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They Shall Not Pass Recap

Lucky and Andamo arrive in Florida by freighter after fleeing Andamo's island nation. As they try to work out what to do next, they notice a woman in a harem costume boarding a nearby yacht. A few seconds later a man in a devil costume follows her and the two men approach him. He assumes that they're wearing dockworker costumes and doesn't have a problem when they follow him aboard the yacht.

Once aboard, the two friends hit the buffet table for food. The daughter of the host, Maggie Rutherford, and is intrigued by Lucky. She goes over to him, introduces herself, and suggests that he dance with her in return for the free meal. As they dance, Lucky explains that he's a gambler and Maggie points out that he seems to be out of luck. She offers to find him a job with her father, Julius, and explains that her father is closing a deal to sell a mica mine in New Mexico. While they chat, Andamo makes the acquaintance of a beatnik girl who decides to kiss him.

Maggie's father is on deck talking with a businessman, Edgar Bentley, and convinces him to buy the mica mine to the tune of $500,000. Edgar's wife comes over and asks her husband to dance. He turns her down but Julius is glad to go out with her on the dance floor.

As Maggie and Lucky dance, Maggie's mother comes over and introduces herself. She asks her daughter for help with her costume and Maggie agrees after half-jokingly warning Lucky that she'll turn the guards on him if he tries to leave. As Lucky goes to find Andamo, he sees Julius come in with Edgar's wife and recognizes the man. He goes over to chat with Julius, greeting him as Julius Shank, and Julius that his last name is Rutherford, not Shank. Julius quickly excuses himself while Lucky goes back to the buffet table.

Three gangsters, 12th Street and his two thugs, pull up at the dock and shove their way onboard. They run into Julius as he tells a guard to throw Lucky off the boat. 12th Street demands a private meeting and Julius reluctantly goes with him. Meanwhile, Edgar joins the party and recognizes Lucky as the man who owned the casino he once gambled at. They chat and Lucky assumes that Edgar is Maggie's father when he mentions his interest in a mica mine. He warns Edgar that Julius is Julius Shank, a notorious conman. When Edgar explains that he toured the mica mine disguised as a geologist, supposedly so that Julius' partner wouldn't know he was planning to sell, Lucky explains that the mine wasn't Julius' to sell and the disguise was so that Edgar wouldn't realize that the mine was owned by the government.

In the study, Edgar asks 12th Street for three more days to pay him off. The gangster figures that Julius will try to skip town but the conman insists that he has a deal worked out to make $500,000, and he rented the yacht and threw the costume party to make it all seem convincing. 12th Street agrees to give Julius the three days but puts another $5,000 in interest on top of the $85,000 that Julius already owes him. The gangster warns Julius that if he doesn't pay up in three days then something scary will happen to him.

As Edgar thanks Lucky for warning him about Julius, Maggie comes over and Lucky quickly realizes that her father is Julius, not Edgar. Edgar angrily tells Maggie to say goodbye to her father on his behalf and walks away. When she realizes that Lucky has screwed up her father's con, Maggie slugs him and a guard finishes with a cosh to Lucky's head.

The next morning, Lucky wakes up on the docks near the yacht and finds Andamo unconscious next to him. A girl playing nearby says that she saw them there but didn't want to help because she figured they were dead. Andamo wakes up and explains that a guard knocked him out as well. A group of creditors board the yacht and ask Maggie where her father is, and she claims that he fell overboard and drowned. Thinking quickly, Lucky comes over and, posing as the captain, ushers them all off the yacht. Maggie is glad to play along to get rid of them, and Lucky then goes to see Julius in his cabin. He complains that Lucky blew his big con and that now 12th Street will come looking for the $85,000 in gambling debts that Julius owes him. He owes another $15,000 for the party and has no way to raise the $100,000 total. Lucky suggests he sell the yacht and Julius admits that he tried but no one wants it. Maggie suggests that they sail out of town but her father points out that he doesn't even have enough money to afford diesel fuel for the yacht.

As Andamo comes in, Lucky asks the Shanks if they have clothes for him and his friend. Mrs. Shank has clothing from her last husband for Lucky, god rest his soul, and Julius has a tux that Andamo can use. Once they're dressed, Lucky tells Maggie that he's going to pay 12th Street a visit at his casino and make some money... even though he doesn't have anything to gamble.

At the casino, Lucky bluffs his way into 12th Street's office, intimidating the guard. 12th Street knows Lucky as a fellow casino owner and is less than thrilled to see him in town. He warns Lucky that the Syndicate controls the town and that Lucky won't be running anything, and Lucky assures him that he doesn't plan to run a casino in the town. He asks for a $5,000 stake and 12th Street is glad to give it to him as long as Lucky leaves the next morning. Lucky hits the craps tables and bets the entire $5,000 on one roll. He wins and keeps winning, and 12th Street soon gets word of Lucky's string of good fortune. He goes out and signals the croupier to switch out the dice. Andamo and Lucky spot the switch and Lucky immediately bets on snake eyes, figuring the croupier gave him dice with the worst roll possible. Lucky's instincts prove right and after collecting his winnings, he leaves the table.

While Lucky cashes out his chips, Andamo goes into the nearby restroom. Lucky then goes in and switches the money for paper towels, and Andamo slips out the window with the money. Once his partner is clear, Lucky leaves the casino and 12th Street's men accost him in an alleyway. They discover they've been conned and, after a brief fight, Lucky disposes of both of them

The next morning, 12th Street and his men go to the dock to collect the money from Julius. He immediately pays off the entire $85,000 and explains that he raised the money by selling his yacht... to Lucky. Lucky is there with Andamo, unloading gambling tables, and 12th Street reminds him that he promised not to run a casino in town. Lucky tells him that he isn't: he's taking the yacht three miles out into international waters. Disgusted at being played, 12th Street leaves with his men. That night, he comes back and confirms that Lucky's new yacht is off the coast. He watches as Lucky and Andamo set up the casino's new sign: a flashing pair of dice with 7s and 11s. Lucky sends Andamo off and then kisses an appreciative Maggie.

Written by Gadfly on Sep 3, 2018

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