THE ONLY GAME IN TOWN

(director: George Stevens; screenwriter: Frank D. Gilroy; cinematographer: Henri Decae; editors: John W. Holmes/William Sand/Pat Shade; music: Maurice Jarre ; cast: Elizabeth Taylor (Fran Walker), Warren Beatty (Joe Grady), Hank Henry (Tony), Charles Braswell (Tom Lockwood), Olga Valry (Hooker); Runtime: 113; MPAA Rating: PG; producers: Fred Kohlmar/Edgar Lansbury; 20th Century Fox; 1970)

“The comedy is weak, the dialogue is not engaging and it’s too talky.”

Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz

After a hiatus of five years George Stevens (“Giant”/”Shane”) returns to direct his final film, this expensive flop (it cost more than $11 million and grossed less than $2 million). It’s a romantic comedy set in Las Vegas but filmed in Paris. The title refers to marriage. It’s based on the play by Frank D. Gilroy which lasted less than two weeks on Broadway. The comedy is weak, the dialogue is not engaging and it’s too talky. Warren Beatty is a compulsive gambler paying off his debts by playing piano for the headliner club comic (Hank Henry). Beatty is trying to get enough dough so he can go to New York to further his musical career. For five years Charles Braswell has been promising to divorce his wife for chorus girl Elizabeth Taylor, but fails to do so.Beatty and Taylor shack up with no marital promises, but soon fall in love. When Braswell shows up divorced, Taylor sticks with Beatty for better or worse.

REVIEWED ON 1/1/2019 GRADE: C+     https://dennisschwartzreviews.com/