Meet Me Tonight In Atlantic City

1,509 words

I recently watched an interview of filmmaker Quentin Tarantino. He was asked what he would consider a perfect movie. He gave a few examples such as The Godfather, Back to the Future, and Jaws. All three are excellent films, but perfect? When I considered the question the first movie to pop into my mind was the little known, little talked about Atlantic City. Released in 1980 Atlantic City was nominated for all five of the big Academy Awards. Best Picture, best actor (Burt Lancaster) best actress (Susan Sarandon) best director (Louis Malle) and best original screenplay.

The film opens to the aria “Casta Diva” from Bellini’s opera Norma. We’re treated to Sally (Sarandon) slicing lemons and rubbing them on her chest. We later find out that she works at a seafood bar and does this to remove the smell of fish. Across the hallway we get a glimpse of Lou Pascal (Lancaster). He watches Sally as he smokes a cigarette, then fades behind the curtains.

The film then takes us to Philadelphia. A young man we later find out to be Sally’s estranged husband has his eyes on a phone booth. A drug deal is about to go down and he must have somehow been in the know. A black man leaves a bag in the top part of the booth then exits. The young man immediately follows and snatches the bag. Seconds later a car pulls up to the phone booth. A man gets out and frantically searches for the drugs. They’re gone.

Sally’s husband Dave, played by Robert Joy, and Sally’s very pregnant sister Chrissie, played by little known Hollis McClaren, make their way to Atlantic City. Dave also just happens to be the father of Chrissie’s child.

The city is a beehive of activity. Buildings being razed. Bulldozers everywhere. New construction is putting Atlantic City back on the map. This was the time when Atlantic City was to be the next Las Vegas. The vibe is electric. Casino gambling is going to return this once great resort town to its former glory.

Dave and Chrissie find Sally working at her seafood bar job. She isn’t happy about it. She wants nothing to do with Dave but she can’t resist helping her pregnant sister. She relents and takes them back to her apartment.

Now we meet Lou Pascal. Lou is a washed up old gangster. Most likely just a career petty thief. He lives alone in the same seedy apartment building as Sally. There’s a bell ringing. It’s coming from his downstairs neighbor and often times employer Grace. Grace is played to perfection by veteran actress Kate Reid. She deserved the Academy Award. Lou goes downstairs to see to Grace’s needs. Hash and eggs are the order of the day. Grace is the widow of mobster Cookie Pinzo. She still considers herself an important woman in this town. She gives Lou a few bucks. He asks for five more but she tells him, “You want cigarettes? Steal them. Mister Ten Most Wanted.”

Lou is off making the rounds. Seems he’s the last of the number runners. He makes his way through the ghetto. Desperate blacks are pinning their hopes on a fifty cent number bet.

Lou makes his way into some bar in a black neighborhood. He hands over the $46 dollars he has collected to Fred a local criminal played by John McCurry. Fred gives Lou a couple bucks for his troubles and then tells him “we can’t afford no winners.”

Apparently Fred is the man to see if you want to do business in Atlantic City because Dave has made his way into the bar. They enter the men’s room where Dave reveals the package he discovered in Philadelphia. There’s been a dry spell in town but despite that, Fred refuses to do business with Dave. Fred can only do business with the people he does business with. Plus, he’s now aware of where Dave got the drugs. Fred writes a phone number on a business card and flushes it down the toilet only for it to be fished out by Dave.

Dave contacts Fred’s connection but he can’t go there himself. He needs a go between. Seeing Lou leave the bar he thinks he’s found his man. He walks down the boardwalk with Lou trying to gain his confidence. He tells Lou that he was in Las Vegas and overheard his name mentioned. “Harry Grubman?” Lou asks. “Had to be Harry. I’ve been friends with Harry for 30 years. Haven’t seen him in 25.” The two stroll down the boardwalk with Lou reminiscing about what the city used to look like. The good ole days. Dave plays along. Eventually Dave asks to borrow Lou’s apartment. He assures Lou it’s not for a girl. The pair check into Lou’s place so Dave can cut the drugs.

Grace is once again hounding Lou. This time it’s to get the blood flowing to her feet again. Dave finds Chrissie who is a Hari Krishna trained in the art of Thai massage. Grace is mortified at the thought of a stranger being in her apartment. She screams at Lou to come back but the two men are on their way.

They make their way to a hotel where Fred’s connection is staying. Dave wants Lou to go to the room solo. Lou is suspicious. The world of dealing drugs is foreign to him. “C’mon there’s an extra hundred in it for you “ Dave tells him. Reluctantly Lou goes to the room and knocks on the door. A man answers but immediately slams the door. Lou knocks again. This time the man answers. Lou shows him the cocaine and says “ four G’s”. The man laughs in disbelief. Then he hands Lou the money wad.
Meanwhile while Lou is upstairs Dave is walking the streets. A car pulls up. It’s driven by the rightful owners of the drugs from the Philadelphia phone booth. Fred is with the two men. A man gets out of the car and a chase ensues. Dave is eventually run down by the thug and stabbed to death. Lou exits the hotel to the sight of Dave’s corpse being loaded onto an ambulance.
Lou makes his way back to his room. He’s now flush with cash. He lays the four grand on his kitchen table and stares at it. He’s never seen this kind of scratch.

The police come to Sally’s place of work. They need her to identify the body. She doesn’t want to, but goes anyway. She leaves the morgue and Lou is right there to help her. The two stop at a restaurant to try to contact Dave’s family in Saskatchewan. His parents hang up. They want nothing to do with him either. Lou offers to pay for his corpse to be sent home. He does all he can to comfort her. He buys new clothes. Wines and dines Sally. He’s back on top.

When they return to their apartment they find that the dealers discovered where Dave was staying and they tore apart Sally’s apartment looking for the drugs. Lou retreats to his place. He knows what they were looking for. Sally finds Chrissie. She tells Sally what they were doing. Then it dawns on Sally that Lou was in on it.

Lou gathers up the rest of the coke to sell while he still has the chance. He goes back to his customer and manages another four thousand.

Sally is later fired from the casino. Her dreams dashed. She wanted to go to Monte Carlo and be a dealer. The search is on for Lou who she finds at a blackjack table. Problem is so have the two drug dealers and they know who Lou is and what he’s been doing.
Sally makes a scene at the casino which affords Lou the opportunity to escape. She later finds Lou at a bus station attempting to leave town. She convinces the bus driver that her “father “ is senile and shouldn’t be on the bus.

On their way home they are once again confronted by the two dealers. In an act that surprises Lou most of all he shoots them both dead. Lou and Sally take their car and leave Atlantic City.
They check into a hotel outside of town. Sally wants Lou’s ill gotten gain. When they awaken the next day Sally slyly steals most of Lou’s money and the car. Lou is thrilled with what he has done. The cover of the day’s newspaper has a composite picture of the assailant. Lou says to the hotel clerk, “I did that.”

The film ends with Grace selling the final cut of cocaine. Lou and Grace walk arm in arm down the boardwalk. A simple but brilliant film. One of Burt’s best.

When we look at the state of Atlantic City today, the moral of the story would be that casino gambling is not a longterm answer. The city has come full circle and is faced with the same problems that it did fifty years ago.