Google Groups no longer supports new Usenet posts or subscriptions. Historical content remains viewable.
Dismiss

please recommend some novels/movies for contract bridge?

680 views
Skip to first unread message

athos

unread,
Mar 12, 2013, 11:03:39 AM3/12/13
to
Just finished reading "the cardturner", a novel about contract bridge, by Louis Sachar. It's good. but a bit, well, more for teenagers?

I'm wondering, if there are there some more good novels/movies for contract bridge?

There are "color of money" for billiard, "the major league" for baseball etc... I'd like to watch a couple of good movies or read one or two novels on contract bridge.

Dave Flower

unread,
Mar 12, 2013, 11:22:52 AM3/12/13
to
On Tuesday, 12 March 2013 15:03:39 UTC, athos wrote:
> Just finished reading "the cardturner", a novel about contract bridge, by Louis Sachar. It's good. but a bit, well, more for teenagers? I'm wondering, if there are there some more good novels/movies for contract bridge? There are "color of money" for billiard, "the major league" for baseball etc... I'd like to watch a couple of good movies or read one or two novels on contract bridge.

Cards on the Table (Agatha Christie)
The Jake of Diamonds (Don Von Elsner)
The Ace of Spies "
The Jack of Hearts "


Dave Flower

HoneyMonster

unread,
Mar 12, 2013, 1:17:39 PM3/12/13
to
+1 for the Winkman stuff. Also, though not a novel I found Diary of a
Bridge Bum (Sontag) an excellent and entertaining read.

Wes Powers

unread,
Mar 12, 2013, 1:34:00 PM3/12/13
to
>> On Tuesday, 12 March 2013 15:03:39 UTC, athos wrote:
>>> Just finished reading "the cardturner", a novel about contract bridge,
>>> by Louis Sachar. It's good. but a bit, well, more for teenagers? I'm
>>> wondering, if there are there some more good novels/movies for contract
>>> bridge? There are "color of money" for billiard, "the major league" for
>>> baseball etc... I'd like to watch a couple of good movies or read one
>>> or two novels on contract bridge.
>>
>> Cards on the Table (Agatha Christie)
>> The Jake of Diamonds (Don Von Elsner)
>> The Ace of Spies "
>> The Jack of Hearts "
>>

"The Mexican Contract" by Allan DeSerpa
"Tickets to the Devil" by Richard Powell



sbt

unread,
Mar 12, 2013, 2:55:24 PM3/12/13
to
In article <c04c48be-476e-4eee...@googlegroups.com>,
There was a series of mysteries by Don Von Elsner about a bridge pro
named Jake Winkman. I first encountered them in the early 70s and Von
Elsner also had some short stories and the final novel, Cruise Bridge,
in Popular Bridge. Max Hardy got the rights to republish them in the
80s, and so far as I know, that's the last time they appeared. I
obtained fresh copies from Max's widow, Mary, a few years ago to
replace my battered original paperbacks (I believe that they were
published by Ace).

--
Dennis R Cohen

jonathan23

unread,
Mar 12, 2013, 3:01:01 PM3/12/13
to
Jim Priebe's bridge-related murder mysteries with titles like "Double Elimination", "Deadly Holdup" etc., are carried by Baron Barclay.

--
- Jon Campbell
Ottawa Canada

John Hall

unread,
Mar 12, 2013, 3:01:49 PM3/12/13
to
In article <c04c48be-476e-4eee...@googlegroups.com>,
I'm not aware of any movies that feature bridge other than in passing.
If you're a fan of the Marx Brothers, there's an amusing scene in
"Animal Crackers" where Chico and Harpo play bridge against Margaret
Dumont and another society lady. Naturally Chico and Harpo cheat
outrageously.

There are a few bridge novels. "Trick 13" by Terence Reese and Jeremy
Flint, which was published 30 or 40 years ago, is good fun if you can
find a second-hand copy.
--
John Hall

"Whenever people agree with me I always feel I must be wrong."
Oscar Wilde

Mark Brader

unread,
Mar 12, 2013, 4:38:51 PM3/12/13
to
Athos Liu:
> I'm wondering, if there are there some more good novels/movies for
> contract bridge?
>
> There are "color of money" for billiard...

