Playboy Barney Lincoln (Warren Beatty) breaks into playing cards company Kaleidoscope and replaces some decks with marked cards. The cards are delivered to casinos and he uses them to win big. He has a fling with Angel McGinnis (Susannah York) and she informs her Scotland Yard father who needs the known gambler to smoke out notorious criminal Harry Dominion.
Warren Beatty is Warren Beatty. He is a movie star. This is a British crime thriller but it has few thrills. The plot meanders around. If the premise of the movie is recruiting a card cheat to take down a criminal, that's what this movie should start with. Instead, it spends so much time doing the marked cards and the rest. This should start with Beatty in prison after getting caught cheating on cards. The recruitment comes immediately and the plot can begin right away. The first time Barney meets up with Harry should not take over an hour. If it's about the marked cards, it should cut out the Dominion part. Even the knowing humor achieves very little. The general sense is that there is nothing here to see except one poker hand and one movie star.
Warren Beatty is Warren Beatty. He is a movie star. This is a British crime thriller but it has few thrills. The plot meanders around. If the premise of the movie is recruiting a card cheat to take down a criminal, that's what this movie should start with. Instead, it spends so much time doing the marked cards and the rest. This should start with Beatty in prison after getting caught cheating on cards. The recruitment comes immediately and the plot can begin right away. The first time Barney meets up with Harry should not take over an hour. If it's about the marked cards, it should cut out the Dominion part. Even the knowing humor achieves very little. The general sense is that there is nothing here to see except one poker hand and one movie star.