The Only Game in Town (film)

Last updated
The Only Game in Town
The-only-game-in-town-movie-1969.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by George Stevens
Screenplay by Frank D. Gilroy
Based on The Only Game in Town
(1968 play)
by Frank D. Gilroy
Produced by Fred Kohlmar
Starring Elizabeth Taylor
Warren Beatty
Cinematography Henri Decaë
Edited by John Holmes
William Sands
Pat Shade
Music by Maurice Jarre
Distributed by 20th Century Fox Film Corp.
Release date
  • January 21, 1970 (1970-01-21)(Los Angeles)
Running time
113 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$10,235,000 [1]
Box office$1.5 million (rentals) [2]

The Only Game in Town is a 1970 American romantic comedy-drama film, the last directed by George Stevens. It stars Elizabeth Taylor and Warren Beatty. The screenplay by Frank D. Gilroy is based on his play of the same name which had a brief run on Broadway in 1968. [3]

Contents

Plot

Fran Walker (Dame Elizabeth Taylor) is an aging Las Vegas chorus girl. She has given her wealthy San Francisco, California-based married lover Tom Lockwood (Charles Braswell), who she has not seen in six months, ultimatum after ultimatum in leaving his wife, Fran always ending back in his arms, despite him not having succumbed to her ultimatum. Fran continually tells herself that Tom will one day come through, regardless of if she truly believes it. She, who wants to remain financially independent in asking and taking nothing from Tom in terms of financial support or lavish material gifts, only stays in Las Vegas out of inertia. Joe Grady (Warren Beatty) is a Las Vegas lounge pianist. Unlike Fran, Joe hates Las Vegas, and is trying to amass five thousand dollars, which he requires to set up a professional life as a pianist in New York City. While he outwardly states that he dabbles in gambling, he truly is an addict, he is going on the occasional gambling binge which has led to him not being able to save the money he needs to leave Las Vegas. Fran and Joe meet when she walks into Tony's, the bar where he works, for a late-night dinner. The two end up going home together that evening in their mutual attraction and in Fran's loneliness, and, able to get over their inherent differences in temperament, have what each believes will be a one-night stand. However, they end up having a no-strings relationship in each helping the other achieve his or her current life goals. This situation has the potential to fall apart either if one or the other is unable to fulfill the other's needs - Joe, who is supposed to stop Fran from falling back into Tom's arms if he doesn't come through, and Fran, who will keep and hide Joe's money so that he doesn't gamble it away until he reaches the five thousand dollar mark - or if one or the other ends up falling in love with the other.

Cast

Production notes

20th Century Fox paid $550,000 for the film rights before the play opened on Broadway, with Frank D. Gilroy to get $150,000 to write the script. [4] The play, starring Tammy Grimes and Barry Nelson, was not a success, running only sixteen performances. [5] The play was profiled in the William Goldman book The Season: A Candid Look at Broadway .

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. [10] In September 1970 the studio had lost $7,557,000 on the film. [11] The Only Game in Town was the second-worst financial failure for Fox, behind Cleopatra also starring Taylor. Stevens did not direct another film. [12]

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, Time Out London called it "a hoarily old-fashioned romantic comedy ... [with] occasional moments of life injected by Taylor and Beatty." [14]

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

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Warren Beatty</span> American actor and filmmaker (born 1937)

Henry Warren Beatty is an American actor and filmmaker. His career has spanned over six decades, and he has received numerous accolades, including an Academy Award and three Golden Globe Awards. He also received the Irving G. Thalberg Award in 1999, the BAFTA Fellowship in 2002, the Kennedy Center Honors in 2004, the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2007, and the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2008.