Off-topic for this query, but since you mentioned a book by Walter Tevis
I thought I'd mention his chess novel, "The Queen's Gambit".
--
Mark Brader "If cars were designed the same way as software is
Toronto today, they'd all have buggy-whip holders..."
m...@vex.net -- Marcus J. Ranum

Stu Goodgold

unread,
Mar 12, 2013, 6:47:26 PM3/12/13
to
Aside from the Marx Brothers movie Animal Crackers, the only other film I can recall where bridge plays any significant role is White of the trilogy Blue, White, and Red by Polish director Krzysztof Kieslowski. The protagonist meets a man in the Paris Metro who is a bridge pro and befriends him. The pro later commits suicide (off screen) IIRC.

Chess has many movies where it is the central theme, plus many others where it plays a secondary role. But bridge has a paucity of such situations, and I cannot think of any but the two described where it plays even a secondary role. Of course there are quite a few where bridge is incidental, such as a minor scene of 4 women playing bridge at home for social purposes.

-Stu Goodgold
San Jose, CA

sbt

unread,
Mar 12, 2013, 8:20:15 PM3/12/13
to
In article <68aef360-a956-4aa3...@googlegroups.com>, Stu
Well, it was just one scene in "Goldfinger" ... Jill Masterson spies on
Goldfinger and partner cheating at bridge. There was also one scene in
another James Bond film, "Moonraker", where Bond cold-decks Hugo Drax
with the Duke of Cumberland hand.

--
Dennis Cohen

Mark Brader

unread,
Mar 12, 2013, 8:35:10 PM3/12/13
to
Stu Goodgold:
> Aside from the Marx Brothers movie Animal Crackers, the only other film
> I can recall where bridge plays any significant role is White of the
> trilogy Blue, White, and Red...

(Otherwise called "Three Colors: White".)

> Chess has many movies where it is the central theme, plus many others
> where it plays a secondary role. But bridge has a paucity of such
> situations, and I cannot think of any but the two described where it
> plays even a secondary role.

This 2005 article

http://www.cincybridge.com/youth/200705_Bridge_In_The_Media.pdf

lists a number of movies, but it looks as though the only one where
bridge really plays a central part is "Grand Slam" (1933), starring
Paul Lukas as a man resembling Ely Culbertson. I've never seen it.

> Of course there are quite a few where bridge is incidental, such as
> a minor scene of 4 women playing bridge at home for social purposes.

Uh-huh. I remember it being played in one of the various movies
and TV-movies about the Titanic disaster, but I forget which movie.
(I don't think they showed enough of the game to be able to tell what
form of bridge it was; obviously it should not have been contract.)

In a previous thread here on this subject in 2007,

Kieran Dyke wrote:

The horror movie "Parents" has a bridge scene.

In TV, Rumpole and (more often) his wife play bridge.

Phil Sugar wrote:

I laughed out loud in the bridge club scene in the Simpsons
movie ("Mmmm, beer card")

Gordon Rainsford wrote:

Gosford Park. Several films of Agatha Christie novels.

Nick Hughes wrote:

Joseph Fiennes plays a bridge teacher in a 1998 romantic comedy
set in England: "The Very Thought of You" aka as "Martha,
Meet Frank, Daniel and Laurence"

There is a short scene with him at the whiteboard giving a
daytime class to some affluent-looking 50-ish women. Also his
girlfriend gives him a hardish time about being a teacher not
a player.

John Crinnion wrote:

In the 1976 big-screen spin-off of the 70s UK sitcom series
"The Likely Lads", the four protagonists sit around playing
bridge while marooned in a caravan during a disastrous holiday.

Incidentally, one of the characters is called "Terry Collier",
which is the name of a major protagonist in the reorganisation
of the bridge scene over here in EBUland. Ironic or what?

to which John Hall added:

When one of the men leaves the table to take a toilet break,
his (female) partner memorably observes: "That's the first
time I've known what he's had in his hand all evening."

and Stefan F. wrote:

My most vivid remembrance of a bridge scene is not from a movie
but from a black and white commercial made by Pan American.

