Browse through my review-history and you'll rapidly notice I'm a tremendous sucker for Italian cult/exploitation cinema of the 70s and 80s. Unfortunately, that also means I'm very biased. I'll admit straight away that you won't read too many negative things in this review! I absolutely loved every second of Sergio Martino's excellent "Gambling City"; - what with its highly original and intelligent screenplay (courtesy of prolific writer Ernesto Gastaldi), the raw and violent action footage, the authentic passion between protagonist Luc Merenda and the stunningly beautiful Dayle Haddon, the sleazy and loathsome villainous characters, Luciano Michelini's slightly over-eccentric soundtrack and the massively spectacular grand finale! Like most contemporary Italian films, "Gambling City" is quite the rip-off! That's totally fine, though, since these rip-offs by far exceed the Hollywood originals in terms of entertainment value and controversy. The main inspirations here are "The Cincinnati Kid" and "The Sting", but Martino also cleverly thrives on the success of the native Poliziotesschi. Granted, the hero is a sly con-man instead of an unorthodox copper, but the wild car chases, brutal executions and tragic retaliations are definitely there!
Luca Altieri is a charismatic thug with a unique gift. He's a fantastic cheater at poker games, so much even that he gets himself noticed by the crippled but powerful crime boss and illegal casino-owner known as "The President". Luca could then lead a laid-back and luxurious life as professional cheater, but instead he prefers to run off with the ravishing mistress of The President's son Corrado. The megalomaniac Corrado is a worthless heritor to his father's crime-imperium, but he naturally doesn't think so, and his jealousy and hatred against Luca makes him even more dangerous. Again, I may be biased, but seriously don't believe the people who claim that "Gambling City" is boring and predictable. Gastaldo's script contains a number of smart twists and original sub plots. Although superficially not as extravagant than most, Corrado Pani depicts one of the most psychopathic villains in crime-film history. The poker sequences are somewhat long and tedious, especially if you don't understand one iota of the game's rules (like me), but there are plenty of action-packed highlights to compensate for this. I'm still amazed by the beauty of Dayle Haddon, and Luc Merenda clearly enjoyed every second of his acting career at that point in time. Check out also "The Violent Professionals", "Shoot First Die Later", "Kidnap Syndicate", "Man without a Memory" and "Torso" with him. Oh, and one last thing you should always remember: happy endings didn't exist in Italian cinema during the 70s!
