments that his writing has fallen out of fashion, and when he is fired from his screenwriting position, he begins drinking heavily. Soon his intrusive, volatile behavior threatens their relationship and Sheilah's career.

A Bell for Adano

A Bell for Adano · 1945

A Bell for Adano

Major Joppolo and his men are assigned to restore order to the war-torn Italian town of Adano. He has to manage getting supplies into town without interfering with troop movements, all the while dealing with colorful citizens of the town. One of his quests is to replace the bell which orders the town's life.

Untamed

Untamed · 1955

MovieAdventureDrama

When the great potato famine hits Ireland, the diaspora begins as thousands emigrate. Among those leaving the Emerald Isle is Katie O'Neill and her husband, who decide that the promised land is South Africa and make their way there. Once there, they discover the hardships that are the reality of the homesteader experience.

More Like This

Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself

Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself · 2002

Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself

MovieComedyDrama

The strange comedy film of two close brothers; one, Wilbur, who wants to kill himself, and the other, Harbour, who tries to prevent this. When their father dies leaving them his bookstore they meet a woman who makes their lives a bit better yet with a bit more trouble as well.

Breakfast at Tiffany's

Breakfast at Tiffany's · 1961

Breakfast at Tiffany's

MovieComedyRomance

Holly Golightly is an eccentric New York City playgirl determined to marry a Brazilian millionaire. But when young writer Paul Varjak moves into her apartment building, her past threatens to get in their way.

Léon: The Professional

Léon: The Professional · 1994

Léon: The Professional

MovieCrimeDrama

Léon, the top hit man in New York, has earned a rep as an effective "cleaner". But when his next-door neighbors are wiped out by a loose-cannon DEA agent, he becomes the unwilling custodian of 12-year-old Mathilda. Before long, Mathilda's thoughts turn to revenge, and she considers following in Léon's footsteps.

Taxi Driver

Taxi Driver · 1976

MovieCrimeDrama

Suffering from insomnia, disturbed loner Travis Bickle takes a job as a New York City cabbie, haunting the streets nightly, growing increasingly detached from reality as he dreams of cleaning up the filthy city.

The Godfather Part II

The Godfather Part II · 1974

The Godfather Part II

MovieDramaCrime

In the continuing saga of the Corleone crime family, a young Vito Corleone grows up in Sicily and in 1910s New York. In the 1950s, Michael Corleone attempts to expand the family business into Las Vegas, Hollywood and Cuba.

The Godfather Part III

The Godfather Part III · 1990

The Godfather Part III

MovieCrimeDrama

In the midst of trying to legitimize his business dealings in 1979 New York and Italy, aging mafia don, Michael Corleone seeks forgiveness for his sins while taking a young protege under his wing.

Zatoichi

Zatoichi · 2003

MovieAdventureDrama

Blind traveler Zatoichi is a master swordsman and a masseur with a fondness for gambling on dice games. When he arrives in a village torn apart by warring gangs, he sets out to protect the townspeople.

Pocketful of Miracles

Pocketful of Miracles · 1961

Pocketful of Miracles

MovieComedyDrama

A New York gangster and his girlfriend attempt to turn street beggar Apple Annie into a society lady when the peddler learns her daughter is marrying royalty.

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari · 1920

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari

MovieDramaHorror

Francis, a young man, recalls in his memory the horrible experiences he and his fiancée Jane recently went through. Francis and his friend Alan visit The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, an exhibit where the mysterious doctor shows the somnambulist Cesare, and awakens him for some moments from his death-like sleep.

King Kong

King Kong · 2005

MovieAdventureDrama

In 1933 New York, an overly ambitious movie producer coerces his cast and hired ship crew to travel to mysterious Skull Island, where they encounter Kong, a giant ape who is immediately smitten with the leading lady.

Stolen Kisses

Stolen Kisses · 1968

MovieComedyDrama

The third in a series of films featuring François Truffaut's alter-ego, Antoine Doinel, the story resumes with Antoine being discharged from military service. His sweetheart Christine's father lands Antoine a job as a security guard, which he promptly loses. Stumbling into a position assisting a private detective, Antoine falls for his employers' seductive wife, Fabienne, and finds that he must choose between the older woman and Christine.

Room

MovieDramaThriller

Held captive for 7 years in an enclosed space, a woman and her young son finally gain their freedom, allowing the boy to experience the outside world for the first time.

Arsenic and Old Lace

Arsenic and Old Lace · 1944

Arsenic and Old Lace

MovieComedyCrime

Mortimer Brewster, a newspaper drama critic, playwright, and author known for his diatribes against marriage, suddenly falls in love and gets married; but when he makes a quick trip home to tell his two maiden aunts, he finds out his aunts' hobby - killing lonely old men and burying them in the cellar!

The Wanderers

The Wanderers · 1979

The streets of the Bronx are owned by '60s youth gangs where the joy and pain of adolescence is lived. Philip Kaufman tells his take on the novel by Richard Price about the history of the Italian-American gang ‘The Wanderers.’

Four Rooms

Four Rooms · 1995

It's Ted the Bellhop's first night on the job...and the hotel's very unusual guests are about to place him in some outrageous predicaments. It seems that this evening's room service is serving up one unbelievable happening after another.

Judgment Night

Judgment Night · 1993

MovieActionCrime

Four young friends, while taking a shortcut en route to a local boxing match, witness a brutal murder which leaves them running for their lives.

Metropolis

Metropolis · 1927

MovieDramaScience Fiction

In a futuristic city sharply divided between the rich and the poor, the son of the city's mastermind meets a prophet who predicts the coming of a savior to mediate their differences.

Rate this film

Your ratings make Midnight smarter