It is about the transpacific trip made with flying boats,
in the times when it took about 60 hours to fly from the USA
to Manila having stops in Hawaii etc.

You see magnificent aeroplanes, great sceneries of tropical
islands and people enjoying themselves playing bridge in
a lounge.

For me, being born 1968 and having picked up bridge around
mid 90's it was like a glimpse on those mythological times
when bridge was pop culture.

--
Mark Brader | "(I've been told that I suffer from rampant narcissism.
Toronto | Just to confirm the accuracy of this character assessment,
m...@vex.net | I have now shared it with the whole world.)" --Laura Spira

My text in this article is in the public domain.

Mark Brader

unread,
Mar 12, 2013, 8:37:56 PM3/12/13
to
Dennis Cohen:
> Well, it was just one scene in "Goldfinger" ... Jill Masterson spies on
> Goldfinger and partner cheating at bridge.

No, she spies on his *opponent* at *gin rummy*, to *enable* him to cheat!
--
Mark Brader, Toronto | And perhaps another sigquote for Mark, who
m...@vex.net | seems to be running low... --Steve Summit

sbt

unread,
Mar 12, 2013, 8:49:44 PM3/12/13
to
In article <w6WdncsZy-X5V6LM...@vex.net>, Mark Brader
<m...@vex.net> wrote:

> Dennis Cohen:
> > Well, it was just one scene in "Goldfinger" ... Jill Masterson spies on
> > Goldfinger and partner cheating at bridge.
>
> No, she spies on his *opponent* at *gin rummy*, to *enable* him to cheat!

You don't have a partner in gin rummy, and she definitely has the
binoculars on his partner in the book. I'll have to find the DVD and
see what they changed for the movie.

--
Dennis Cohen

Steve Willner

unread,
Mar 12, 2013, 8:54:11 PM3/12/13
to
On 2013-03-12 11:01 AM, athos wrote:
> I'm wondering, if there are there some more good novels/movies for contract bridge?

The classic is _Tickets to the Devil_ by Richard Powell. It's set in
the 1950s, so a bit of a "period novel" by now. Some of the minor (and
not so minor) characters are recognizable personalities.

I also second Dave's recommendation of books by Don von Elsner with the
caveat that the earlier ones are better than the later ones. There are
a couple of anthologies, but I'm not sure which stories are in which.
_Everything's Jake With Me_ is one.

Amazon has these at modest prices and even for Kindle; there are no
doubt other sources.

--
Help keep our newsgroup healthy; please don't feed the trolls.
Steve Willner Phone 617-495-7123 swil...@nhcc.net
Cambridge, MA 02138 USA

sbt

unread,
Mar 12, 2013, 9:21:06 PM3/12/13
to
In article <khoiki$ejp$1...@dont-email.me>, Steve Willner
<swil...@nhcc.net> wrote:

> On 2013-03-12 11:01 AM, athos wrote:
> > I'm wondering, if there are there some more good novels/movies for contract
> > bridge?
>
> The classic is _Tickets to the Devil_ by Richard Powell. It's set in
> the 1950s, so a bit of a "period novel" by now. Some of the minor (and
> not so minor) characters are recognizable personalities.
>
> I also second Dave's recommendation of books by Don von Elsner with the
> caveat that the earlier ones are better than the later ones. There are
> a couple of anthologies, but I'm not sure which stories are in which.
> _Everything's Jake With Me_ is one.
>
> Amazon has these at modest prices and even for Kindle; there are no
> doubt other sources.

Here's the list in reverse chronological order:

"Best of Jake Winkman" (anthology)
"Crusie Bridge"
"Everything's Jake with Me" (anthology)
"Jake Winkman Trilogy" (omnibus reprint of three novels below)
"The Ace of Spies"
"The Jack of Hearts"
"The Jake of Diamonds"

I don't know of any other books featuring Winkman and I'll agree with
Steve's observation/opinion that the first three novels were better
than "Cruise Bridge."

