Review of The Big Boodle

I just finished The Big Boodle (1957). The plot was pretty good, most of the acting (aside from over-acting fake Latino Chief of Police)...but the film was ruined for me by one glaring problem: the horrible miscasting of the he-man tough guy Errol Flynn as a milquetoast everyman, who ends up getting himself pummeled every 15 minutes until at the end he miraculously develops something like a backbone and tries to save the dame. This is the Errol Flynn, aka: Captain Blood, who could play have well played Hammett's Sam Spade or Chandler's Philip Marlow. Instead of going on the offensive, we see his face turned to hamburger by featherweight thugs. Sometimes having a strong leading man play an average Joe works (Cary Grant in North by Northwest comes to mind), in this case it never worked for me. Flynn is just too imposing a presence compared to the B-grade villains in The Big Boodle. SPOILER ALERT: And one can't help but notice the ridiculous plot point of having the money plates hidden in a tourist trap, an old prison called El Morrow, now a museum attraction, where millions of people pass through. That would be the LAST place on earth anyone would hide valuables. But it made for an entertaining finale location, especially with the gruesome ending of the villain. The shark scene was remarkably well done...Spielberg should have studied this one before shooting his mechanical shark scenes he was so embarrassed by!