MovieChat Forums > The Iron Mistress (1953) Discussion > I decided it was better that Bowie lost ...

I decided it was better that Bowie lost the gambling money


At first, I was angry that Bowie was stupid enough to recklessly lose his roulette winnings. That's common for gamblers who don't know when to quit and walk away. Las Vegas depends upon gamblers doing that. If gamblers didn't fall prey to greed, Las Vegas would be out of business.

But then, watching the movie further, and thinking deeply about Bowie and his mother and family, I was actually understood it was better that Bowie lost the money. Have you heard of lottery winners changing their lives for the worse? It probably would have changed Bowie for the worse with what he might have done with the money. More, his mother and family were very traditional and conservative. His mother would have been very suspicious and disapproving. The gambling winnings might have been looked upon by his family as, 'dirty' money. Bowie returns home a winner, having the vision to see that cotton was the future and logging was the past. His business proposal to convert their land into a cotton plantation made his family wealthy.

Instead of Bowie coming home with $50,000, he returned home with a better 'future' for his mother and brothers.

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