The Human Gamble was a 1916 American silent Short film directed by Lloyd B. Carleton.

The drama stars Dorothy Davenport, Emory Johnson, and a cast of Universal contract players.

[1] John Hill is a successful wall-street stock trader and runs his own brokerage house.

John Hill believes his son's gambling habit sends the wrong message to potential investment clients.

Amid this rivalry, Frank Garner becomes very ill. Flavia takes charge of the brokerage house.

Flavia brings the Garner house to new financial heights while pushing her father to the brink of total collapse.

[5] There was a recurring claim that Carl Laemmle was the longest-running studio chief resisting the production of feature films.

[c] Carl Laemmle released 100 feature-length films in 1916, as stated in Clive Hirschhorn's book, The Universal Story.

[15] Carleton arrived with impeccable credentials, having directed some 60 films for the likes of Thanhouser, Lubin, Fox, and Selig.

[16] Between March and December 1916, 44-year-old Lloyd Carleton directed 16 movies for Universal, starting with The Yaqui and ending with The Morals of Hilda.

Carleton was given the task by Carl Laemmle to determine if the Davenport-Johnson duo had the desired on-screen chemistry.

[1] On March 15, 1915,[31] Laemmle opened the world's largest motion picture production facility, Universal City Studios.

Before The Human Gamble, the pairing had headlined five feature-length films, including: Doctor Neighbor, The Way of the World, A Yoke of Gold, The Unattainable, and Black Friday.

According to an article in November 1, 1916 issue of The York Gazette: "Lloyd Carleton, Dorothy Davenport, and Emory Johnson make their appearance on the Universal program in a two-reel, after a protracted period of stardom in Red Feather and Bluebird features.

[9][e] Many of the newspaper ads for the film use the following Tagline: "A Financial Drama, Wall Street, or The Card Room, is There any real Difference?

"[35] Other newspaper ads use the following hook to attract paying customers:"Story of a business war waged within the immediate family of John Hill.

In the October 14, 1916 issue of The Moving Picture World, quoted from the section - Comments on the Films - Exclusively by our own Staff:[39] "This is a bright, entertaining subject, well-constructed and quite original in certain situations.

"The November 1, 1916 issue of The York Gazette & Daily, the reviewer points out:[33] "The picture, being a Carleton production, is full to the brim of exciting moments and tense situations.