It's 1870's San Francisco. Ada Stritch (Mercedes McCambridge) is in financial trouble. She owns a bank in danger of a run. The city is in the balance. Greedy Rip MacCool (David Brian) has the money to save it and he's ready to pounce. He offers to bet it all on a poker hand and he needs a four to finish an inside straight. Johnny Sanderson (Barry Sullivan) consults careful consideration and Ada recounts his arrival 15 years ago. While Rip's fortune rises, he falls for singer Lily Douvane (Arlene Dahl).
This was a box office bomb. Part of the problem may be the story's lead character. It's a story of capitalism and cold-hearted melodrama. Rip is not a hunky romantic lead. He's the quintessential money-grubbing hustler working the system. It's all about the money and not even what you could buy with it. It does turn into a complicated soapy melodrama and that loses me in the second half. It's listed here as a western although it's a western like Dallas (TV) is a western.
This was a box office bomb. Part of the problem may be the story's lead character. It's a story of capitalism and cold-hearted melodrama. Rip is not a hunky romantic lead. He's the quintessential money-grubbing hustler working the system. It's all about the money and not even what you could buy with it. It does turn into a complicated soapy melodrama and that loses me in the second half. It's listed here as a western although it's a western like Dallas (TV) is a western.