The King of Marvin Gardens (1972)

A daydreamer convinces his radio personality brother to help fund one of his get-rich-quick schemes.

Director:

Bob Rafelson

Writers:

Jacob Brackman (screenplay), Bob Rafelson (story)

Stars:

Jack Nicholson, Bruce Dern, Ellen Burstyn

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jack Nicholson	...	David Staebler
Bruce Dern	...	Jason Staebler
Ellen Burstyn	...	Sally
Julia Anne Robinson	...	Jessica
Scatman Crothers	...	Lewis (as Benjamin 'Scatman' Crothers)
Charles LaVine	...	Grandfather
Arnold Williams	...	Rosko
John P. Ryan	...	Surtees (as John Ryan)
Sully Boyar	...	Lebowitz
Josh Mostel	...	Frank
William Pabst	...	Bidlack
Garry Goodrow	...	Nervous Man (as Gary Goodrow)
Imogene Bliss	...	Magda
Ann Thomas	...	Bambi
Tom Overton	...	Spot Operator

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.

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Plot Keywords:

watching tv | jail | radio | hotel | hawaii | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Japanese

Release Date:

26 April 1973 (France)

Also Known As:

The Philosopher King

Filming Locations:

Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

BBS Productions, Columbia Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Filmed in the once popular Marlborough-Blenhim hotel, yet by 1972 the hotel had fallen on hard times like most of Atlantic City. The hotel continued operating until 1978 when it was bought by Park Place Entertainment. Despite protests, the hotel was demolished in 1979, and replaced with Bally's Park Place Casino.

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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.

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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.

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Connections

Featured in At the Movies: Coneheads/Benefit of the Doubt/Poetic Justice/Another Stakeout/Hocus Pocus (1993)

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Soundtracks

Steppin' Out With My Baby
(uncredited)
Written by Irving Berlin
Heard when Jessica dances

User Reviews

The most underrated movie of the 1970s?

Bob Rafelson and Jack Nicholson's creative relationship began because of The Monkees. Rafelson directing and Nicholson writing their weird and wonderful psychedelic cult classic 'Head'. After that the two teamed up for one of the early Seventies best loved movies 'Five Easy Pieces'. A couple of years later they did it again with 'The King Of Marvin Gardens', though inexplicably it doesn't have the reputation or the high profile of their previous collaboration. I really fail to see why. File it under "great lost 1970s movies" alongside 'Scarecrow', 'Bring Me The Head Of Alfredo Garcia', 'Tracks', 'Fingers' (and add your own personal favourite to the list). Marvin Gardens features a really strong and controlled performance from Nicholson in the lead role, an introverted DJ with a show in which he spins "true" tales. But even better than Nicholson is Bruce Dern, a wonderful actor who never became a superstar like Nicholson, Pacino or De Niro, despite a long career of consistently good character roles in movies by Hitchcock, Roger Corman, Walter Hill, Hal Ashby, John Frankenheimer, Elia Kazan, Sydney Pollack and many others. Dern is absolutely wonderful as Nicholson's brother, a dreamer and Mob hanger on. He comes back into his brother's life with a nutty get rich quick scheme which ends up going horribly wrong. This is one of the very best performances by Dern I've ever seen, and his scenes with Nicholson make this essential viewing for any 1970s buff. Added to that are excellent performances from Ellen Burstyn ('The Exorcist', 'Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore') and newcomer Julia Anne Robinson (her only movie role - too bad!) as the women in Dern's life, and nice bits from legendary musician/actor Scatman Crothers ('Black Belt Jones' and appearances in no less than four 1970s Nicholson movies) and the underrated John P. Ryan ('Runaway Train', 'It's Alive', 'Class Of 1999'). 'The King Of Marvin Gardens' is a slow and thoughtful movie, but once you get into the rhythm of it, an extremely rewarding one. One of Nicholson's best, and Dern is just dynamite. Highly recommended.