The anthologies were collections of articles/short stories he wrote for
the magazine, Popular Bridge (not the one from Great Britain edited by
Philip Alder, but a magazine published in Southern California about 40
years ago). Eddie Kantar was also a regular in those pages...I really
enjoyed that magazine.

Von Elsner also had a series of spy novels featuring a lawyer named
David Danning and there were occasion, but very peripheral, bridge
mentions in that series.

--
Dennis Cohen

Mark Brader

unread,
Mar 12, 2013, 11:59:10 PM3/12/13
to
Dennis Cohen:
>>> Well, it was just one scene in "Goldfinger" ... Jill Masterson spies on
>>> Goldfinger and partner cheating at bridge.

Mark Brader:
>> No, she spies on his *opponent* at *gin rummy*, to *enable* him to cheat!

Dennis Cohen:
> You don't have a partner in gin rummy...

I know that! As I said, she spies on his opponent.

> and she definitely has the binoculars on his partner in the book.

I haven't read the book, but according to Wikipedia, the game in
the book was canasta (a game that has both individual and partnership
versions).
--
Mark Brader | "I don't have to stay here to be insulted."
Toronto | "I realize that. You're insulted everywhere, I imagine."
m...@vex.net | -- Theodore Sturgeon

patmp...@gmail.com

unread,
Mar 13, 2013, 2:09:10 AM3/13/13
to
On Wednesday, March 13, 2013 7:35:10 AM UTC+7, Mark Brader wrote:
>

> My most vivid remembrance of a bridge scene is not from a movie
>
> but from a black and white commercial made by Pan American.
>
>
>
> It is about the transpacific trip made with flying boats,
>
> in the times when it took about 60 hours to fly from the USA
>
> to Manila having stops in Hawaii etc.
>
>
>
> You see magnificent aeroplanes, great sceneries of tropical
>
> islands and people enjoying themselves playing bridge in
>
> a lounge.
>

Yep. The trench warfare nature of rubber bridge is perfect for killing time on an ocean liner. "There I was on the SS France, playing a six spade contract against a bald Junker with mustache and monocle. After I sniffed out his queen he threw his cards to the table and challenged me to a duel. I had to get the captain to talk him out of it."

Men used to actually make a living playing cards on ocean liners. Richard Nixon made a small fortune playing poker on a troop ship returning from Europe.

patmp...@gmail.com

unread,
Mar 13, 2013, 2:12:37 AM3/13/13
to
On Wednesday, March 13, 2013 10:59:10 AM UTC+7, Mark Brader wrote:
>
>
> Mark Brader | "I don't have to stay here to be insulted."
> Toronto | "I realize that. You're insulted everywhere, I imagine."
>
> m...@vex.net | -- Theodore Sturgeon


Peter Lorre: "Reek, I know that you despise me."
Humphrey Bogart: "If I gave it any thought I suppose that I would."

bhmwe...@gmail.com

unread,
Mar 13, 2013, 5:15:03 AM3/13/13
to
Nope, it's probably in the novels (haven't read them) but in the movie Goldfinger Goldfinger plays Gin Rummy and in Moonraker no bridge is played.


In Tales of the Unexpected, one of the episodes, named "My Lady Love, My Dove" conserns bridge, namely that one pair has a bidding system where (say) 1S shows an exact hand rather than certain hands.
Of course, that system would be very useful if you happened to have exactly the hand you can show, but useless if you have some other of the billion different hands you can have...

Patrick Powers

unread,
Mar 13, 2013, 5:50:13 AM3/13/13
to
It is in one of the novels. I remember it as Goldfinger where Bond
nails Auric with the Duke of Cumberland hand.

Patrick Powers

unread,
Mar 13, 2013, 5:52:27 AM3/13/13
to
On Mar 13, 4:50 pm, Patrick Powers <patmpow...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> It is in one of the novels.  I remember it as Goldfinger where Bond
> nails Auric with the  Duke of Cumberland hand.


Oops, according to Wikipedia its Moonraker with Drax. Dang, 47 years
later I forgot. Hard to keep all those bad guys straight.

