The Only Game in Town (film)
The Only Game in Town | |
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20th Century Fox Film Corp. | |
Release date |
|
Running time | 113 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $10,235,000[1] |
Box office | $1.5 million (rentals)[2] |
The Only Game in Town is a 1970 American romantic
Plot
Fran Walker (Dame Elizabeth Taylor) is an aging
Cast
- Elizabeth Taylor as Fran Walker
- Warren Beatty as Joe Grady
- Charles Braswell as Thomas Lockwood
- Hank Henry as Tony
- Olga Valéry as Hooker
- Suzan E. Claude as Nurse (uncredited)
Production notes
Elizabeth Taylor was paid $1,125,000 to appear in the film. The film was shot on a soundstage in Paris, at Taylor's demand as her husband Richard Burton was working on the film Staircase in the area at the time, over eighty-six days. There was not enough footage for the film after the shooting in Paris and another ten days were spent shooting film in Nevada.[6] Stevens had previously directed Taylor twice with great success, in A Place in the Sun (1951) and Giant (1956).[5]
Frank Sinatra originally signed to play Joe, but when Taylor became ill and filming was postponed, he had to drop out of the project to fulfill another commitment with Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas. Warren Beatty was paid $750,000 to replace Sinatra.[5][7]
Screenwriter Gilroy's experience making the film inspired him to write and direct the film Once in Paris (1978), which focused on his chauffeur during the Only Game shoot. Gilroy was so fascinated by the man he cast the driver as himself.
Director Curtis Hanson did a reworking of this film with his film Lucky You (2007), which dealt with a professional gambler out to break the bank in Las Vegas. The reworking was in the adding of a female singer and the gambler's father entering the World Series of Poker where the story is set. The film starred Eric Bana, Drew Barrymore and Robert Duvall.
Release
The film was released January 21, 1970 at the Beverly in Los Angeles.[8] It grossed $28,000 in its opening week.[9]
Reception
Box office
According to Fox records the film required $19,300,000 in rentals to break even and by 11 December 1970 had made $4,525,000.
Critical reception
The film received mixed reviews. In his review in The New York Times, Vincent Canby stated, "Assigning [Stevens, Beatty, and Taylor] to the film version of Frank D. Gilroy's small, sentimental, Broadway flop is rather like trying to outfit a leaky Central Park rowboat for a celebrity cruise through the Greek islands. The result is a phenomenological disaster . . . Nothing in The Only Game in Town seems quite on the up and up. Everything, including both the humor and the pathos, is bogus."[13]
In an undated review,
TV Guide said, in an undated review, "Although some of the dialog sparkles, in general, [the film] is overly talkly and thinly plotted, a programmer dressed up in ermine."[15]
See also
References
- ISBN 978-0-8108-4244-1. p256
- ^ Solomon p 231. "Big Rental Films of 1970", Variety, 6 January 1971, pg 11.
- ^ "The Only Game in Town" Internet Broadway Database, accessed September 14, 2015
- ^ Nat Segaloff, Final Cuts: The Last Films of 50 Great Directors, Bear Manor Media 2013 p 273-275
- ^ ISBN 978-0-87000-412-4.
- ^ Medved & Medved 1984, p. 111-113.
- ^ Medved & Medved 1984, p. 112.
- ^ The Only Game in Town at the American Film Institute Catalog
- ^ "Los Angeles Showcase Pix Zinging 'Fanny Hill' 230G, 'Dunwich' $136,200, 'Butch' $120,000; 'Dolly' $49,000, 6th". Variety. January 28, 1970. p. 9. Retrieved April 8, 2024 – via Internet Archive.
- ISBN 9780818404856.
- ^ Silverman p 259
- ^ Medved & Medved 1984, p. 114.
- ^ Canby, Vincent (March 5, 1970). "The Only Game in Town (1970) – Screen: 'The Only Game': Major Stars Converge on a Minor Script". The New York Times. Retrieved March 23, 2011.
- Time Out London. Retrieved March 23, 2011.
- ^ Staff writer (undated). "The Only Game In Town: Review". TV Guide. Retrieved March 23, 2011.
Works cited
- Medved, Harry; ISBN 0207149291.
External links
- The Only Game in Town at the American Film Institute Catalog
- The Only Game in Town (1970 film) at AllMovie
- The Only Game in Town (1970 film) at IMDb
- The Only Game in Town (1970 film) at Rotten Tomatoes
- The Only Game in Town (1970 film) at the TCM Movie Database
- The Only Game in Town (1968 play) at the Playbill Vault (archive)