Intro from Cinematographe’s Justin La Liberty

On the surface Axel Freed (Caan) is a popular lit professor with a beautiful girlfriend (Hutton), but his handsome exterior masks a gambling addiction and an obsession with playing the odds. Threatened with violence by his mobbed-up bookie (Sorvino), Axel borrows the money he owes from his mother but, before paying off his debt, he can’t resist trying to parlay the cash into an even bigger score. A descent into violence and despair follows as Axel simply can’t resist gambling, even when—or perhaps because—his life is at stake. Brattle Debut

The American debut for British filmmaker Karel Reisz (Saturday Night, Sunday Morning), THE GAMBLER is a now iconic entry in the pantheon of crime cinema of the 1970s. Featuring a manic, career-defining, performance from James Caan, Reisz’s film is one of the great American films of the New Hollywood era. – Cinématographe

Double feature with UNCUT GEMS