Will in New Haven

unread,
Mar 13, 2013, 8:51:49 AM3/13/13
to
Except that he was in the Navy, not on a troop ship and I think he was
in the Pacific but the latter could be wrong. The size of the
"fortune" varies with the telling. Much of the time, Nixon was
reluctant to mention the poker-playing at all and said that he didn't
win a lot of money if he was pressed on it. Some of his admirers
claimed that he won enough to finance his first political campaign
completely out of his bankroll.

Even in a game among Navy officers that would be a lot to win in only
a few years.

--
Will in New Haven

Patrick Powers

unread,
Mar 13, 2013, 9:25:41 AM3/13/13
to
On Mar 13, 8:51 pm, Will in New Haven
He was on Guadalcanal scheduling cargo planes.

Congressional campaigns were much, much cheaper in those pre-TV days,
so I'm inclined to believe it. Supposedly the amount was $6000. That
was a lot of money back then.

Mark Brader

unread,
Mar 13, 2013, 2:55:54 PM3/13/13
to
Pat Powers writes:
> On Wednesday, March 13, 2013 7:35:10 AM UTC+7, Mark Brader wrote:

No, actually, Stefan F. wrote that, and Mark Brader attributed it
accordingly.
--
Mark Brader, Toronto "It is almost always wrong to strive for
m...@vex.net gilt by association." --Martin Ambuhl

rthe...@hotmail.com

unread,
Mar 13, 2013, 5:11:53 PM3/13/13
to
Phineas Fogg plays a lot while oing around the world in 80 days, but
that's probably not what you're looking for. How about the Kings'
pastiches (Farewell my Dummy etc)?

Roy

Andrew B

unread,
Mar 13, 2013, 6:55:22 PM3/13/13
to
On 13/03/2013 09:15, bhmwe...@gmail.com wrote:

> In Tales of the Unexpected, one of the episodes, named "My Lady Love, My Dove" conserns bridge, namely that one pair has a bidding system where (say) 1S shows an exact hand rather than certain hands.
> Of course, that system would be very useful if you happened to have exactly the hand you can show, but useless if you have some other of the billion different hands you can have...

They would bid along the lines of "I'll open a spade", "I'll try a
spade", "I'll bid one spade", etc. etc., and they only showed the high
cards. They used hand signals to show the hand shape. (I'm not saying
it's a practical system, but it's less ridiculous than you're making
out, at least as a plot for Tales of the Unexpected!)

Douglas Newlands

unread,
Mar 13, 2013, 9:25:06 PM3/13/13
to
Have you ever read "Streamlined Bidding" by Victor Mollo?
The last chapter is entitled "Do you cheat?" and is a commentary
on who cheats and how they cheat. It probably needs rewriting since
it was written in the age of spoken bidding although it probably still
applies in casual bridge games.

doug

Steve Willner

unread,
Mar 13, 2013, 10:03:29 PM3/13/13
to
On Mar 12, 9:21 pm, sbt <dogbre...@chaseabone.com.invalid> wrote:
> Here's the list in reverse chronological order:
> "Jake Winkman Trilogy" (omnibus reprint of three novels below)
> "The Ace of Spies"
> "The Jack of Hearts"
> "The Jake of Diamonds"

On checking, I found the _Jake Winkman Trilogy_ on my bookshelf. The
order there is Jake of Diamonds, Ace of Spies, and Jack of Hearts. I
think it was that last one I disliked, but I didn't reread to make
sure. Anyway, I suggest starting with Jake of Diamonds and see
whether you like it or not.

I don't think I read _Cruise Bridge_ in book form, but I remember
enjoying the monthly _Popular Bridge_ articles it supposedly collects.

I'm posting this through Google Groups -- something I almost never
do. I hope it works OK; sorry if formatting is bad.

HoneyMonster

unread,
Mar 14, 2013, 8:36:37 AM3/14/13
to
On Wed, 13 Mar 2013 19:03:29 -0700, Steve Willner wrote:

> I'm posting this through Google Groups -- something I almost never do.
> I hope it works OK; sorry if formatting is bad.

