UNITED KINGDOM: LUISE RAINER'S ROLE IN "THE GAMBLER", HER FIRST IN 54 YEARS, STEALS THE SCENE

Record ID: 392101

  • Title: UNITED KINGDOM: LUISE RAINER'S ROLE IN "THE GAMBLER", HER FIRST IN 54 YEARS, STEALS THE SCENE
  • Date: 29th October 1997
  • Summary: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (OCTOBER 29, 1997) (RTV) DOMINIC WEST , POLLY WALKER AND LUISE RAINIER CAST FROM FILM POSE FOR CAMERAS LUISE RAINER TALKING OF THE POSSIBILITY OF HER WINNING AN OSCAR FOR HER ROLE SAYING, "I DON'T KNOW, LIKE AN OSCAR I WANT TO DO VERY GOOD WORK THAT'S WHAT I WOULD LIKE TO DO. I DON'T KNOW IF IT NEEDS TO BE AN OSCAR. IT WOULD BE VERY KIND
  • Embargoed: 13th November 1997 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM
  • Country: United Kingdom
  • Reuters ID: LVA9O00YY7JLIHBT7KQD0CON8A55
  • Story Text: She is 87 years old. She is the only actress ever to win a Best Actress Oscar two years running. But Luise Rainer's role in "The Gambler" is her first for 54 years, and she steals the scene.
    "The Gambler" is the latest film from Karoly Makk, Hungary's foremost director. It is based on a true episode in the life of Russian writer Fyodor Dostoyevsky, played by Michael Gambon, best known for his roles in "The Cook, The Thief, The Wife and Her Lover" and the acclaimed British television series "The Singing Detective".
    Rainer's role in the film as Grandmother is radically different from the characters she portrayed in "The Great Ziegfield" and "Camille" for which she won her Oscars for best actress in 1936 and 1937.
    In "The Gambler" Rainer plays an ancient matriach defying her family's desire for her to die and leave her fortune for them to gamble away. Instead she lingers on to succumb to the gambler's instinct herself.
    Her "soulmate" in the film, Alexei (Dominic West), is a slave to the roulette table and in love with the beautiful Polina (Polly Walker). Along with the other assembled characters; the weak-willed General (John Wood) and faux French aristocrats, De Grieux and Blanche (Johan Leysen and Angeline Ball).
    "The Gambler is set in the autumn of 1866, when Fyodor Dostoyevsky's fortunes hit a low point following the enforced closure of a successful literary magazine which he ran with his brother.
    Left with enormous debts, due mostly to his addiction to gambling, Dostoyevsky is under enormous pressure to complete a book within 27 days. If he fails to complete the book the writer must forfeit the rights to his entire works to an unscrupulous publisher.
    Anna (Jodhi May), a practical young girl steps in to aid Dostoyevsky, gaining employment as his stenographer in the hope of finishing the book on time.
    She is forced to stay in his apartment as he dictates his novel to her and falls in love with the desperate and irrational man.
    With over 20 films to his credit, Makk is best known for his films "Love" and "Another Way".
    "The Gambler" was jointly-funded by the United Kingdom and Hungarian film industries. It opens in the United Kingdom on November 7.
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