LOSER TAKES ALL

Based on a shooting script (as was The Fallen Idol a few years ago) this is one of the works Greene has tagged as "entertainments". And as he also refers to it as a "frivolity" and has not expanded it to much more than a long short story- it is one of the lightest and slightest of these. This is not however to minimize its expertise- however trivial the object of its application. The story concerns Bartram, an accountant for the powerful and unreliable and enigmatic Dreuther who persuades him to get married in Monte Carlo- rather than Bournemouth- where Dreuther will pick up the honeymoon couple on his yacht. Forgotten by Dreuther, and fundless, Bartram works up a system to beat the bank- and in so doing- devoting all his time to the tables- loses his grip on his bride. Finally as Dreuther appears and acts in an advisory capacity, Bartram throws away his millions to regain his wife..... A pleasant diversion- and at this price- anybody can play.