Word: gambler
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...decayed gentility and Sinn Fein violence, flung out of home at 16 for making love to the grooms, drifting into Berlin and the tackiest pits of Weimar decadence, changing addresses almost as often as shirts, surviving in an utterly provisional manner as unsuccessful interior decorator in Germany, as professional gambler in England, Bacon is a very English figure - in some ways a modern (and untitled) type of the Restoration libertine and wit, Lord Rochester...
...appear in Francis Ford Coppola's The Apocalypse. It is only three years since he appeared in the sleeper Brian's Song and then exploded with the intensity of a young Jimmy Cagney to become a star in The Godfather. Now, after Cinderella Liberty, The Gambler, Funny Lady and the upcoming sci-fi drama Rollerball, he is one of the five top box office draws in the country...
...Sometimes Jimmy thinks he is already cooling off. The studios want him in his proven moneymaking role of Sonny: "They won't let you fall on your ass anymore." And he has been overlooked for an Oscar. "Everyone said you're a shoo-in for The Gambler - then nothing." Now he is not sure where he stands. "I have a feeling the moment you do something different, the way Brando has done, they're just waiting to hack you to pieces...
...theaters it shows at are generally empty, the suckers sitting in the audience can lessen the pain somewhat by singing along with "You're the Top." "Lot's Misbehave" and other Porter masterpieces. The plot is a typical romantic quadrangle between Shepherd, 'Reynolds, Kahn and a stereotyped greasy Italian gambler played by Diullio del Prete. They cavort between two hotel rooms, one mansion, several parks, two formal dances, one race course, a plethora of white Rolls Royces and the Lord and Taylor Ladies Room. Eventually everyone ends up with the right mate and lives happily ever after. The genre...
...plot, which matters least of all, has to do with Fanny Brice's later years after her separation from Nicky Arnstein, who did her so bad in the original. Omar Sharif, forever limpid, shows up again as the ne'er-do-well gambler who tries to tempt Fanny away from Billy, but she rejects him. The ending is an occasion for a few tears and a little heartbreak; we well know from all the funny ladies of movie history that happiness does not come with success. Only producers might think otherwise, and they keep it to themselves...