IMDb RATING
6.5/10
5.5K
YOUR RATING
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.
IMDb RATING
6.5/10
5.5K
YOUR RATING
- Director
- Writers
- Jacob Brackman(screenplay)
- Bob Rafelson(story)
- Stars
Top credits
- Director
- Writers
- Jacob Brackman(screenplay)
- Bob Rafelson(story)
- Stars
Videos1
Scatman Crothers
- Lewisas Lewis
- (as Benjamin 'Scatman' Crothers)
John P. Ryan
- Surteesas Surtees
- (as John Ryan)
Garry Goodrow
- Nervous Manas Nervous Man
- (as Gary Goodrow)
- Director
- Writers
- Jacob Brackman(screenplay) (story)
- Bob Rafelson(story)
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
- All cast & crew
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. —Dave Cook <cookd@mcmail.cis.mcmaster.ca>
- watching tv
- cutting one's own hair
- betrayal
- gambling license
- false promise of the american dream
- 226 more
- Genre
- Certificate
- R
- Parents guide
Did you know
- TriviaAccording to Burstyn's autobiography "Lessons in Becoming Myself", Burstyn and Julia Anne Robinson fell off the back of the golf cart in the Miss America scene when Bruce Dern took off too fast. Robinson hit her head and spent a few days in the hospital as a result.
- GoofsDavid 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 creditsThe Columbia Pictures logo does not appear on this film.
Top review
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.
helpful•6311
- Infofreak
- Apr 30, 2003
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Languages
- Also known as
- The Philosopher King
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour 43 minutes
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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By what name was The King of Marvin Gardens (1972) officially released in India in English?
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