Except for the beginning which takes place in a chic wealthy sullen family -which does not fit well in the main plot-,"linear" best describes this movie.A minor movie for highly talented Richard Fleischer who had already directed Juliette Greco in "crack in the mirror" the year before.Greco has some lines in French with her compatriots Fernand Ledoux as a customs officer and Jacques Marin.Which is very useful to her Irish husband Stephen Boyd.It's the story of the odyssey of a lorry through the jungle and its fevers ,its thieves ,its precipices and its rivers in spate .A critic called it " a cross between "African Queen" and "Le Salaire De La Peur" (wages of fear).Some of the scenes were more or less "inspired" by HG Clouzot's work (1953)but "Gamble" never reaches its level of intensity.Boyd ,Greco and David Wayne team up for better of for worse,and armed up with three hundred boxes of canned beer,they struggle against a hostile nature.

The story of three people (Stephen Boyd, Juliette Greco and David Wayne) that go all the way from Ireland to the Ivory Coast in Africa to put on a truck business there.Real action is supposed to start when they take a cargo of beer by truck through half the dark continent, but it never quite does; in fact the film recalls one of those current PC games for kids where they mustremove lots of obstacles in order to reach a final goal; here they have to free the truck from the Custom house, put aside a huge down tree across the road, go backwards in a thin pass with a mountain and an abyss on each side, avoid a crook who wants to steal their cargo, cross a wide growing river with the vehicle and go down full speed on a narrow road without brakes, but in fact powerful action and thrills never appear.Stephen Boyd does well as the leader of the group but doesn't add much to his acting career with this one. Juliette Greco looks sensual and interesting as his wife and David Brian just goes along.Definitely not one of prolific and versatile director Richard Fleischer's best products, perhaps "The Big Gamble" stands a watch but no much more than that.

I love this movie though I was very young when it was made and did not see it at the time. I thought it was fantastically well made. Very well acted by entire cast. But star of the film was the young boy Davey. I wonder what happened to the actor who played him, Fergal Stanley . Did he become a professional actor ? I imagine he is highly successful in his chosen field. Does anyone know did he make other films If so I would love to know. Top marks, highly recommended. Would love to hear others views on this and other films made around the same time with a similar theme that would be of interest and appeal to someone who loved The Big Gamble

This movie about the struggles of a crew of three to get a lorry filled with a cargo of beer to it's final destination was a favorite late-night movie of my sister's (and mine). The story, at times, left something to be desired...but the acting was good, and the emotions of the characters really came through. (Imagine how you would feel if you were stuck delivering a truck full of beer to some remote village, and everything that could go wrong, did.) I gave it a ten. (Nostalgia probably played a part in that rating.) Definitely worth the watch... if you can find it, that is.