California Split
With George Segal, Elliott Gould, Gwen Welles.
US, 1974, 35mm, color, 111 min.
Print source: Sony Pictures
As freewheeling and restless as Elliott Gould’s perpetually talking Charlie, California Split takes place within the parallel dimensions of casino and racetrack—perfect stages for Altman’s spectacularly realized universes of informally controlled chaos. After Charlie senses a certain kinship with a fellow cardsharp, played by George Segal, these two wandering souls enter into a loosely symbiotic camaraderie—even suffering beatings, robberies and jail time together. Based on the autobiographical script by Joseph Walsh—Gould’s longtime friend who also makes an appearance—the film innocently and giddily follows the buddies’ mostly legal adventuring while gently frustrating their obsessive play with symptoms of deep discontent. Introducing his innovative eight-track sound recording system for the first time and casting most of the extras from Synanon, an addiction recovery center, Altman packs the frame with the dense texture of that time and those places. The immersion in background dramas, cross-conversations and the nonstop, beguiling cacophony of visual and aural chatter imparts a startling believability to each crest and trough within the funny friendship’s assembly and disassembly.
Part of film series
Screenings from this program
Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson
Vincent & Theo
Fool for Love
Prêt-à-porter
California Split
Thieves Like Us
A Perfect Couple
A Prairie Home Companion
O.C. and Stiggs
That Cold Day in the Park
Corn's-A-Poppin'
McCabe & Mrs. Miller
The Gingerbread Man
Dr. T and the Women
Come Back to the 5 and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean
