The Gambler (1974 film)
Encyclopedia
The Gambler is a 1974 feature film
starring James Caan, Lauren Hutton
, and Paul Sorvino
.
The film is loosely based on the short novel The Gambler
by Fyodor Dostoyevsky and was filmed at a time when leading actor James Caan was battling his own addiction to cocaine
. Caan was nominated for a Golden Globe for his performance.
English professor with a gambling
addiction
that begins to spiral out of control. In the classroom, Freed inspires his college students with his interpretations of Dostoevsky's work. In his personal life, Axel has the affection of the beautiful Billie and the admiration of his family, including his mother Naomi, a doctor, and his grandfather, a wealthy businessman.
Unbeknownst to them, Axel's reckless gambling on basketball games has left him with a huge debt. His bookie Hips likes the professor personally but threatens grave consequences if he doesn't pay up.
Axel's descent into addiction requires him to extort a hefty $44,000 from his mortified mother to repay what he owes. He goes away with Billie to a casino where he makes a small fortune, only to blow it all again on basketball bets. He takes out his anger on Billie, who does not appreciate having loan shark
s come to their apartment in the middle of the night. Expecting help from his grandfather, Axel gets nothing but the older man's disappointment and disgust.
The only solution left is to lure one of his students, a basketball star, into accepting a bribe to shave points
in a game so that Axel can pay off his debts. Having corrupted a previously innocent youth, Axel is so appalled by his own behavior that he masochistically confronts a dangerous man who leaves him with a bloody and permanent reminder of his actions.
is currently developing a remake of The Gambler with the original producers, Robert Chartoff
and Irwin Winkler
. Intended as a new directorial project for Martin Scorsese
, Leonardo DiCaprio
is attached as the star and William Monahan
will write the screenplay. James Toback
, the screenwriter of the original, has criticized the development of the remake.
Feature film
In the film industry, a feature film is a film production made for initial distribution in theaters and being the main attraction of the screening, rather than a short film screened before it; a full length movie...
starring James Caan, Lauren Hutton
Lauren Hutton
Lauren Hutton is an American model and actress. She is best-known for her starring roles in the movies American Gigolo and Lassiter, and also for her fashion modeling career.-Personal life:...
, and Paul Sorvino
Paul Sorvino
Paul Anthony Sorvino is an American actor. He often portrays authority figures on both sides of the law, and is possibly best known for his roles as Paulie Cicero, a portrayal of Paul Vario in the film Goodfellas and Sgt. Phil Cerreta on the police procedural and legal drama television series Law...
.
The film is loosely based on the short novel The Gambler
The Gambler (novel)
The Gambler is a short novel by Fyodor Dostoyevsky about a young tutor in the employment of a formerly wealthy Russian general. The novella reflects Dostoyevsky's own addiction to roulette, which was in more ways than one the inspiration for the book: Dostoyevsky completed the novella under a...
by Fyodor Dostoyevsky and was filmed at a time when leading actor James Caan was battling his own addiction to cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
. Caan was nominated for a Golden Globe for his performance.
Plot
Axel Freed is a New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
English professor with a gambling
Gambling
Gambling is the wagering of money or something of material value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods...
addiction
Behavioral addiction
Behavioral addiction is a form of addiction which does not rely on drugs or alcohol. Increasingly referred to as process addiction or non-substance-related addiction ) behavioral addiction includes a compulsion to repeatedly engage in an action until said action causes serious negative consequences...
that begins to spiral out of control. In the classroom, Freed inspires his college students with his interpretations of Dostoevsky's work. In his personal life, Axel has the affection of the beautiful Billie and the admiration of his family, including his mother Naomi, a doctor, and his grandfather, a wealthy businessman.
Unbeknownst to them, Axel's reckless gambling on basketball games has left him with a huge debt. His bookie Hips likes the professor personally but threatens grave consequences if he doesn't pay up.
