It has a refreshing lack of pretension, and never aims to be anything more than what it is. This viewer imagines that this material would make for good 'comfort food', as it were. Rogers' then-wife Marianne Gordon plays the small role of Dallas. Also appearing are Lance LeGault as a slick professional card player, Noble Willingham as the train conductor, and Bruce M. The rich cast is the main reason to watch: Boxleitner is quite engaging, Purcell is both lovely and endearing, and Gulager and Harold Gould (as smarmy railroad baron Arthur Stobridge) make for good antagonists. For a taste of your whiskey I'll give you some advice. And if you don't mind my sayin', I can see you're out of aces. and knowin' what their cards were by the way they held their eyes. The story (devised by Jim Byrnes and Cort Casady) holds absolutely no surprises, but entertains sufficiently, and TV movie veteran Dick Lowry directs with efficiency. He said, 'Son, I've made a life out of readin' people's faces, D A7. It has excellent period recreation, nice music by Larry Cansler, and a mix of action, violence, humour, and suspense. What 'The Gambler' offers instead is good, straightforward, sentimental entertainment.

Don't go into this expecting a lot of depth, or nuance. However, they will all prove to be a good team as Brady goes head to head with Rufe Bennett (Clu Gulager), a ruthless town boss who's got the former flame under his thumb. During the journey, Brady makes the acquaintance of married woman Jennie Reed (Lee Purcell) and easygoing Billy Montana (Bruce Boxleitner), whose ambition and eagerness to hit it big outweigh his common sense. He has a relaxed, pleasing presence as Brady Hawkes, a war veteran and wise, experienced card player who travels by train to come to the aid of his former flame (Christine Belford), and his son (Ronnie Scribner), whom he never knew existed until recently. Legendary country singer Kenny Rogers does a creditable job acting in this amiable bit of Western TV movie fluff, inspired by his hit song of the same name.

The gamble tab