No, it was fine. See, G**gle Groupers - you *can* do it without the
multiple spacing if you take care.

axm...@hotmail.com

unread,
Mar 14, 2013, 9:12:50 AM3/14/13
to


athos wrote:
> Just finished reading "the cardturner", a novel about contract bridge, by Louis Sachar. It's good. but a bit, well, more for teenagers?
>
> I'm wondering, if there are there some more good novels/movies for contract bridge?
>
> There are "color of money" for billiard, "the major league" for baseball etc... I'd like to watch a couple of good movies or read one or two novels on contract bridge.

I stumbled upon a series of books by Reilly with a golf setting. One
of them, Shanks for Nothing [iirc], has a lengthy thread about a
bridge game at the country club.

regards
axman

richlp

unread,
Mar 14, 2013, 5:00:27 PM3/14/13
to
On Mar 12, 8:03 am, athos <athos....@gmail.com> wrote:
> Just finished reading "the cardturner", a novel about contract bridge, by Louis Sachar. It's good. but a bit, well, more for teenagers?
>
> I'm wondering, if there are there some more good novels/movies for contract bridge?
>
> There are "color of money" for billiard, "the major league" for baseball etc... I'd like to watch a couple of good movies or read one or two novels on contract bridge.

As long as people are mentioning tangential scenes from
movies................

There were two episodes of MASH which involved bridge. One was a
minor piece of shtick. In the other a match was central to the plot.
In neither one of these episodes would a reader of this newsgroup do
anything other than throw-up at the way the game is portrayed.

Mark Brader

unread,
Mar 14, 2013, 8:56:19 PM3/14/13
to
Roy Thearle:
> Phineas Fogg plays a lot while oing around the world in 80 days, but...

But whist, not bridge.
--
Mark Brader | I hate to get pedantic [*], but...
Toronto | [*] I also lie a lot.
m...@vex.net | --Jerry Friedman

Andrew B

unread,
Mar 15, 2013, 4:52:39 PM3/15/13
to
On 14/03/2013 21:00, richlp wrote:

> As long as people are mentioning tangential scenes from
> movies................
>
> There were two episodes of MASH which involved bridge. One was a
> minor piece of shtick. In the other a match was central to the plot.
> In neither one of these episodes would a reader of this newsgroup do
> anything other than throw-up at the way the game is portrayed.

That reminds me of a story given in David Stevenson's bridge pages:
http://blakjak.org/toolshed.htm

In the UK sitcom "How Do You Want Me?" there was an episode in which
they played bridge: one auction ended "3 spades [say] - pass - pass -
pass [pause]. And I'll double you."

I vaguely remember an episode of "Neighbours" where they appeared to be
playing bridge, but the bidding went beyond the 7 level.

Mark Brader

unread,
Mar 15, 2013, 5:45:27 PM3/15/13
to
Andrew Bull:
> In the UK sitcom "How Do You Want Me?" there was an episode in which
> they played bridge: one auction ended "3 spades [say] - pass - pass -
> pass [pause]. And I'll double you."

This is the bridge equivalent of something that happens in almost every
movie or TV show where the characters play poker. Someone always says
at some point "Your 200... [long pause] and I'll raise you 500".
According to <http://www.pagat.com/poker/rules/>, that sort of thing
is called a "string raise" and is strictly verboten.
--
Mark Brader I'm not pompous; I'm pedantic.
Toronto Let me explain it to you.
m...@vex.net --Mary Kay Kare

bbar...@gmail.com

unread,
Mar 15, 2013, 9:42:17 PM3/15/13
to
On Thursday, March 14, 2013 4:00:27 PM UTC-5, richlp wrote:
> As long as people are mentioning tangential scenes from
> movies................

There's a brief bridge scene in "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty". It lasts less than a minute, but IIRC it's a true-to-life portrayal.

Brian Baresch
Austin, TX

Will in New Haven

unread,
Mar 16, 2013, 12:41:18 PM3/16/13
to
On Mar 14, 8:56 pm, m...@vex.net (Mark Brader) wrote:
> Roy Thearle:
>
> > Phineas Fogg plays a lot while oing around the world in 80 days, but...
>
> But whist, not bridge.

And whist is also featured in several of the Hornblower novels,
especially in _Lietenant Hornblower_
0 new messages