''Tilt'' is a 1979

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

film about pinball hustling, starring

Charles Durning Charles Edward Durning (February 28, 1923 – December 24, 2012) was an American actor who appeared in over 200 movies, television shows and plays.Schudel, Matt (December 26, 2012) "''In real life and on the screen, he played countless role ...

and

Brooke Shields Brooke Christa Shields (born May 31, 1965) is an American actress and model. She was initially a child model and gained critical acclaim at age 12 for her leading role in Louis Malle's film ''Pretty Baby'' (1978). She continued to model into ...

as the young titular lead. It was directed by Rudy Durand.

Plot

The film opens in

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, where Neil Gallagher (Ken Marshall) challenges obese pinball champion Harold Remmens (Durning), appropriately nicknamed "The Whale," to a $400 match. When Neil gets caught cheating, he heads off to

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, where he meets teen runaway Brenda "Tilt" Davenport (Shields), a 14-year-old pinball wizard. Neil watches as Tilt and the owner of Mickey's Bar hustle an unaware gambler in a game of pinball, and immediately decides to team up with her. He tells her that he is a hopeful

country and western A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

star and needs to raise money to make a demo tape of his songs. After hearing Neil's musical talent, she's impressed and agrees to help by traveling with him, raising cash with her pinball skills. When the two eventually end up back in his hometown, Neil sets up a $3500 game between Tilt and the Whale. However, he doesn't realize that Tilt has caught on to his lies and manipulation, and his big plans may not go as he hoped.

Cast

References

External links

* * * * 1979 films 1979 comedy-drama films 1970s English-language films Films shot in Corpus Christi, Texas Films scored by Lee Holdridge American comedy-drama films 1970s American films {{comedy-drama-film-stub