California Split (1974) - (Movie Clip) You Don't Throw Oranges On An Escalator!

California Split (1974) -- (Movie Clip) Open, How To Play Poker

Opening at an LA poker club, Robert Altman directing, roughly from a screenplay by actor and real-life gambler Joseph Walsh, we meet George Segal as Bill, Elliott Gould as Charlie, and non-actor Edward Walsh, brother of the screenwriter, as player “Lou,” in California Split, 1974, famous as the first feature shot with 8-track stereo sound.

California Split (1974) -- (Movie Clip) Captain Midnight

Confirming what seemed likely after the opening scene at an LA poker club, director Robert Altman moves to a strip bar and makes clear Charlie (Elliott Gould) and Bill (George Segal), who took the same side in a brawl, had never met before, Alyce Passman and Joanne Strauss the half-naked stripper and mother, early in California Split, 1974.

California Split (1974) -- (Movie Clip) They Give You Powdered Eggs

The morning after the night they met at an LA poker club then got mugged, Charlie (Elliott Gould) and Bill (George Segal) get bailed out by Barbara (Ann Prentiss, Paula’s younger sister) and meet her roommate (Gwen Welles), ad-libbing, misdirection and some exposition from director Robert Altman, early in California Split, 1974.

Bill Paxton -- (Movie Promo) Guest Programmer, January 2013

TCM welcomes acclaimed actor Bill Paxton as our Guest Programmer for January, 2013, joining Robert Osborne on Thursday, January 17th, starting at 8pm ET.