<i>Bugsy</i> 1991 biographical film by Barry Levinson

Bugsy is a 1991 American biographical crime drama film directed by Barry Levinson and written by James Toback. The film stars Warren Beatty, Annette Bening, Harvey Keitel, Ben Kingsley, Elliott Gould, Bebe Neuwirth, and Joe Mantegna. It is based on the life of American mobster Bugsy Siegel and his relationship with wife and starlet Virginia Hill.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Stevens</span> American film director, producer, screenwriter and cinematographer (1904–1975)

George Cooper Stevens was an American film director, producer, screenwriter and cinematographer. He received two Academy Awards and the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award in 1953.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shirley MacLaine</span> American actress, and author (born 1934)

Shirley MacLaine is an American actress and author. Known for her portrayals of quirky, strong-willed, and eccentric women, she has received numerous accolades over her eight-decade career, including an Academy Award, an Emmy Award, two BAFTA Awards, six Golden Globe Awards, two Volpi Cups, and two Silver Bears. She has been honored with the Film Society of Lincoln Center Tribute in 1995, the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 1998, the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2012, and the Kennedy Center Honor in 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Benny Binion</span> American gambling icon and criminal (1904–1989)

Lester Ben Binion, better known as Benny Binion, was an American career criminal who established illegal gambling operations in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. In 1931, Binion was convicted of shooting and killing a rum-runner, Frank Bolding. In the 1940s he relocated to Nevada, where gambling was legal, and opened the successful Binion's Horseshoe casino in downtown Las Vegas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sands Hotel and Casino</span> Historic hotel and casino on the Las Vegas Strip in Nevada, United States

The Sands Hotel and Casino was a historic American hotel and casino on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada, United States, that operated from 1952 to 1996. Designed by architect Wayne McAllister, with a prominent 56-foot (17 m) high sign, the Sands was the seventh resort to open on the Strip. During its heyday, it hosted many famous entertainers of the day, most notably the Rat Pack and Jerry Lewis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Desert Inn</span> Former hotel casino in Las Vegas, Nevada

The Desert Inn, also known as the D.I., was a hotel and casino on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada, which operated from April 24, 1950, to August 28, 2000. Designed by architect Hugh Taylor and interior design by Jac Lessman, it was the fifth resort to open on the Strip, the first four being El Rancho Vegas, The New Frontier, Flamingo, and the El Rancho. It was situated between Desert Inn Road and Sands Avenue.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Susan Strasberg</span> American actress and author (1938–1999)

Susan Elizabeth Strasberg was an American stage, film, and television actress. Thought to be the next Hepburn-type ingenue, she was nominated for a Tony Award at age 18, playing the title role in The Diary of Anne Frank. She appeared on the covers of LIFE and Newsweek in 1955. A close friend of Marilyn Monroe and Richard Burton, she wrote two best-selling tell-all books. Her later career primarily consisted of slasher and horror films, followed by TV roles, by the 1980s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dana White</span> American businessman, CEO and president of UFC

Dana Frederick White Jr. is an American businessman who is CEO and president of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), a global mixed martial arts organization. He is also the owner of Power Slap, a slap fighting promotion. In August 2019, White's net worth was estimated at $500 million.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Austin Pendleton</span> American actor

Austin Campbell Pendleton is an American actor, playwright, theatre director, and instructor.

<i>Lady Luck</i> (1946 film) 1946 film

Lady Luck is a 1946 American comedy film directed by Edwin L. Marin and starring Robert Young, Barbara Hale and Frank Morgan. It was produced and distributed by RKO Pictures. The picture tells the story of a professional gambler who falls in love with a woman who hates gambling and tries to reform him.

<i>Painting the Clouds with Sunshine</i> (film) 1951 film by David Butler

Painting the Clouds with Sunshine is a 1951 Technicolor musical film directed by David Butler and starring Dennis Morgan and Virginia Mayo. The film is a musical adaptation of the 1919 play The Gold Diggers by Avery Hopwood, the fourth film adaptation of the play following The Gold Diggers (1923), Gold Diggers of Broadway (1929) and Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933). The film is a jukebox musical, featuring popular songs from the 1910s to 1930s, including two songs from Gold Diggers of Broadway and one song from Gold Diggers of 1933.

<i>The Blue Bird</i> (1976 film) 1976 film by George Cukor

The Blue Bird is a 1976 American-Soviet children's fantasy film directed by George Cukor. The screenplay by Hugh Whitemore, Alfred Hayes, and Aleksei Kapler is based on the 1908 play L'Oiseau bleu by Maurice Maeterlinck. It was the fifth screen adaptation of the play, following two silent films, the studio's 1940 version starring Shirley Temple, and a 1970 animated feature. It was famous as one of the few cinematic co-productions between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War. However, unlike prior adaptations, the film received little-to-no critical praise and was a flop at the box office.

