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IMDbPro

The King of Marvin Gardens

  • 1972
  • R
  • 1h 43m
IMDb RATING
6.5/10
5.8K
YOUR RATING
Jack Nicholson and Bruce Dern in The King of Marvin Gardens (1972)
Official Trailer
Play trailer3:28
1 Video
99+ Photos
Drama

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

  • Director
    • Bob Rafelson
  • Writers
    • Jacob Brackman
    • Bob Rafelson
  • Stars
    • Jack Nicholson
    • Bruce Dern
    • Ellen Burstyn
  • See production, box office & company info
  • IMDb RATING
    6.5/10
    5.8K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Bob Rafelson
    • Writers
      • Jacob Brackman
      • Bob Rafelson
    • Stars
      • Jack Nicholson
      • Bruce Dern
      • Ellen Burstyn
    • 62User reviews
    • 37Critic reviews
  • See more at IMDbPro
  • Videos1

    The King of Marvin Gardens
    Trailer 3:28
    Watch The King of Marvin Gardens

    Photos135

    Jack Nicholson and Bruce Dern in The King of Marvin Gardens (1972)
    Jack Nicholson and Scatman Crothers in The King of Marvin Gardens (1972)
    Jack Nicholson and Bruce Dern in The King of Marvin Gardens (1972)
    Jack Nicholson and Arnold Williams in The King of Marvin Gardens (1972)
    Jack Nicholson and Ellen Burstyn in The King of Marvin Gardens (1972)
    Jack Nicholson and Bruce Dern in The King of Marvin Gardens (1972)
    Jack Nicholson and Ellen Burstyn in The King of Marvin Gardens (1972)
    Jack Nicholson and Ellen Burstyn in The King of Marvin Gardens (1972)
    Jack Nicholson in The King of Marvin Gardens (1972)
    Ellen Burstyn in The King of Marvin Gardens (1972)
    Jack Nicholson in The King of Marvin Gardens (1972)
    Jack Nicholson in The King of Marvin Gardens (1972)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Jack Nicholson
    Jack Nicholson
    • David Staebler
    Bruce Dern
    Bruce Dern
    • Jason Staebler
    Ellen Burstyn
    Ellen Burstyn
    • Sally
    Julia Anne Robinson
    Julia Anne Robinson
    • Jessica
    Scatman Crothers
    Scatman Crothers
    • Lewis
    • (as Benjamin 'Scatman' Crothers)
    Charles LaVine
    Charles LaVine
    • Grandfather
    Arnold Williams
    Arnold Williams
    • Rosko
    John P. Ryan
    John P. Ryan
    • Surtees
    • (as John Ryan)
    Sully Boyar
    Sully Boyar
    • Lebowitz
    Josh Mostel
    Josh Mostel
    • Frank
    William Pabst
    • Bidlack
    Garry Goodrow
    • Nervous Man
    • (as Gary Goodrow)
    Imogene Bliss
    • Magda
    Ann Thomas
    • Bambi
    Tom Overton
    • Spot Operator
    Maxwell 'Sonny' Goldberg
    • Sonny
    Van Kirksey
    • Messenger #1
    Tony King
    Tony King
    • Messenger #2
    • Director
      • Bob Rafelson
    • Writers
      • Jacob Brackman
      • Bob Rafelson
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      This was Julia Anne Robinson's only major film role. She died in an apartment fire two years after its release.
    • 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.
    • Quotes

      [Lewis and David in the kitchen of Lewis' nightclub. A guy in the door empties a whole bag of glass bottles on the ground, breaks them with a hammer and jumps into it]

      Lewis: Hey! What do they call you?

      Teddy the Wonderboy: Teddy the Wonderboy.

      Lewis: I wonder why the hell you don't stay outta my kitchen!

    • Crazy credits
      The Columbia Pictures logo does not appear on this film.
    • Connections
      Featured in Siskel & Ebert: Coneheads/Benefit of the Doubt/Poetic Justice/Another Stakeout/Hocus Pocus (1993)
    • Soundtracks
      Steppin' Out With My Baby
      (uncredited)

      Written by Irving Berlin

      Heard when Jessica dances

    User reviews62

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    8/10
    about as low-key as 70s movies get (that's a compliment)
    The King of Marvin Gardens was Bob Rafelson's experiment at doing a film where the leads are switched around- the actors playing them, anyway. You rarely get to see Jack Nicholson in the role of the quiet, observant, and really more intuitive characters in any film, and to see it in his prime in-between doing films like Carnal Knowledge and The Last Detail is a revelation. Every once in a while he pulls out a performance that is attuned to a sensibility that is surprising, even if the film is not. One of those that worked best was About Schmidt. But this time in Rafelson's vision, he plays second fiddle to the more personable, idealistic, talkative, pushy, and far more conflicted brother played by Bruce Dern. For Dern this is also a somewhat different role, as he often could play roles with a good deal of dialog well, though with also a lowered guard. Here he plays a guy with lots of ideas, and those of which he really wants to impress upon his more detached but not too unresponsive brother. It's a mix that works, though it's very understandable why I've only seen it once, and not only do I not really desire to see it again, it's not too much of a wonder why its still one of the real underrated films of the 70s.

    Keep in mind it's not just the men to see here, but Ellen Burstyn too, in one of her other great parts of her real prime, as she plays Dern's depressed, loopy, over-the-top girlfriend. She has her counterpart too in Julie Anne Robinson. Her character is maybe a little more like Nicholson's, though not really as withdrawn. These are all characters who are estranged, if not from themselves then from each other, and amid the big plans in the (correctly chosen) sights of dreary Atlantic City they're cast against a glow that just poses a kind of nothingness for them. And in the end, when tragedy strikes, it finally comes when the emotional cork gets pulled completely off. And bookending the film are Nicholson's monologues on the airwaves to his listeners, whomever they may be, and they're some of my favorite scenes I still remember from the film. If it's less than really memorable and affecting like the best of 70s subversive cinema, it's because its content in its low-key ways. It's a smart movie that isn't really at the heights of Five Easy Pieces- Rafelson's masterpiece that's also low-key in its way but reaches higher in psychological hang-ups- but it does come as close as anything the director's done since. Most noteworthy is the challenge of reversing the roles for Nicholson and Dern pays off in that independent-film way. Look for Shining co-star Scatman Crothers in some scenes late in the picture.
    helpful•22
    7
    • Quinoa1984
    • Sep 29, 2006

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • October 13, 1972 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Languages
      • English
      • Japanese
    • Also known as
      • The Philosopher King
    • Filming locations
      • Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
    • Production companies
      • BBS Productions
      • Columbia Pictures
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 43 minutes
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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