Winner Takes All (1975)

A suburban housewife (Shirley Jones) is addicted to gambling and finds herself $30,000 in debt. She's kept this addiction a secret from her husband (Laurence Luckinbill) but when he needs the money to buy into a business, she scrambles to replace it before he finds out. Directed by Paul Bogart (TORCH SONG TRILOGY). Films about alcoholism and drug addiction are pretty common. Movies about gambling addiction are fewer and this melodrama takes its protagonist to rock bottom. We see her self destructing before our very eyes and unable to stop herself, she slides deeper and deeper into gambling hell until she can't sink any lower. As far as these cautionary movies go, this is a solid entry. Shirley Jones gives a very strong central performance and she's surrounded by a vigorous supporting cast. With Sylvia Sidney, Joan Blondell, Sam Groom, Joyce Van Patten and Alice Backes.