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:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

August 1974 (USA)

Also Known As:

Slide

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Gross USA:

$10,900,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation,Spelling Goldberg,Won World

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Elliott Gould threw himself into the role of a compulsive gambler, so much so that it unnerved his co-star George Segal who felt he couldn't keep up with Gould's frenetic performance.

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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: Come on, Valdez! Come on, Valdez!
Charlie Waters: Who's Valdez?
Bill Denny: Valdez is the jockey!

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Connections

Featured in The 78th Annual Academy Awards (2006)

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Soundtracks

I've Got The World on a String
(uncredited)
Written by Harold Arlen and Ted Koehler

User Reviews

Marvelous: funny, touching, unpredictable

After seeing some of the so-called "best" films of 2004, what a treat to watch this touching, funny, completely unpredictable film. One of Altman's very best--certainly one of Gould's and Segal's very best performances. It's also the last screen appearance of the enchanting Barbara Ruick (whose best known performance was as Carrie in the movie version of Carousel--she sings the song about "Mr. Snow"--she was married to film composer John Williams)--she plays the delightful barmaid in the Reno gambling joint, and Altman dedicates the film to her. The characters--even the ones who appear very briefly--are so fleshed out, they are completely believable. Altman takes the genre of the gambling movie, in which there usually can be only a happy ending or a sad one, and completely explodes it. I wish Clint Eastwood had watched it before he tried to do a boxing movie, which has the same generic problem.