The Stinking Pause Podcast - bringing you classic movies since 2013...some good, some not so good.

This week, Antony joins Scott to take a look at an underseen gem from 1974

The Gambler (1974)

Step into the high-octane world of Axel Freed, a brilliant literature professor who lives for the ultimate thrill! By day, he inspires students; by night, he chases the electrifying rush of high-stakes gambling. When a losing streak leaves him in deep trouble with loan sharks, Axel sees it not as a disaster, but as the ultimate intellectual challenge.

He masterfully navigates his crisis, securing the money he needs, but the siren call of one last, colossal bet is impossible to resist. In a pulse-pounding finale, he risks it all on a single college basketball game, embracing the pure, intoxicating feeling of putting everything on the line. "The Gambler" is a fascinating character study wrapped in the exhilarating tension of a high-stakes thriller, celebrating a man who truly feels alive only when he's betting it all.

"Listen to me. I'm in a position to tell you something... If you take a forty-four-thousand-dollar-a-year job, which is the absolute most you're ever going to make, you are a chicken. Your life is going to be chicken. Chicken food, chicken house, chicken car. I am not a chicken. I'm a gambler. I am a gambler."

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