California Split (1974)

[Winston T. Boogie]

Title: California Split

Tagline: ...Being the story of two bet-on-anything guys who happily discover something called a winning streak.

Genre: Comedy, Drama

Director: Robert Altman

Cast: George Segal, Elliott Gould, Ann Prentiss, Gwen Welles, Edward Walsh, Joseph Walsh, Bert Remsen, Barbara London, Barbara Ruick, Jay Fletcher, Jeff Goldblum, Barbara Colby, Vincent Palmieri, Alyce Passman, Joanne Strauss, Jack Riley, Sierra Bandit, John Considine, Eugene Troobnick, Richard Kennedy, John Winston, Bill Duffy, Michael Greene, Tom Signorelli, Sharon Compton

Release: 1974-08-07

Runtime: 108

Plot: Down-on-his-luck gambler Bill (George Segal) links up with free spirit Charlie (Elliott Gould) at first to have some fun, 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, get robbed, and get blind drunk.

 

[Ushabye]

I never really understood gambling until I caught this film one night on TV after work. I changed channels and came across the hilarious car park mugging scene and stuck with it till the end, becoming one of my all time favorite pictures. We'll get a Bluray...eventually. And I hope it will include the commentary from the DVD, which is essential listening.

 

[Grady Reid]

Is the streaming version uncut? Most running times list 108 minutes. Vudu lists it at 109 minutes.

 

[Kenneth_C]

I don't know about the other streaming services, but Amazon Prime is currently showing the uncut version with all the original music cues. (Thanks to Joe Dante's Twitter feed for the heads-up.)

Watch California Split | Prime Video

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.

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