The Player
Cast & Crew
Thomas De Martini
Minnesota Fats
Jerry Como
Rae Phillips
Carey Wilmot
Jack Colavita
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Professional pool player Lou Marchesi is highly respected for his integrity as well as his skill at the game. One day, his girl friend, Linda, introduces Lou to her old friend Sylvia. Taken with Sylvia's beauty and sophistication, Lou falls in love with her, even though his friend Bill warns him that she is an opportunist. Sylvia is only interested in Lou's money and makes no effort to understand him or his love of the game, and as a result, they begin to quarrel frequently. Frustrated by their relationship, Lou decides to take to the road to give Sylvia some time to think about their future. During Lou's absence, Sylvia moves in with Bill. Lou, meanwhile, is touring the country, hustling people at pool games, something to which he vowed he would never sink. One day, Lou meets his old friend, famous player Minnesota Fats, and challenges him to a game. Knowing that his chances of winning are slim, Lou cheats in an effort to win, but Fats catches him, prompting the local player who is also in the game to demand his money back. Convinced that he was robbed, Lou ambushes the local man in a dark alley as he leaves the pool room, and after breaking a bottle of whiskey over his head, steals his money and returns home. When Lou finds that Sylvia has moved in with Bill, he returns to his old pool hall, angry and disappointed. There he finds Jack Colavita, another famous player, and in an effort to save his pride, challenges Colavita to a game. While Linda watches, Lou loses all his money as Colavita handily wins the game. After Lou walks out of the pool hall, broke and dejected, Linda follows and they reconcile.
Director
Thomas De Martini
Cast
Minnesota Fats
Jerry Como
Rae Phillips
Carey Wilmot
Jack Colavita
Richard Nelson
Tom De Martini
Victor Anthony
Gordon Ogden
Lee Edwards
Mark Bennett
Terry Byars
Cary Holliday
Joe Paul Steiner
Marcelle Couhig
Glen Berlin
Tom Watson
Buddy Bonnecaze
Crew
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
No reviews or exact release date have been found for this unviewed film. Ads for the picture in its pressbook, contained in the production file on the film in the AMPAS Library, stated that it was distributed by International Cinema, but no release date is listed. News items in November and December 1971 reported that The Player had just been acquired for distribution in thirteen western states by Favorite Films, presumably indicating an early 1972 release.
Thomas De Martini, who edited, acted in and directed the film, was a professional pool player. The Player marked the only film appearance of Minnesota Fats, a professional pool player whose real name was Rudolph Wanderone, Jr. Wanderone, a corpulent man, was known as New York Fats, Fats or Brooklyn Fats until writer Walter S. Tevis wrote the novel The Hustler, which featured a pool shark named Minnesota Fats. After the novel was made into the popular 1961 movie of the same name, Wanderone appropriated the name Minnesota Fats, and under that name became the most well-known pool player in the world.
