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 [France]

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

This film's director Louis Malle said of this film in the book "Malle on Malle": "We had a tight budget, but we could do it, because I had a smaller, faster crew. We shot in Atlantic City for about five weeks and the studio shooting took place in Montreal. The crew was part Canadian, part American, part French - all enthusiastic and very good....I improvised more than I usually do, but it had to do with the material and the fact that we were constantly adjusting to what was going on in Atlantic City. For instance, we found out that they were going to pull down a particular building and we decided to move a scene so that we could have the building being demolished in the background. And there is the scene where the husband of the Susan Sarandon character is murdered on top of this bizarre parking place with elevators - an absurd structure I have never seen anywhere else. It was so inconvenient, but it was typical of the place."

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Goofs

In the beginning of this film we see a shot of a very large hotel being demolished, presumably to make way for the construction of a new hotel and casino. The imploded hotel is the old Traymore hotel one of Atlantic City's largest and most famous pre-casino resorts. The movie portrays the hotel as being demolished in 1979-80 so that it can be replaced with a new hotel/casino, gambling just being legalized in Atlantic City in 1978. However, the Traymore was closed and demolished in 1972 six years before gambling was legalized in AC and seven to eight years before the film was made.

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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

Featured in Precious Images (1986)

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Soundtracks

"On the Boardwalk of Atlantic City"
©1946 - Twentieth Century Music Corp.
Administered World Wide by BREGMAN, BOCCO & CONN INC.
Music by Josef Myrow (uncredited)
Lyrics by Mack Gordon (uncredited)
Sung by Ann Burns (credited to cast list), Marie Burns (credited to cast list) and Jean Burns (credited to cast list)

User Reviews

Grainy, Gritty And A Great Story

This is a little bit on the seedy side but it's well-done and Burt Lancaster, once again, provides us with a wonderful character study. This time he's "Lou Pascal," an old-time small hood playing out his days in pathetic manner in a dingy Atlantic City. In fact, "seedy" describes Atlantic City in this picture.

There's nothing seedy about the opening scene, however. It's an attention- grabber, at least if you're a male. We see Susan Sarandon, squeezing lemon juice over her breasts at the kitchen window. Later, we see her do the same thing.

The film is no lemon, however. It's an excellent film and Lancaster, Sarandon ("Sally Matthews") and her husband "Dave" (Robert Joy) comprise most the early going. Joy's role as Sally's loser druggie husband was ugly but he doesn't last long in the film.

The second half of the film features mostly the two stars, both of whom were up for Academy Awards for their performance (and lost out in a sentimental vote for the On Golden Pond crowd). Not only do Lancaster and Sarandon excel, but so does director Louis Malle.

Malle makes this almost a modern-day film noir with the grittiness of the characters and the setting, when Atlantic City looked its worst. It's just solid film-making all-around, and few people could play intense characters, young or old, as well as Lancaster.

My only regret is the transfer on the DVD. It's a little grainy and this film deserves better treatment. although, come to think of it - the grain is appropriate considering it's a gritty story.