Lo Scopone Scientifico (aka The Scientific Cardplayer) (1972)

An impoverished couple (Silvana Mangano, Alberto Sordi) live in a hut with their three children in a rundown neighborhood in Rome. But each year in the spring, a wealthy woman (Bette Davis) and her constant companion (Joseph Cotten) return to their villa high on a hill and play cards with the couple. The millionairess gives the couple the stakes they need to play and which she ultimately wins back. This is a black comedy about greed and how it infects people. The two men are rather weak and dominated by the women who are the better card players. The poor couple are so greedy that they literally pawn everything they have in the hopes of winning some of the old lady's millions. Even the old witch with all her millions has a furious fit if she loses any even the smallest amount and so addicted, she even wants to play on her deathbed! The greed infects the neighborhood (who pools money to stake the couple) which fantasizes about what they are going to do with the won money. Even the kids are greedy. Director Luigi Comencini gives us an obvious clue early in the film that foreshadows its twisted ending. It's in Italian so it's a bit of a shock to hear Davis' inimitable voice dubbed into Italian but the actress who dubbed her does a credible job and a few times, you think it is Davis speaking. But the film belongs to Mangano and Sordi who won David Di Donatello (the Italian Oscar) awards for the performances here. It would make a great double bill with THE CINCINNATI KID.