Where The
Action Is
(ITC Movie title "The Killing Game")
Original UK transmission: 8th February 1975
Original US transmission: 17th February 1975
WRITTEN BY: Brian Clemens
DIRECTED BY: Don Leaver
PRODUCED BY: John Cooper
MAIN CAST: Edd Byrnes (Eddie Vallance), James Berwick
("Daddy" Burns), Ingrid Pitt (Ilse), Trevor Baxter
(Winters), George Innes (Zac), Frank Coda (Pursell)
Teaser
Sequence
Two men sit playing poker in a
small room while an attractive woman deals the cards. When one of
them loses, his opponent responds "You know the house rules,
Mr Vaughn...we explained them very carefully." The girl lays
out two pistols on a revolving table and explains that only one
of them is loaded; the losing man chooses a gun and fires, but to
no avail. His host then reaches for the other gun and, with the
words "I'm afraid Mr Vaughn, you lose again", shoots
him down in cold blood. Standing imperiously over his victim he
looks down with contempt and adds "If there's one thing I
can't stand it's a bad loser." The girl begins to caress
him, and he gloats with pride "And if there's one thing you
love, it's a winner..." Then, with an air of menacing
smugness, he repeats "...a winner."
Plot
Summary
Waking up in a strange house,
gambler Eddie Vallance finds himself the reluctant guest of one
Walter "Daddy" Burns, who is described by a servant as
"one of the five richest men in the world". Burns turns
out to be a compulsive gambler who kidnaps promising opponents
and has them brought to his home for sport. Burns' claim that he
is the best poker player in the world is met with scepticism by
Vallance, but when he finds that he is a prisoner in the house he
has no choice but to accept his host's challenge. A series of
games ensue, which are to culminate in a poker match the
following evening; but Vallance quickly realises that Burns'
obsession with gambling masks a psychopathic need to win at any
cost. When one of the house staff warns Vallance that he must
escape before it's too late, Eddie must use all of his cunning to
outwit his opponent before the fateful card match arrives.
Comments
The sultry Ingrid Pitt is only one of the attractions in this
exciting story of a man fighting for his life. James Berwick was
the perfect choice to play the Texas tycoon "Daddy"
Burns, who lives for gambling and not much else. It's a lot of
fun watching Eddie repeatedly outwit his opponent, especially
when Ilse's attentions begin to wander in his direction and
Burns' threatening presence grows accordingly. I also love the
notion of all the house staff being bound to Burns by their own
compulsion for gambling (complete with shots of them idling away
their spare moments playing dice on the stairs). Make no mistake,
however, this is no comedy and is one of the series most
compelling episodes.
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