The Gambler (1980)
Brady Hawkes, The Gambler, receives a letter from his son indicating he needs help. This sends Brady to the rescue. Along the way Brady meets up with Billy Montana, a young man who thinks he knows everything about playing cards. Brady teaches Billy a few lessons along the way and they end up forming a strong friendship and team up together.
You Got To Know When To Hold 'Em, Know When To Fold Em...
Brady Hawkes: Poker's a trade, son. And an honest one. It's fellows like you that give gambling a bad name. Like drunks give drinking.
Old Tucson - 201 S. Kinney Road, Tucson, Arizona, USA
(Old Tucson Filmography)
Sonoran Desert, Arizona, USA
Sierrita Mountains, Arizona, USA
Ironwood Forest National Monument, Arizona, USA
Tucson Mountains, Arizona, USA
The opening scene, where Kenny Rogers is riding his horse, is Red Rock Canyon in Las Vegas NV.
The title song, as performed by Kenny Rogers, is missing a stanza in the film. One additional piece of advice he gives is "Every gambler knows that the secret to survival is knowing what to throw away and knowing what to keep. Because every hand's a winner, and every hand's a loser, and the best you can hope for is to die in your sleep." The final verse states that "Somewhere in the darkness, that gambler he broke even," indicating he got his final wish to die in his sleep. Brady obviously doesn't die in the film.
The film is based on a Kenny Rogers song. However, he gets the advice "know when to hold'em, know when to fold'em, know when to walk away, and know when to run" from an older experienced gambler. Rogers plays the elder gambler in the film, and Bruce Boxleitner plays the role that Rogers sang in the song.
Actor Ronnie Scribner was the first of three actors to be in the role of "Jeremiah" in the Kenny Rogers' "The Gambler" TV movies. The second movie was after Ronnie had halted his movie and acting career. The second actor in the role was Charles Fields. Eventually, there were a total of five "The Gambler" movies, but the role of "Jeremiah" was not used in all five movies. In the fifth of five films, "Jeremiah" was played by an older actor to fit the progress of the movie series, and that was actor Kris Kamm.
During the final poker game in the train car, the dealer says "Table stakes" This means that each player can only play with the money he started the hand with.
Revealing mistakes
The Gambler plays a high stakes card game, supposedly on a moving train, but none of the fringed curtains sway with the movement of the car showing that the game is being played on a stationary set.
Errors in geography
After the initial poker game with Brady, Billy goes outside. Billy, under a sign that says El Paso, Texas, asks the station master when the train will be leaving. The station master peers around Billy at an arriving stage coach. Behind the stage is a saguaro forest. BUT saguaros ONLY grow in the Sonoran Desert, which is in Southern Arizona and Northern Mexico, some 300 miles from El Paso, Texas.