<i>Guys and Dolls</i> (film) 1955 American musical film directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz

Guys and Dolls is a 1955 American musical film starring Marlon Brando, Jean Simmons, Frank Sinatra, and Vivian Blaine. The picture was made by Samuel Goldwyn Productions and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). It was directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, who also wrote the screenplay. The film is based on the 1950 Broadway musical by composer and lyricist Frank Loesser, with a book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows, which, in turn, was loosely based on "The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown" (1933) and "Blood Pressure", two short stories by Damon Runyon. Dances were choreographed by Michael Kidd, who had staged the dances for the Broadway production.

Frank Daniel Gilroy was an American playwright, screenwriter, and film producer and director. He received the Tony Award for Best Play and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play The Subject Was Roses in 1965.

<i>Staircase</i> (film) 1969 British film

Staircase is a 1969 British comedy-drama film adaptation of a two-character play, also called Staircase, by Charles Dyer.

<i>Paint Your Wagon</i> (film) 1969 film by Joshua Logan

Paint Your Wagon is a 1969 American Western musical film starring Lee Marvin, Clint Eastwood, and Jean Seberg. The film was adapted by Paddy Chayefsky from the 1951 musical Paint Your Wagon by Lerner and Loewe. It is set in a mining camp in Gold Rush-era California. It was directed by Joshua Logan.

<i>Hazard</i> (1948 film) 1948 American film directed by George Marshall

Hazard is a 1948 American comedy drama film starring Paulette Goddard and Macdonald Carey, and directed by George Marshall.

The Only Game in Town is a 1968 play written by Frank D. Gilroy. It originally opened on May 20, 1968, and closed on June 1, 1968. It was later adapted into the film of the same name in 1970, starring Elizabeth Taylor and Warren Beatty. The play was profiled in the William Goldman book The Season: A Candid Look at Broadway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Four for McGovern</span> Political benefit concert

Four for McGovern, also known as 3
4McGovern, was a benefit concert held on April 15, 1972, produced by actor Warren Beatty to assist the 1972 presidential campaign of George McGovern, running as the anti-war candidate. The concert, held at The Forum in Greater Los Angeles, featured performances by Carole King, James Taylor, Quincy Jones and his Orchestra, and Barbra Streisand. Streisand's performance was audio-taped to create the album Live Concert at the Forum, released on October 1.

References

  1. ↑ Solomon, Aubrey. Twentieth Century Fox: A Corporate and Financial History (The Scarecrow Filmmakers Series). Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 1989. ISBN   978-0-8108-4244-1. p256
  2. ↑ Solomon p 231. "Big Rental Films of 1970", Variety , 6 January 1971, pg 11.
  3. ↑ "The Only Game in Town" Internet Broadway Database , accessed September 14, 2015
  4. ↑ Nat Segaloff, Final Cuts: The Last Films of 50 Great Directors, Bear Manor Media 2013 p 273-275
  5. 1 2 3 Parish, James Robert; Mank, Gregory W.; Stanke, Don E. (1978). The Hollywood Beauties . New Rochelle, New York: Arlington House Publishers. p.  347. ISBN   978-0-87000-412-4.
  6. ↑ Medved & Medved 1984, p. 111-113.
  7. ↑ Medved & Medved 1984, p. 112.
  8. ↑ The Only Game in Town at the American Film Institute Catalog
  9. ↑ "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.
  10. ↑ Silverman, Stephen M (1988). The Fox that got away : the last days of the Zanuck dynasty at Twentieth Century-Fox . L. Stuart. p.  329. ISBN   9780818404856.
  11. ↑ Silverman p 259
  12. ↑ Medved & Medved 1984, p. 114.
  13. ↑ 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.
  14. ↑ TM (undated). "The Only Game in Town (1969)" Archived 2011-06-07 at the Wayback Machine . Time Out London . Retrieved March 23, 2011.
  15. ↑ Staff writer (undated). "The Only Game In Town: Review". TV Guide . Retrieved March 23, 2011.

Works cited

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.