Mister Cory Cory, an ambitious Chicago slum kid with a knack for gambling, gets a busboy job at a posh Wisconsin resort…where his real purpose is to gamble with the staff and guests and romance rich young ladies. Setbacks follow, but Cory eventually rises to a high position in the world of professional gambling. But he just can’t forget the glamorous Vollard sisters. And now he has even farther to fall…
Mr. Cory Climbs the Ladder of Success
Bernie Schwartz, as Cory, finds out the Lady is a Tramp
Too bad Mister Cory isn’t given a first name; he deserved one…especially when expertly portrayed by Mr. Tony Curtis.
About the time this film was done, in 1957, Curtis was gaining rapid momentum in what would become a memorable career. “Mister Cory” was bookcased by excellent mid/latter Fifties’ Curtis films such as “Trapeeze”, “The Vikings”, “The Defiant Ones”, “The Sweet Smell of Success”, “Kings Go Forth” and “Operation Petticoat.” Each of these Curtis efforts received critical acclaim…particularly “The Defiant Ones,” for which he won an Oscar nomination, and “Sweet Smell of Success”, for which he should have been nominated.
“Mister Cory” rarely is listed among Curtis’ major early efforts. It should be. It is a real “sleeper.” The actor, and those around him here, lift the film multiple steps above its melodramatic flavor, into the realm of something quite riveting.