• Cannes Poker Run Games
• Cannes Poker Run Results

• Poker Runs usually involve large groups on motorcycles or other motorized vehicles where an entry fee is required to participate. The participants travel to a number of locations, usually bars, collecting a single playing card at each establishment. At the end of the run, the player(s) with the best hand wins a prize. Traditional “Poker runs.
• The run will be approximately 75 miles around central Ohio with prizes awarded for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place poker hands and 1 Bug Run Participant. There will also be a 50/50 raffle, door prizes and extra cards can be purchased for $1 each. All bikes welcome.

CANNES, FRANCE - MAY 17: (L-R) Actors Tim Robbins, Adrien Brody, Alice Taglioni and Edward Norton attend the Partouche Charity Poker Festival held at Palm Beach Casino during the 61st Cannes. Jan 16, 2020 The first poker-run in the Mediterranean off the French Riviera is set for June.

The Strange Love of Martha Ivers is a 1946 American film noirdrama directed by Lewis Milestone from a screenplay written by Robert Rossen (and an uncredited Robert Riskin), based on the short story 'Love Lies Bleeding' by playwright John 'Jack' Patrick. Produced by Hal B. Wallis, the film stars Barbara Stanwyck, Van Heflin, Lizabeth Scott and features Kirk Douglas in his film debut.

The film was entered into the 1947 Cannes Film Festival.^[4] In 1974, the film entered the public domain in the United States because the claimants did not renew its copyright registration in the 28th year after publication.^[5]

Plot[edit]

On a rainy night in 1928 in a Pennsylvania factory town called Iverstown, thirteen-year-old Martha Ivers tries to run away from the guardianship of her wealthy, domineering aunt, Mrs. Ivers, with her friend, the street-smart, poor Sam Masterson. She is caught and brought home where Martha's tutor, Walter O'Neil Sr., presents his timid son, Walter Jr., as the one responsible for Martha's recovery. Scolded by her aunt, Martha defiantly states her name is not Ivers, but Smith, her father's name.

During a power failure, Sam comes for her, but Martha's aunt hears her calling to him from downstairs. While Sam slips out unnoticed, Mrs. Ivers starts beating Martha's kitten with her cane. Martha wrestles it away from her and strikes her across the head with an iron poker, causing her to die. When the power comes back on, Martha lies about the incident to Walter Sr. Even though Walter Jr. saw everything, he backs her up. The greedy Walter Sr. makes it clear to both Walter Jr. and Martha that he knows what happened, but that as long as he and his son stand to benefit, he will play along. Sam leaves town.

Seventeen years later, in 1946, Walter Sr. is now dead and Walter Jr. is now Iverstown's district attorney and is married to Martha, who has used her inheritance to expand the Ivers milling empire. Their marriage is one-sided; he loves her, but Walter knows that she does not love him.

Sam, a former soldier and itinerant gambler, drives into the small town by chance and, after an accident, leaves his car to be repaired. While waiting, he goes to look at his old home, now a boarding house. He meets Antonia 'Toni' Marachek, who has just been released from jail. She misses her bus and they spend the night in adjoining rooms in a hotel. She is later picked up for violating her probation by not returning to her hometown. Sam asks Walter to use his influence to get Toni released.

Walter is convinced Sam has blackmail in mind. Sam then learns that Walter Sr. had presented Martha's version of the 1928 accidental murder to the police: that an intruder murdered Martha's aunt. With his leverage, Walter Sr. had made Martha marry his son. When the police identified a former employee of the aunt as the murderer, the two Walters and Martha had helped convict him, and he was hanged.

When Martha reacts with joy at seeing Sam, a jealous Walter forces Toni to set him up. Sam is beaten up and driven out of town, but he is too tough to be intimidated. When all else fails, Walter makes a halfhearted attempt to kill Sam himself, but is easily disarmed. Walter then inadvertently blurts out his fears of blackmail, only to learn that Sam did not witness the death. Martha breaks down and laments that he left without her all those years ago, taking with him her only chance for love and freedom.