Axel's descent into addiction requires him to extort a hefty $44,000 from his mortified mother to repay what he owes. He goes away with Billie to a casino where he makes a small fortune, only to blow it all again on basketball bets. He takes out his anger on Billie, who does not appreciate having loan shark
Loan shark
A loan shark is a person or body that offers unsecured loans at illegally high interest rates to individuals, often enforcing repayment by blackmail or threats of violence....
s come to their apartment in the middle of the night. Expecting help from his grandfather, Axel gets nothing but the older man's disappointment and disgust.
The only solution left is to lure one of his students, a basketball star, into accepting a bribe to shave points
Point shaving
In organized sports, point shaving is a type of match fixing where the perpetrators try to prevent a team from covering a published point spread. Unlike other forms of match fixing, sports betting invariably motivates point shaving. A point shaving scheme generally involves a sports gambler and one...
in a game so that Axel can pay off his debts. Having corrupted a previously innocent youth, Axel is so appalled by his own behavior that he masochistically confronts a dangerous man who leaves him with a bloody and permanent reminder of his actions.
Cast
- James Caan as Axel Freed
- Paul SorvinoPaul SorvinoPaul Anthony Sorvino is an American actor. He often portrays authority figures on both sides of the law, and is possibly best known for his roles as Paulie Cicero, a portrayal of Paul Vario in the film Goodfellas and Sgt. Phil Cerreta on the police procedural and legal drama television series Law...
as Hips - Lauren HuttonLauren HuttonLauren Hutton is an American model and actress. She is best-known for her starring roles in the movies American Gigolo and Lassiter, and also for her fashion modeling career.-Personal life:...
as Billie - Morris CarnovskyMorris CarnovskyMorris Carnovsky was an American stage and film actor born in St. Louis, Missouri. He worked briefly in the Yiddish theatre before attending Washington University in St. Louis...
as A.R. Lowenthal - Jacqueline BrookesJacqueline BrookesJacqueline Victoire Brookes is an American actress known for her work on stage, off and on Broadway.Brookes was born in Montclair, New Jersey, the daughter of Maria Victoire and Frederick Jack Brookes, an investment banker...
as Naomi Freed - Burt YoungBurt YoungBurt Young is an American actor, painter and author. He is best known for his Academy Award-nominated role as Sylvester Stallone's brother-in-law and friend Paulie in the Rocky film series.-Personal life:...
as Carmine
Remake
Paramount PicturesParamount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
is currently developing a remake of The Gambler with the original producers, Robert Chartoff
Robert Chartoff
Robert Chartoff is an American film producer. He and fellow producer Irwin Winkler won an Academy Award for Best Picture for the 1976 film Rocky....
and Irwin Winkler
Irwin Winkler
Irwin Winkler is an American film producer and director. He is the producer or director of 50 major motion pictures, dating back to 1967's Double Trouble, starring Elvis Presley. The fourth film he produced, They Shoot Horses, Don't They? , starring Jane Fonda, was nominated for nine Academy Awards...
. Intended as a new directorial project for Martin Scorsese
Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation...
, Leonardo DiCaprio
Leonardo DiCaprio
Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio is an American actor and film producer. He has received many awards, including a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor for his performance in The Aviator , and has been nominated by the Academy Awards, Screen Actors Guild and the British Academy of Film and Television...
is attached as the star and William Monahan
William Monahan
William J. Monahan is an American screenwriter and novelist. His second produced screenplay was The Departed, a film which earned him a WGA award and an Academy award for Best Adapted Screenplay.-Writer and editor:...
will write the screenplay. James Toback
James Toback
James Lee Toback is an American screenwriter and film director.-Early life:Toback was born in New York City. His mother, Selma Judith , was a President of The League of Women Voters and a moderator of political debates on NBC. His father, Irwin Lionel Toback, was a stockbroker and former...
, the screenwriter of the original, has criticized the development of the remake.
External links
- The Gambler at Rotten TomatoesRotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...