Storyline

Although Charley Kying has owned a casino for fifteen years, on one rainy night events and people seem to converge and threaten his family home and second home, his gambling house. After a doctor secretly diagnoses him with a severe heart condition and recommends that if he continues to subject himself to the daily stress of a professional gambler, he hasn't long to live. Later that day he's made to realize that he's been neglecting his faithful wife for years and abdicated his duties as father to his son, who resents his father's unsavory reputation and rebuffs his interest in attending that night's prom. Charley's weakling brother-in-law, who sponges off him by freeloading at home and cheating him out of petty cash as croupier, agrees to conspire with rival gamblers to cheat Charley out of thousands. Among the others who add stress to what would seem to be Charley's last night in the casino are a rich former girlfriend who proposes they renew their relationship, an old nemesis who's vowing to break the bank at the tables, and an old degenerate gambler and former mentor whose desperation leads him to try to take his own life.—duke1029@aol.com

Plot Keywords

based on novel, attempted suicide, ex boxer, prostitute, dignity, blood pressure, self respect, sister sister relationship, diagnosis, nitroglycerin, marriage, racism, father son conflict, italian american, roulette, compulsive gambler, poker game, african american, double entendre, cigarette smoking

Short Review

In attempting to sketch a portrait of a bigtime casino operator, screenwriter Richard Brooks has jammed the yarn with too many subordinate characterizations which fly off at a tangent.

Trailer

Streaming Service

1. Amazon Video : Rent from $1.99, Or $0.00 with a Prime membership

2. Apple iTunes : Track Price: 8.99, Track Rental Price: 2.99, Collection Price: 8.99, Track Hd Price: 8.99, Track Hd Rental Price: 2.99, Collection Hd Price: 8.99

3. Vudu : [SD - Buy: 9.99, Rent: 2.99]