User reviews

In 1975, director Sergio MARTINO presented a typical Italian crime film from the heyday of the Roman CINECITTA. The French actor Luc MERENDA plays a poker player named Luca, who gets into trouble with the "Presidente" (Enrico Maria SALERNO) and his son (Corrado PANI) in the casino scene of Milan. Of course, there is also a beautiful woman (Dayle HADDON) involved, who steals Luca from the spoiled son of the gambling godfather. To do this, the lovers have to flee to Nice. It is easy to imagine that the abandoned wannabe boss will not put up with this. A merciless manhunt begins.

This film about a city society addicted to gambling is certainly not an independent work. There are too many borrowings from successful American films of those years. THE STING (1973) and LOVE STORY (1970) are particularly worth mentioning. For fans of the Italo Cinema of CINECITTA, this is quite acceptable, but also quickly forgotten.

Browse through my review-history and you'll rapidly notice I'm a tremendous sucker for Italian cult/exploitation cinema of the 70s and 80s. Unfortunately, that also means I'm very biased. I'll admit straight away that you won't read too many negative things in this review! I absolutely loved every second of Sergio Martino's excellent "Gambling City"; - what with its highly original and intelligent screenplay (courtesy of prolific writer Ernesto Gastaldi), the raw and violent action footage, the authentic passion between protagonist Luc Merenda and the stunningly beautiful Dayle Haddon, the sleazy and loathsome villainous characters, Luciano Michelini's slightly over-eccentric soundtrack and the massively spectacular grand finale! Like most contemporary Italian films, "Gambling City" is quite the rip-off! That's totally fine, though, since these rip-offs by far exceed the Hollywood originals in terms of entertainment value and controversy. The main inspirations here are "The Cincinnati Kid" and "The Sting", but Martino also cleverly thrives on the success of the native Poliziotesschi. Granted, the hero is a sly con-man instead of an unorthodox copper, but the wild car chases, brutal executions and tragic retaliations are definitely there!

Luca Altieri is a charismatic thug with a unique gift. He's a fantastic cheater at poker games, so much even that he gets himself noticed by the crippled but powerful crime boss and illegal casino-owner known as "The President". Luca could then lead a laid-back and luxurious life as professional cheater, but instead he prefers to run off with the ravishing mistress of The President's son Corrado. The megalomaniac Corrado is a worthless heritor to his father's crime-imperium, but he naturally doesn't think so, and his jealousy and hatred against Luca makes him even more dangerous. Again, I may be biased, but seriously don't believe the people who claim that "Gambling City" is boring and predictable. Gastaldo's script contains a number of smart twists and original sub plots. Although superficially not as extravagant than most, Corrado Pani depicts one of the most psychopathic villains in crime-film history. The poker sequences are somewhat long and tedious, especially if you don't understand one iota of the game's rules (like me), but there are plenty of action-packed highlights to compensate for this. I'm still amazed by the beauty of Dayle Haddon, and Luc Merenda clearly enjoyed every second of his acting career at that point in time. Check out also "The Violent Professionals", "Shoot First Die Later", "Kidnap Syndicate", "Man without a Memory" and "Torso" with him. Oh, and one last thing you should always remember: happy endings didn't exist in Italian cinema during the 70s!

This movie's about a street-wise gambler who starts working for a big criminal organization, working as a professional gambler for them, Every thing seems to go alright, until Luca (Luc Merenda), falls in love with a woman who financially lives of the Big bosse's son money, in return for giving her body to him, The bosse's son want to take revenge on Luca, but his father 'The president(Who also deals in drugs, and other illegal activities) who also happens to be in a wheel chair (Enrico Maria Salerno) doesn't want his son touching Luca, being that Luca is a great Gambler, and makes alot of Money for the organization, This is the premise, Obviously the story thickens alot being full of twists and surprises, the plot making it one of the greatest tragic, violent, and complex Luc merenda's film. And Enrico Maria Salerno is obviously Great as usual, This is the typical movie that if Hollywood remade it, it would obviously be a sure number on hit.

To begin with, this film presents the worst case of Panning & Scanning I've ever come across with the camera literally jittering across the frame to reveal some pertinent information!

It's not a typical poliziottesco but rather a mildly enjoyable take on THE STING (1973): Luc Merenda is practically the whole show here as the ultra-confident hustler - which isn't exactly a good thing as he's stubbornly failed to impress me (in the acting stakes) with every film he's done; he was at his most tolerable perhaps in the giallo TORSO (1973), incidentally also directed by Martino. Enrico Maria Salerno has a notable role, too, as a respected but crippled racketeer dubbed "The President".

While there are the requisite action sequences, the film spends too much time on Merenda's sentimental attachment to Dayle Haddon - even going so far as to include a ludicrous downbeat coda in which both she and her newborn baby die! As a matter of fact, the film's light-hearted first half fails to jell convincingly with the roughness of the second (in which Haddon is raped, Merenda is beaten to a pulp, Salerno is viciously disposed of, etc). Besides, the film's score - usually one of such Euro-Cult items' major assets - is at once corny and reminiscent of Isaac Hayes' classic SHAFT (1971) theme!

The film has received an unaccountable SE DVD release by No Shame but, despite the appalling video quality of the VHS copy I watched, I don't see myself picking it up for a possible reappraisal...

The whole Polizi sub-genre owes itself mainly to the release of Don Siegel's classic cop flick Dirty Harry, but this one breaks the rules a little as it takes more influence from gambling classics such as The Cincinnati Kid and The Sting. The Polizi trademarks - things such as fistfights and car chases, still feature heavily, although it's clear that the main focus of the film is on the card games. The idea of an Italian crime film about gambling appealed to me as I'm a big fan of poker, and while that game does feature here; unfortunately, it's the less exciting games of five and seven card stud that take centre stage. The plot focuses on ace gambler Luca Altieri, who impresses crime boss 'The President' after cheating some poker player out of a lot of money. The President offers Luca a chance to put his cheating skills to use for him, and Luca soon accepts. However, trouble starts when the gambler's wandering eye catches the beautiful Maria Luisa; a woman who also happens to be the mistress of the boss's son Corrado, who doesn't take too kindly to Luca's presence...

Naturally, the film is completely over the top and while the influence from the aforementioned films 'The Sting' and 'The Cincinnati Kid' is clear, it's also obvious that this is a full blooded Italian thriller as Sergio Martino keeps the focus on the action and the film features far more punch-ups than a film about gambling probably should. The plot that ace scriptwriter Ernesto Gastaldi has put together is interesting for the most part, and gives the film more credibility than your average Italian rip-off thriller. The cast is good too, with the suave Luc Merenda leading the way, and receiving good support from the likes of Dayle Haddon and Corrado Pani. Martino does well at implementing the classic Italian style, and although the musical score gets a little silly at times; it's catchy enough to go well with the film. Overall, I wouldn't call Gambling City a masterpiece or even a must see; but its great fun to watch, as films like this should be, and it deserves kudos for that. Recommended to all fans of Italian cinema!