US | 1990 | Colour | 84 mins
Credits:
Director and writer: James Scott
Based on the novel Loser Takes All by: Graham Greene
Producers: Christine Oestreicher
Graham Easton
Executive Producers: Harvey Weinstein
Bob Weinstein
Executive in charge for Working Title Films: Tim Bevan
Executive in charge for Miramax: Laura Viederman
Production Design: Christopher Hobbs
Cinematography: Robert Paynter
Costume design: Tom Rand
Jane Hamilton
Composer: Shirley Walker
Unit publicist: Minty Clinch
Editor: Not credited
Sound: David Jones
Assistant director: Guy Travers
Nick Heckstall-Smith
Production supervisor: Jeanne Ferber
Production manager (France): Stephen Pushkin
Casting: Joyce Gallie
Script supervisor: Loreley Farley
Driver: Mac Elphic
Camera operator: Neil Binney
Cast:
(For Full Cast listing please see the IMDB page)
ROLE … ACTOR
Bertram … Robert Lindsay
Cary … Molly Ringwald
Herbert Dreuther … John Gielgud
Blixon … Marius Goring
Bowles … Max Wall
Philippe … Simon de la Brosse
Miss Bullen … Richenda Carey
Kinsky … Vladek Sheybal
Mrs. De Vere … Frances de la Tour
Hotel Manager … Michel Blanc
Arnold … Tim Seeley
Hotel Receptionist … Lawrence Davidson
Assistant Hotel Manager … Patrick Albenque
Bowles’ Nurse … Margi Clarke
Croupier … Terence Beesley
Nun on bicycle … Moune Duvivier
Synopsis
In the 1950s, a young American woman living in London, Cary Porter (played by Ringwald), meets Ian Bertram (played by Lindsay), at a bus stop as they both wait in the queue to go to work. By chance, each day they are on the same bus. He falls head over heels in love with her and soon proposes. The head of Bertram’s company, Dreuther (played by Gielgud), takes an interest in his young assistant accountant. It turns out that they both love Baudelaire. Dreuther insists that the couple gets married in Monte Carlo (Bournemouth will never do), and after the marriage, sail with him on his yacht down the Italian coast. He will meet them the day before the marriage and be their witness. Rooms will be booked at the famous Hotel de Paris.
Cary and Bertram arrive in Monte Carlo, but Dreuther does not appear. As each day goes by they worry about what will happen if he does not come. Who will pay the bill and who will be their witness? After the lackluster marriage takes place without Dreuther, Bertram, a whizz with numbers becomes obsessed with gambling. Cary is left alone and a young French student, Philippe, takes an interest in her. Bertram becomes bitter towards his boss for ruining his marriage, and using his huge winnings dreams up a scheme to get revenge on his boss.
Finally Dreuther arrives. He had forgotten about the plans but hears that the couple is in trouble. Bertram is seething. Dreuther, with his inimitable charm, dreams up a way to get Cary back. It means giving up the gambling obsession and giving his system to Philippe. Philippe falls for it and Cary is forlorn. But the couple make up and soon are back in love again, as they sail out with Dreuther on the yacht. Bertram thinks to himself, ‘Loser Takes All’.
Director’s Notes
INTERVIEW WITH JAMES SCOTT AND JONATHAN CROALL for the biography
“In Search of GIELGUD; A Biographer’s Tale”.
Notes by J. Croall.
[Edited for clarity]
James Scott October 2008
We shot it in 1987.
There was another character, Bowles, in a wheelchair in the casino that initially JG was cast as, in more of a cameo role.
We were looking for different actors for Dreuther. I had some ideas, but Miramax had others. They offered it to Christopher Plummer without even telling me. Imagine the conversation when Plummer called to speak about the part. Embarrassing.
I was talking to John about the difficulty of casting this role. He said he would be happy to play the part and “if you like I would read for you.” I was taken aback. No one usually asks an actor of his caliber to read for a part. You just offer it or not. I asked: “what is it about the part that makes you interested?” – JG: “Oh’s it’s far more showy” And indeed, it was a bigger part.
He was one of the most fantastic actors I've ever worked with. He was so humble in his approach. John said it's totally up to you about costume. Tom Rand, our costume designer was brilliant and came up with just the right bravado nautical outfit. JG was just delightful to work with.
Whereas with smaller, less confident actors you have problems with their egos. He didn't seem to have even have one.
I don't do a lot of rehearsing; we almost improvise and then go straight into it and see how it works. I like to have that freshness and spontaneity and he was very happy to work in that way. He just became the role. I had little to do.
… When we were filming the yacht scenes, I was probably more concerned that he might fall over, however he was insistent that he didn’t need any help and he just did it. He was so professional.
… Off the set, JG was such a sweet person so game to do anything at that age, such a live spark, an incredibly delightful person.
The character of Dreuther in the office is just this God like figure. No one has ever actually met him. Finally when Bertram gets to meet him, Dreuther takes a liking to him, becomes almost a father figure. They both love Baudelaire
JG worked really well with Robert Lindsay who had this delightful humor about him. I have good memories of that side.
On the other hand, Miramax - I have bad memories. They wanted to re-write my script and make a quite different film. This was a quirky, romantic comedy. They wanted it to be very commercial and mainstream. My background as an independent filmmaker is to make something more original. That makes demands on an audience. Molly and Robert loved my script and understood what kind of film I was going for. Then Miramax brought in another writer to work on the script without my knowledge, just before shooting they gave me the new script I was to use. I had spent 2 or 3 years working on mine, so I said that’s quite unacceptable. I showed it to Molly Ringwald and she said absolutely no. So it was thrown out.
Graham Greene - before doing Strike It Rich, I did a short called A Shocking Accident. GG gave me the option for nothing. It won the Oscar, so Graham Greene was very happy and I had built a relationship with him and his sister who managed his estate.
A lot of the film was being filmed in Monte Carlo - GG was in Antibes, not far away, so I saw him quite a lot. The film I made was rejected by Miramax. They fired me, put in Tim Bevan of Working Title, re-cut it, threw out Johnny Dankworth’s music, brought in another composer. I nearly took my name off - it was very much a diluted version. But a lot of people said it was a good film and persuaded me to keep my name on it. It was not a commercial success. Miramax basically dumped it and did not spend any money on advertising.
Loser Takes All - the title was changed to Strike It Rich - when it was finished Miramax asked me to go to GG and request him to re-title his book so they could re-release it with the film. That shows you the level of thinking.
Strike it Rich was not the film I intended Loser Takes All to become - it was totally mauled by Harvey Weinstein, cut to ribbons and reassembled with new music and soundtrack and even additional footage that I did not shoot. Scenes were inserted that were not even in the script.
END OF INTERVIEW WITH JAMES SCOTT AND JONATHAN CROALL for the biography “In Search of GIELGUD; A Biographer’s Tale”.
From Left: James Scott, John Gielgud, Molly Ringwald, Robert Lindsay
Links to Articles Related to the Film
Ringwald, Molly. "All the Other Harvey Weinsteins". The New Yorker. 2017
"Robert Lindsay: 'Monster' Weinstein blacklisted me". BBC. 2017