6.6/10
3,781
43 user 33 critic

Król Marvin Gardens (1972)

The King of Marvin Gardens (original title)
'It's Monopoly out there'. Jason Staebler, The King of Marvin Gardens, has gone directly to jail, lives on the Boardwalk and fronts for the local mob in Atlantic City. He is also a dreamer ... See full summary »

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Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
...
...
...
Julia Anne Robinson ...
Jessica
...
Lewis (as Benjamin 'Scatman' Crothers)
Charles LaVine ...
Grandfather
Arnold Williams ...
Rosko
...
Surtees (as John Ryan)
Sully Boyar ...
Lebowitz
...
Frank
William Pabst ...
Bidlack
Garry Goodrow ...
Nervous Man (as Gary Goodrow)
Imogene Bliss ...
Magda
Ann Thomas ...
Bambi
Tom Overton ...
Spot Operator
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Storyline

'It's Monopoly out there'. Jason Staebler, The King of Marvin Gardens, has gone directly to jail, lives on the Boardwalk and fronts for the local mob in Atlantic City. He is also a dreamer who asks his brother, David, a radio personality from Philadelphia to help him build a paradise on a Pacific Island - asking him to believe in yet another of his dreams, yet another of his get-rich-quick schemes. But luck is against them both and the game ends badly - real life reduced to radio drama. Written by Dave Cook <cookd@mcmail.cis.mcmaster.ca>

Plot Summary | Add Synopsis

Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

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Release Date:

26 April 1973 (France)  »

Also Known As:

Król Marvin Gardens  »

Filming Locations:

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Company Credits

Production Co:

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Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

Color:

(Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1
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Did You Know?

Trivia

During the meeting with the Japanese businessmen, David Staebler (Nicholson) refers to an experiment where a woman cohabitated with a dolphin in isolation for a couple of months. This is perhaps a reference to the 1965 Dolphin Point Laboratory experiment run by Dr. John C Lilly on St. Thomas Island. The name of the woman who volunteered to participate in the experiment is Margaret Howe and she was 23 years-old at the time of the experiment. See more »

Goofs

David listens to tape recording he made but during close-up of tape recorder, none of the buttons that would allow it to play are depressed. See more »

Quotes

[first lines]
David Staebler: I promised that I would tell you... why I never eat fish. When we all moved into my grandfather's house... it somehow fell to me to keep the old man's mind off of things. We would play casino over an old card table. He never let me win. One time he put one of those tiny model trains... into my hamburger. He was a practical joker. I broke my tooth on it. On Friday evenings we had fish at our house. Every Friday. Not on religious grounds, but because... Grandpa was a fish enthusiast....
[...]
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Crazy Credits

The Columbia Pictures logo does not appear on this film. See more »

Connections

Referenced in Epidemia (1987) See more »

Soundtracks

I Could Have Danced All Night
(uncredited)
Music by Frederick Loewe
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User Reviews

 
Under-rated Rafelson flick!
10 November 2004 | by (United States) – See all my reviews

I thought this superior to CARNAL KNOWLEDGE and am a bit surprised by the reaction to it at time of release. After FIVE EASY PIECES and before STAY HUNGRY this '72 film was thrown aside and dismissed. I guess Nicholson wasn't using his eyebrows enough for public taste. Bruce Dern gives a superb performance as his shyster-dreamer brother with big plans. Ellen Burstyn is paranoid justifiably and gives a lovely performance. The young girl Julie Ann Robinson is terrible.

A 7 out of 10. Best performance = Bruce Dern. Throw in Scatman and John Ryan and you have a fascinating mood piece. What happened to Bob Rafelson?


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