The King of Marvin Gardens (1972) on Netflix
David Staebler hosts a late-night radio show in Philadelphia. His brother Jason, a con man in Atlantic City, summons him with a plan to make their fortune in Hawaii.
- Netflix3.0/5
- IMDb6.4/106,560 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes69%
Trailer
Plot summary
David Staebler is a depressive who lives with his grandfather in Philadelphia and hosts a late-night radio talk show there. His brother Jason is an extrovert and a con man in Atlantic City, working for the gang boss Lewis. Jason shares his life there with Sally, a former beauty queen who now works as a prostitute, and with Sally's stepdaughter Jessica, who entertains men too. After eighteen months of silence, Jason asks David to come to Atlantic City, saying the two of them can make their fortune. David arrives, and after Jason is released on bail, Jason talks him into staying at his hotel suite with Sally and Jessica. Jason lays out a plan for a casino in Hawaii and says the brothers will share the women once they get there.
Cast
- Julia Anne Robinsonas Jessica
- Charles LaVineas Grandfather
- Arnold Williamsas Rosko
- William Pabstas Bidlack
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The King of Marvin Gardens (1972)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Jack Nicholson was originally cast as Jason and Bruce Dern as David, but during rehearsal director Bob Rafelson asked them to switch parts and liked the result, as co-star Ellen Burstyn, who plays Sally, recalled.
- Filming took place only months before the vast Traymore Hotel in Atlantic City was explosively demolished in April 1972, and the movie's main location, the Marlborough-Blenheim Hotel, was demolished in 1978 to make way for Bally's Atlantic City.
- The simulated Miss America pageant was filmed in the empty Atlantic City Convention Hall, which at the time of its 1929 construction was the largest clear-span covered space in the world, and Ellen Burstyn is seen playing its historic pipe organ, the world's largest organ.
- The portion of the film depicting Philadelphia was shot in Toronto, where the apartment of Scatman Crothers's character Lewis sits at Jarvis and Isabella Streets, in an old mansion converted into apartments.
