So I just saw California Split this week for the first time on TCM. Interestingly, California Split was released in the same year, 1974,
as The Gambler (James Caan).
The film was directed by Robert Altman, who directed “MASH” and “The Player”.
Based on a successful technique borrowed from MASH, Altman lent his craft for dialogue, background dialogue, and scenes with larger groups of people adding layers of human interaction to the flow of the story’s main characters.
As a comedy, gambling genre films have always struggled. The subject matter and characters are just too dark and depressing.
This film is was no different.
I believe the funniest scene in California Split was Elliott Gould’s character looking for credit on the casino floor. He knew there would be no chance for credit, but he continued acting outing his wild fantasy with the Casino bosses like a dream sequence in his mind with his irrational thoughts that his insanity might miraculously be brought to life.
As for the rendering of characters, Gould’s character was well done. He brought the addicted gambler’s mentality to life with the frequent, typical “meth” driven irrational behaviour from a deep love of gambling.
To me, George Segal’s character was more interesting because there were times when he actually stopped and realized that it wasn’t fun to be in debt and begging for loans all the time. It required more serious acting and Segal was believable in this regard.
The ending was cut short, with our two buddies in agreement to leaving Reno and going their separate ways. Audiences, I’m sure, were left disappointed, wanting more shenanigans, as was I.