Whatever you think about the movie, I thought that the Production Design and Art Direction were great! One of the best-realized versions of the 1950's I have seen. I don't know what their budget was, but they made the most of it. And, having Ralph Bode, who shot "Saturday Night Fever," did a great job shooting it all.
shareThis is probably the only good thing about this movie. lol.
It captures the 50s really well. At least, I think it does, but I wasn't alive at the time, so I can't say for sure.
Oddly enough though, I didn't like the production values, some of the sets do look a little cheap but this might have actually added to the overall 50s feel of the movie. Things were different back then, that's not to say things "looked cheap" back then but everyone looks like they live in a lower income area of town and this somewhat took away from the theme of the movie. Still, this movie had a few interesting parts, I liked all the gambling scenes, they were really well done, and like you said, art direction is good but the plot just didn't work.
It does remind me of that movie The Hustler (1961) but The Hustler is way better. Shooting this in black and white, like The Hustler, would have probably made this a better film.
It's very close to being a good movie but it falls short. It would be interesting to see a remake of this but with a slightly different story-line and with a more polished look. The movie just doesn't have any pizzazz or glamour to it. That being said, I give it a 4.7 out of 10.