Gambling holds a certain fascination with the moviegoing public. Poker, dice, pool, blackjack, horse racing and sports betting have been featured in a number of memorable films. Here are ten gambling-related movies that are sure to get the competitive juices flowing. Bet on it, baby!
The Hustler (20th Century-Fox, 1961)
Paul Newman (”Fast” Eddie Felson) and Jackie Gleason (Minnesota Fats) play a pair of high-stakes pool players in the 1961 aptly-named film classic The Hustler. Robert Rossen produced, directed and co-wrote (with Sidney Carroll) The Hustler for his own Rossen Films.
The Hustler is based on the 1959 novel of the same name by Walter S. Tevis. It follows the triumphs and tragedies of young pool shark “Fast” Eddie Felson and his quest to unseat the reigning straight pool champion of the world Minnesota Fats. Along for the wild ride are George C. Scott (Bert Gordon), Piper Laurie (Sarah Packard), Myron McCormick (Charlie Burns) and Murray Hamilton (Findley).
The Hustler is packed with gambling action, including the final match in which Eddie and Fats play for a cool $3,000 a game. That’s not chump change, and neither is The Hustler which garnered nine Academy Award nominations.
Great line: “Do you like to gamble, Eddie? Gamble money on pool games?” - Jackie Gleason
The Cincinnati Kid (MGM, 1965)
Steve McQueen has the title role in this poker movie classic based on the 1963 novel by Richard Jessup and written for the screen by Ring Lardner Jr. and Terry Southern. McQueen — as Eric Stoner — is partial to stud poker, and sets out to challenge the old veteran Edward G. Robinson (Lancey Howard) in Depression-era New Orleans.
Norman Jewison directs, with Tuesday Weld (Christian), Karl Malden (Shooter), Ann-Margret (Melba), Joan Blondell (Lady Fingers) and Rip Torn (Slade) also adorning the cinematic landscape. Ray Charles sings the movie’s bluesy title song.
Poker players will love The Cincinnati Kid, especially the climactic showdown in which the Kid hits a full house. Outstanding hand, but is it enough to beat the old champ?
Great line: “Gets down to what it’s all about, doesn’t it? Making the wrong move at the right time.” - Edward G. Robinson
Rounders (Miramax, 1998)
Matt Damon (Mike McDermott) and Edward Norton (Lester “Worm” Murphy) frequent the underground poker clubs of New York City in director John Dahl’s Rounders. Expertly written by Brian Koppelman and David Levien, Rounders also features John Malkovich (Teddy KGB), Martin Landau (Abe Petrovsky), Gretchen Mol (Jo) and Michael Rispoli (Grama).
Watch Damon and Norton hit the road, frantically trying to win $15,000 in five days in order to pay off vicious loan shark Michael Rispoli. Poker fans will revel in this film, as No Limit Texas Hold ‘Em is the game of choice.
Great line: “Listen. Here’s the thing. If you can’t spot the sucker in your first half hour at the table, then you are the sucker.” - Matt Damon
Edward Norton and Matt Damon in Rounders (1998)
Maverick (Warner Bros., 1994)
Mel Gibson plays gambler Bret Maverick in director Richard Donner’s big screen version of the classic 1957-62 Warner Bros. TV western. James Garner (Marshal Zane Cooper), Jodie Foster (Annabelle Bransford) and James Coburn (Commodore Duvall) also appear.
Bret Maverick’s trek to the poker game of the century in St. Louis proves to be an ordeal as he encounters the notorious gunfighter John Wesley Hardin, a vengeful Mexican, “hostile” Indians and a conniving southern belle. William Goldman’s script provides plenty of laughs and gambling thrills, culminating in the big poker tournament aboard the Lauren Belle which carries a top prize of $500,000.
Great line: “You know my old pappy always used to say, ‘there is no more deeply moving religious experience…than cheatin’ on a cheater.’” - Mel Gibson
Mr. Lucky (RKO, 1943)
Cary Grant works his magic as gambler Joe Adams aka Joe Bascopolous in the wartime comedy-drama Mr. Lucky. Directed by H.C. Potter and scripted by Milton Holmes and Adrian Scott, Mr. Lucky chronicles the escapades of high-roller Adams and his bid to reclaim his gambling boat the Fortuna.
Laraine Day (Dorothy Bryant), Charles Bickford (Hard Swede) and Gladys Cooper (Veronica Steadman) ably assist Grant, who initially schemes to relieve Day’s War Relief Inc. of its charity gala earnings. Cary Grant is both slick and suave, a fast-talking con man who eventually sees the error of his ways.
Great line: “All you have to do is give me the gambling concessions…Sure, blackjack, chuck-a-luck, roulette. I’ll raise the dough in one evening.” - Cary Grant
The Gambler (Paramount, 1974)
James Caan plays Axel Freed, an English professor whose compulsive gambling lands him in hot water with the mob. Directed by Karel Reisz and scripted by James Toback, The Gambler also features Lauren Hutton (Billie), Paul Sorvino (Hips) and Burt Young (Carmine).
The Hustler is loaded with gambling action, including Caan’s trek to Las Vegas where he doubles down and hits on an 18 in blackjack, winning the hand. But Caan, who owes his mobbed-up bookie $44,000, is at his sleaziest best when he asks one of his student athletes to shave points in a college basketball game.
Great line: “Forty-four thousand dollars, Axel. It ain’t just numbers.” - Paul Sorvino
James Caan and Lauren Hutton in The Gambler (1974)
A Big Hand for the Little Lady (Warner Bros., 1966)
Henry Fonda (Meredith) and Joanne Woodward (Mary) get caught up in poker fever in this entertaining western directed by Fielder Cook. Also on hand are Jason Robards Jr. (Drummond), Paul Ford (Ballinger), Charles Bickford (Tropp), Burgess Meredith (Scully), Kevin McCarthy (Habershaw) and Robert Middleton (Dennis Wilcox).
Sidney Carroll’s script sizzles, as hayseed Fonda buys his way into an annual high-stakes poker game in old Laredo. Fonda is stricken with a heart attack, and his novice wife Mary has to take over his hand. But, alas, not everything is at it appears…
Great line: “Now look, mister, the first rule of the game of poker, whether you’re playing eastern or western rules, or the kind they play at the North Pole, is put up or shut up!” - Robert Middleton
The Only Game in Town (20th Century-Fox, 1970)
Warren Beatty is Joe Grady, a Las Vegas piano bar player whose penchant for gambling threatens his relationship with an aging showgirl. Based on Frank D. Gilroy’s play and directed by George Stevens, The Only Game in Town also features Elizabeth Taylor (Fran Walker) and Charles Braswell (Lockwood).
The final sequence is excellent as the frantic Beatty goes on a tear, selling his valuables for needed cash in order to keep his gambling hopes alive at Sin City casinos.
Great line: “Which is worse — the heart abused or the heart unused?” - Warren Beatty
California Split (Columbia, 1974)
George Segal (Bill Denny) and Elliott Gould (Charlie Waters) play two friends whose love of gambling takes them to new highs and new lows. Directed by Robert Altman and written by Joseph Walsh, California Split also features Ann Prentiss (Barbara Miller) and Gwen Welles (Susan Peters).
Watch buddies Segal and Gould play poker, shoot craps and lay down bets on the ponies as they gamble their way to Reno. The legendary poker player “Amarillo Slim” Preston can be glimpsed seated at a Reno card table.
Great line: “Goddamnit, lady, you don’t throw oranges on an escalator!” - George Segal
Elliott Gould and George Segal in California Split (1974)
21 (Columbia, 2008)
Based on the 2003 nonfiction book Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six MIT Students Who Took Vegas for Millions by Ben Mezrich, 21 stars Kevin Spacey (Micky Rosa), Jim Sturgess (Ben Campbell) and Kate Bosworth (Jill Taylor).
Spacey plays the MIT professor who recruits a group of college students as blackjack card counters. After undergoing intense training, the kids head to Las Vegas where they relieve the casinos of several million dollars.
Directed by Robert Luketic and scripted by Peter Steinfeld and Allan Loeb, 21 serves as a potent analgesic for anyone who was ever “robbed” by the casinos.
Great line: “The only thing worse than a loser is someone who won’t admit he played badly.” - Kevin Spacey
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