Poker in Cinema: Kaleidoscope

by Bodog Poker | Dec 7 2010

Warren Beatty's had more than his share of success, and a lot of it is, frankly, well-earned. Bonnie And Clyde is heralded as something of a watershed moment in cinema and his presence helped make Shampoo and Heaven Can Wait two of the highest-grossing comedies of the 1970s while Reds is a fantastic piece of cinema from start to finish. Hell, even his failures like Ishtar, Dick Tracy and Town and Country are epic in their own way, showing that he always brings it, especially when it comes to bedding Madonna, back when that was something that you'd brag about.

Kaleidoscope is a movie that helped cement Beatty's reputation in the early days of his career and despite the fact that it is, to be generous, fluffy and light, it's also quite clever in places, even if the direction from Jack Smight shows a no-frills approach that prevents even the most interested viewer from diving in wholeheartedly.  Beatty plays Barney Lincoln and Susannah York plays Angel McGinnis, Barney's (as the parlance would phrase it) main squeeze. 

Barney is a gambler and card player, a man who's addicted to the lifestyle even if it could cost him everything, but he's a smart man, a clever man, and he has a plan. He is going to cheat the casinos and poker players in his area by going to the facility that manufactures their playing cards and do and old-fashioned hack, inscribing a special kaleidoscopic (see, that's where the film got its name) pattern on the back of the cards, meaning that there's a special code on the back of each and every playing card that only Barney knows how to read.

That's when he starts to hit the major casinos around Europe, winning at the poker tables and occasionally indulging in a little blackjack or baccarat. It's at one casino that he meets and falls in love with Angel, a fashion designer who (along with her Scotland Yard-employed father) soon discovers how Barney's been earning his financial windfall. Angel's father Manny tells Barney that he can continue to go about his illegal business if he's willing to help out Scotland Yard in catching Harry Dominion, a notorious drug smuggler, by suckering him into a high-stakes game of poker.

What happens next is pretty much by-the book for this sort of thing: betrayals are betrayed, backs are stabbed, and Barney finds himself working against the clock to save the woman he loves. Any and all criticisms about the movie's threadbare, predictable plot are well-earned, but there's still a lot to like about it. The film frequently shows a more glamorous side to poker than most modern depictions and while you can call every beat of the story from the beginning, there's still a lot of pleasure in watching an actor who's about to explode earn his reputation. Is it essential? Not by any stretch, but if you're a fan of older films and poker, it's hard to imagine not wanting to see it at least once.

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