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(More customer reviews)According to the liner notes included with the DVD release for La Città gioca d'azzardo (1975) aka Gambling City aka The Cheaters, released in the states in 1976, the movie came about due to the popularity of the American film The Sting (1973), both dealing con artists plying the tricks of their trade. This didn't really surprise me, as I can't begin to tell you how many shoddy Italian productions I've seen created specifically to leech off a popularized genre by copying much better films, the main difference here being Gambling City is actually an excellent feature. Co-written and directed by Sergio Martino (Case of the Scorpion's Tail, All the Colors of the Dark, 2019: After the Fall of New York), the film stars Luc Merenda (Violent Professionals, A Man Called Magnum). Also appearing is Dayle Haddon (The World's Greatest Athlete, Spermula), Corrado Pani (The Cat with the Jade Eyes), and Enrico Maria Salerno (The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, Execution Squad).
Luc Merenda plays Luca Altieri, a petty, yet adept, card shark, working Milan's illegal gambling parlors. After falling into an upscale game and fleecing his competitors for a rather large sum of money, he's made an offer by the wheelchair bound owner of the club, an underworld figure known as `The President' (Salerno). Seems The President wants to bankroll the talented Luca and have him work his club, allowing Luca to keep a percentage of his winnings, the rest going back to the house, i.e. The President. Luca accepts, but soon finds himself in hot water after crossing The President's son Corrado (Pani) by performing the horizontal mambo with Corrado's girlfriend Maria (Haddon). Things escalate between Corrado and Luca (Corrado's goons give Luca a near crippling beating) to the point where The President decides to liquidate Luca, if only because he's now considered a danger to the organization (he's tempted to do the same with his idiot son, but doesn't), but later has a change of heart, perhaps feeling guilty for his idiot son's actions, allowing Luca to run off (with a briefcase full of money), warning him to never gamble again, or else it's curtains. Luca leaves town with Maria to recuperate, while Corrado engages in a coup d'etat, but since he doesn't have his father's head for business, things quickly sour. Luca's eventually drawn back into the life, despite the threat of death, and soon finds himself in the position to make one, last big score, despite Maria's pleading to give up the life and start anew.
As I said, I thought this an excellent film with an outstanding and stylistic sense of direction. Some of the scenes I liked best where when Luca was practicing his adeptness with cards. There was one shot in particular when he's playing where we see from an interesting vantage point how he manages to make a better hand for himself by palming some bad cards and switching them for good ones, all of this being imperceptible to his opponents. Merenda appeared to perform some of the tricks himself, while some of the others were most likely done by someone else as there's a number of scenes where we see close ups of hands manipulating cards. I thought Merenda, who was quite handsome, did particularly well as the smart aleck, passionate hustler, supremely confident in his skills (on and off the tables), blindsided by his affections towards a woman who was nothing but trouble. Once he's forced out of the life (due to his injuries), he sees there's more to life than just cards, but since that's the only thing he's good at, the desire to return to the old ways is too much. Dayle Haddon also did all right, despite her relatively minor role as a kept woman who realizes that while money can buy a lot of things, it doesn't necessarily equate to happiness. And then there's Corrado Pani as the smarmy, spoiled, vindictive, misogynistic, power hungry, extremely petty son of the big boss. I really enjoyed the scenes where after he took over the organization, things started to fall apart specifically because no one respected him, and only saw him as unworthy usurper to the throne through an unwarranted sense of self entitlement. These sequences may not have had a whole lot to do with the actual story, but they were satisfying as a form of comeuppance. It was funny how, despite all the problems that developed after his taking charge, he still had time to nurse his grudge against Luca. The engaging story moves along at a good pace, and features quite a bit of action, including a few bloody fight scenes and an exciting chase sequence near the end. There is one aspect about this film I found completely bizarre and that was the bouncy, upbeat, almost comical main theme. There are slight comedic elements in the story, but they didn't justify the main theme music, which seemed to have been lifted from a Pink Panther film. This bit of music plays throughout the film, with more serious (and appropriate) pieces thrown in the mix. It was a decent piece of music, but just not for this film. Also, I thought the ending terribly sappy, but this shouldn't deter anyone interested in seeing this otherwise wonderful film.
No Shame provides an impeccable anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1) transfer on this DVD release. The picture is sharp, clean, and clear, exhibiting no flaws. The audio, presented in Dolby Digital 2.0 mono (included is both the original Italian track along with the dubbed English track), is very strong, but does have a couple of very minor dropouts, each lasting perhaps a fraction of a second, and only worth mentioning only because they stood out against an otherwise beautiful release. I would most definitely not discourage anyone interested to avoid this release because of this negligible flaw. As far as extras, there's a moderated commentary track featuring star Luc Merenda, a 35 minute piece titled Chatting with the Cheaters featuring interviews with the director Sergio Martino, cinematographer Giancarlo Ferrando, and star Luc Merenda, the original, Italian theatrical trailer, English subtitles, a poster gallery, and an insert booklet with talent bios and liner notes by Richard Harlan Smith.
Cookieman108
By the way, the line I used for the title of this review came from the character of The President, as he was talking about his feelings towards his son.
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Gambling CityHidden within the nightclubs of Milan are private casinos that offer illegal gambling to the highest bidders.Into this world comes Luca Altieri, the fastest card shark in town.Now, he's caught the eye of "The President", the underworld's most powerful figure, and he's no longer working alone.What's worse, Luca's fallen in love with Maria Luisa, the gorgeous girlfriend of the President's power-mad and insanely jealous son, Corrado.Can Luca make off with the girl and his winnings without getting killed?Even a betting man like Luca has to admit that the cards are stacked against him this time.Better known for his giallo and polizia thrillers, GAMBLING CITY shows that director Sergio Martino (TORSO, MOUNTAIN OF THE CANNIBAL GOD) could also handle lighter fare with great ease.Working off of a script he co-wrote with frequent collaborator Ernesto Gastaldi (THE STRANGE VICE OF MRS. WARDH, MY NAME IS NOBODY), GAMBLING CITY is an exciting and action-packed thriller with plenty of romantic and comedic touches populated by likeable characters.The first-rate cast is lead by Luc Merenda (THE VIOLENT PROFESSIONALS, LES MANS) as Luca, supermodel Dayle Haddon (NORTH DALLAS FORTY), Enrico Maria Salerno (NIGHT TRAIN MURDERS) and Corrado Pani (ROCCO AND HIS BROTHERS), and filled with beautiful locations in Milan and the French Riviera.In the tradition of such card shark classics as THE STING, GOD OF GAMBLERS and ROUNDERS, GAMBLING CITY is a royal flush of style and entertainment.NoShame Films is proud to present GAMBLING CITY for the first time on video in the U.S. in its original widescreen aspect ratio, digitally re-mastered from the original negative, uncut and uncensored.This DVD is dedicated to the memory of Corrado Pani (1936-2005).
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