Atlantic City (1980)

Lou is a small time gangster, who thinks he used to be something big. He meets up with a younger girl, Sally, who is learning to be a croupier. Her husband turns up with drugs he has stolen... See full summary »

Director:

Louis Malle

Writer:

John Guare

Stars:

Burt Lancaster, Susan Sarandon, Kate Reid

Nominated for 5 Oscars. Another 26 wins & 14 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Burt Lancaster	...	Lou
Susan Sarandon	...	Sally
Kate Reid	...	Grace
Michel Piccoli	...	Joseph
Hollis McLaren	...	Chrissie
Robert Joy	...	Dave
Al Waxman	...	Alfie
Robert Goulet	...	Singer
Moses Znaimer	...	Felix
Angus MacInnes	...	Vinnie
Sean Sullivan	...	Buddy
Wallace Shawn	...	Waiter (as Wally Shawn)
Harvey Atkin	...	Bus Driver
Norma Dell'Agnese	...	Jeanne
Louis Del Grande	...	Mr. Shapiro

Storyline

Lou is a small time gangster, who thinks he used to be something big. He meets up with a younger girl, Sally, who is learning to be a croupier. Her husband turns up with drugs he has stolen from the Mafia. The husband gets Lou to sell the drugs, but is killed before Lou can give him the money. Later, the owners of the drugs turn up and threaten to kill Sally if she doesn't return them...

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Plot Keywords:

drugs | gangster | theft | older man younger woman | murder | 

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Taglines:

She made him become what he always wanted to be - a lover, a hero, a rich man...and a killer!

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

R

Details

Official Sites:

Arteboutique [fr]

Country:

Canada France

Language:

English French

Release Date:

3 April 1981 (USA)

Also Known As:

Atlantic City, USA

Filming Locations:

Albany Avenue, Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$7,200,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

International Cinema Corporation (ICC), Selta Films, Canadian Film Development Corporation (CFDC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

One of 26 films to be Oscar nominated for all 5 key Academy Awards of Best Picture, Actor, Actress, Director and Screenplay and one of six of these films not to win any Oscars at all.

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Goofs

Near the end of the film Grace tells Chrissie that they'd both lost their men to a shooting. But near the film's beginning, it's quite clear that Chrissie's man was murdered by being stabbed, not shot.

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Quotes

Lou: I'm a lover!
Grace Pinza: Numbnuts!

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Crazy Credits

As the end credits roll, an old building on the boardwalk is demolished to some of the tunes that appear earlier in the film. Each time the wrecking ball hits, we hear a cymbal crash and the soundtrack jumps to a different song.

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Connections

Referenced in Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Screaming Skull (1998)

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Soundtracks

"La Marseillaise"
(uncredited)
Music by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle

User Reviews

Pretty low key film, yet still a strong performance by Lancaster. I love squeezed lemon drops too!

"Atlantic City" is overall a well done film that's pays homage to the city itself and is somewhat a going away present for legendary Burt Lancaster. The film seems low key though even though drama is present it's not your typical gangster film of blood and violence and the plot is pretty simple and not to complex. Burt Lancaster is aging mobster Lou Pascal who takes care of an aging woman in fact a deceased mobsters wife, yet Lou is still in the business and collects at random on the boardwalk. Then enter Sally Matthews(Susan Sarandon) a waitress and card dealer in training for one of the casinos has her life turned up when her sister and ex show up from Philadelphia after finding a big bag of white powder! The paths of all the characters cross, yet as I said again it's mostly low key most important the relationship of escape routes develop for the lives of both Lou and Sally upon meeting. And the scenes of seeing Susan Sarandon wash and bath by rubbing lemon juice from squeezed lemons was very sexy! Clearly one of the more erotic memories in cinema history. Louis Malle wrapped it up well by being low key ending with both male and female lead characters getting what they wanted escaping to a new life. The scenes of A.C. was great and to top it all off Burt Lancaster was very classy and smooth in his performance.