California Split (1974)

When a casual gambler befriends a professional one, he begins to mirror his life, sending both deeper into the sleazy gambling world where the stakes keep getting bigger.

Director:

Robert Altman

Writer:

Joseph Walsh

Stars:

George Segal, Elliott Gould, Ann Prentiss

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
George Segal	...	Bill Denny
Elliott Gould	...	Charlie Waters
Ann Prentiss	...	Barbara Miller
Gwen Welles	...	Susan Peters
Edward Walsh	...	Lew
Joseph Walsh	...	Sparkie
Bert Remsen	...	Helen Brown
Barbara London	...	Lady on the Bus
Barbara Ruick	...	Reno Barmaid
Jay Fletcher	...	Robber
Jeff Goldblum	...	Lloyd Harris
Barbara Colby	...	Receptionist
Vincent Palmieri	...	First Bartender (as Vince Palmieri)
Alyce Passman	...	Go-Go Girl
Joanne Strauss	...	Mother

Storyline

A down on his luck gambler links up with free spirit Elliot Gould at first to have some fun on, but then gets into debt when Gould takes an unscheduled trip to Tijuana. As a final act of desperation, he pawns most of his possessions and goes to Reno for the poker game of a lifetime. A film set mainly in casinos and races, as the two win and lose (but mainly win), get robbed, and get blind drunk.

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Plot Keywords:

poker | casino | writer | magazine | gambling | 

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Taglines:

Now the most talked about game in town will have a seat for you. Everywhere.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Certificate:

14+

Did You Know?

Trivia

Writer Joseph Walsh worked on the script in its formative stages for 9 months with a young up-and-coming director called Steven Spielberg. In this early incarnation, the script was called "Slide".

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Goofs

Some of the balls hanging from Charlie's sombrero keep changing position throughout the scene.

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Quotes

Bill Denny: Goddamnit, lady, you don't throw oranges on an escalator!

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Alternate Versions

The DVD cuts approximately three minutes worth of incidental scenes and bits, because the distributor was either unable or unwilling to reach an arrangement for music licensing.

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Connections

Referenced in Charlie's Angels: The Big Tap-Out (1977)

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Soundtracks

Sweet Georgia Brown
(uncredited)
Written by Ben Bernie, Maceo Pinkard and Kenneth Casey

User Reviews

Gould / Altman - The most underrated of their work together

Of their work together, the three films reach the tops of acting, directing and just overall fine filmwork of the latest golden age of American film - MASH, The Long Goodbye and this entirely out of print gem, California Split. I have long wanted to see California Split and my local video store just got in a nice new bootleg that looks good, though it's pan /scan. The opening titles shots (which are in widescreen) and show Gould softly babbling to himself and watching a gambling instructional video are incredible - and it would be amazing to see the whole movie in proper aspect ratio. The interplay between Gould and Segal is - I think - deeper and more compelling than the taken-for-granted war-forced friendship between Gould and Sutherland in MASH. Still, I think almost nothing is better than Gould just by himself, friendless, and constantly disappointed in humanity the way he is in The Long Goodbye. All three are fantastic, and they would make a fine widescreen DVD package, but as usual Altman's best work gets only a fraction of the credit it deserves.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

August 1974 (USA)

Also Known As:

California Split

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Gross USA:

$10,900,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures, Spelling Goldberg, Persky-Bright Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 min

Sound Mix:

Mono Mono (Lion's Gate 8 Track Sound Systems)

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1