24

The Gamblers

The GamblerSunday, 5 March 2017 at 4.30pmKarel Reisz | USA 1974 | 109 minutes

New York City English professor Axel Freed (James Caan) outwardly seems like an upstanding citizen. But privately Freed is in the clutches of a severe gambling addiction that threatens to destroy him.

“James Caan is unforgettable in this tense examination of a college professor who can’t stop gambling. One of the many overlooked gems of the 1970s.” (Fantastica Daily)

“James Caan is excellent and the featured players are superb...James Toback’s script commingles candor and compassion, without hostility or superficial sociology or patronizing.” (Variety)

The Rocking Horse Winner Sunday, 19 February 2017 at 4.30pmAnthony Pélissier | UK 1949 | 91 minutes

A young boy receives a rocking horse for Christmas and soon learns that he is able to pick the winning horse at the races. This adaptation of a story by D.H. Lawrence works on several different levels: as an indictment of the consuming nature of rampant materialism, as an Oedipal nursery tale of a boy desperately trying to earn the love of his cold mother, and as a tale of the supernatural.

“One of the most underrated post-war British movies.” (Film4)

“A British film which explores the complex links between sex, money and power is rare indeed.” (Time Out)

California SplitSunday, 26 February 2017 at 4.30pmRobert Altman | USA 1974 | 108 minutes

Charlie (Elliott Gould) is a motormouth gambler who sucks Bill (George Segal) into his on-the-fly life after they are mistaken for a pair of grifters at an old-folks’ poker house. Charlie is a magnetic personality who always has the inside information and a new line on a big score. Bill can’t help but follow him–he makes everything sound so exciting!

“It’s funny, it’s hard-boiled, it gives us a bond between two frazzled heroes trying to win by the rules in a game where the rules require defeat. California Split is a great movie and it’s a great experience, too; we’ve been there with Bill and Charlie.” (Roger Ebert)