Based on the 1866 short novel The Gambler written by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, the film stars Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner, Frank Morgan, Ethel Barrymore, Walter Huston, Agnes Moorehead and Melvyn Douglas.

The film opens in the 1860s in a run-down attic room in Wiesbaden, with a man (whose name we soon learn is Fedya) lying on a bed in the foreground.

A woman (later revealed to be Pauline Ostrovsky, a reformed gambling addict), enters and shuts the windows, looking tenderly at Fedya.

While traveling by train from Moscow to Paris, Fedya, a writer, meets Pauline, who passes the time playing solitaire.

After returning the medal, Fedya finds out Pauline is pledged to an arranged marriage with Armand de Glasse, the wealthy but ruthless owner of the casino.

However, after a short period of fame for his unlikely roulette winning streak, his luck runs out and after Armand de Glasse won't redeem the General's marker until the banks reopen the next day.

Losing even that, when he is completely broke, Fedya has a vision in which an apparition of Aristide appears and hands him a gun to shoot himself.

[2] Warner Bros. planned on making a screen adaptation of Fyodor Dostoyevsky's novel in 1940, directed by William Dieterle and starring Albert Basserman.

[2] Eventually, MGM bought the rights to the short novel, and for its adaptation, the screenwriters also used elements of Dostoyevsky's life and his other novel Crime and Punishment.

[4] However, in late May 1948, Lana Turner was cast as Peck's leading lady, with production set to start in September the same year.

[9] André Previn received an early onscreen credit as conductor of Bronisław Kaper's score and the period bandstand music.

"[3] Time magazine added "the rich, exuberant flow of dialogue, incident, and atmosphere characteristic of the Russian master has been choked to a pedestrian trickle.

"[3] TimeOut says "the script unceremoniously culls episodes and characters from Dostoevsky's youth...Unfortunately, this prestigious MGM production is heavy-going and overdone.