The Casino

The Casino (Ji Xiang Du Fang) (1972)

Runtime: 77 minutes

Directed by: Tseng-Chai Chang

Starring: Hua Yueh, Lily Ho, Feng Chin, Nan Chiang, Kang Chin

From: Shaw Brothers

No, this isn't the Scorsese movie; rather, it's an obscure Shaw Brothers film. I talk about this below via Letterboxd: 

Looking through the lists I have, I realized I hadn't seen anything from Shaw Brothers since the middle of April. Four months is way too long so I was glad to fix this mistake. I chose this obscure entry from the studio because of its obscurity, it is free on Amazon if you have Prime, it was short at 77 minutes and the Shaw Brothers Universe website is where I found out about it. The first thing from a Google search of "Shaw Brothers Universe" is a listing of all the movies from the studio that can be streamed, and links to all the sites that each movie can be streamed from. It is very handy when you want to know what is and isn't available.

As for this movie, it is not great but it's still nice that it's available as at least it's a little different from the norm when it comes to this studio's bread and butter. The plot: a skilled gambler (who is so skilled it is a little preposterous) “uses gambling to stop gambling”, as he's against it due to how it ruins people's lives, which to me is a valid reason. Even having an attractive wife is not enough to stop his quest, despite all the people running casinos and all the people running scams on gamblers being out to get him. It has to be said that the gambling you see is a simple game involving three dice and the outcome depends on if the cumulative score is above or below 10, or if you get 3 of a kind.

The movie isn't just him exposing gamblers; there is the expected martial arts, and it gets pretty bloody & violent, if not spectacular when it comes to the martial arts on display. Thus, while this is not a must-see when it comes to the legendary studio, it at least is fine and entertaining. When you put out so many movies throughout a few decades, they can't all be 4 or 5 star classics. It is cool that with this studio even the obscure entries can be worthwhile. What helps is that the direction and production is nice, with the expected camera movements and lavish colorful sets. There's also a pleasant score with a cool easy listening main theme. Thankfully this was a random movie selection that wasn't a waste of time.