Sam is torn between his old love and his new one with Toni. Although he eventually forgives Toni for betraying him, he and Martha spend an idyllic day together, rekindling his feelings for her.

Walter arranges to meet Sam to finally settle matters. Before Sam arrives, Walter gets drunk and Martha finds out about the meeting. When Walter falls down the stairs, Martha urges Sam to kill her unconscious husband. Sam instead brings Walter around. Martha pulls out a gun and threatens to shoot Sam in 'self defense' as an intruder. Sam tells her it would work if she can get Walter to corroborate her story. Sam turns his back on her and leaves.

Walter embraces and kisses Martha, then points the gun at her midriff. Oddly relieved, she puts her hand over his hand on the trigger and presses. As she is dying, she defiantly states her name is not Martha Ivers, but Martha Smith. Outside, Sam hears the shot. He runs back toward the mansion, but sees Walter, holding Martha's body, shoot himself. Sam and Toni drive away together.

Cast[edit]

• Barbara Stanwyck as Martha Ivers
• Van Heflin as Sam Masterson
• Lizabeth Scott as Antonia 'Toni' Marachek
• Kirk Douglas as Walter O'Neil
• Judith Anderson as Mrs. Ivers
• Roman Bohnen as Mr. O'Neil
• Darryl Hickman as Sam Masterson as a Child
• Janis Wilson as Martha Ivers as a Child
• Ann Doran as Bobbi St. John
• Frank Orth as Hotel Clerk
• James Flavin as Detective #1
• Mickey Kuhn as Walter O'Neil as a Child
• Charles D. Brown as McCarthy
• Blake Edwards as Sailor (uncredited)
• Robert Homans as Gallagher (uncredited)
• Gladden James as John (uncredited)

Cast notes

• This film marked Kirk Douglas' screen debut. Producer Hal B. Wallis was on his way to New York to look for new talent when he ran into Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, who suggested that he go to a play which featured Bacall's old drama school classmate, Issur Demsky, who later took the name Kirk Douglas.^[1] Douglas later wrote in his autobiography that Van Heflin was very helpful to him in his first time on a film set.^[6] In contrast to his later, tougher roles, Douglas plays an alcoholic weakling. According to Tony Thomas, 'it assured Douglas his future in films'.^[7]
• Future film director and producer Blake Edwards had an uncredited bit part as a sailor who hitches a ride with Sam.^[8]

Production[edit]

Director Lewis Milestone left the film for several days in sympathy with a set decorators' strike which was going on at the time. In his absence, the film was directed by Byron Haskin, who did not receive screen credit.^[1][9] Stanwyck had considerable influence on how she was lit, and was not shy about putting her fellow actors on notice that she did not like to be upstaged. When she saw the coin trick Heflin had learned – at Milestone's suggestion, to show that Heflin's character was a professional gambler – she informed him he should make sure he did not do it during any of her important lines, since she had a bit of business that would upstage him, if she had to. With that she raised her skirt high and adjusted her garter. Heflin is seen rolling a coin on his fingers several times in several scenes.^[9] Kirk Douglas later wrote that Stanwyck was indifferent to him at first, until at one point she focused on him and told him, 'Hey, you're pretty good.' Douglas, smarting from having been ignored previously, replied, 'Too late, Miss Stanwyck,' but the two got on well after that.^[1][9]

Six months after the film's release, Milestone gave an interview in which he said he would never work for producer Hal B. Wallis again, because Wallis had wanted re-shoots in order to get more closeups of Lizabeth Scott. Milestone refused, telling Wallis to shoot them himself, and, according to the director, Wallis did.^[2]

The film's ad campaign consisted only of teasers before its release: Newspapers ran ads reading 'Whisper her name!',^[9] while radio spots had a woman repeatedly whispering 'Martha Ivers'.

Critical reception[edit]

The film has received acclaim from modern critics. It holds a 100% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 10 reviews.^[10]

Dave Kehr from Chicago Reader wrote in a glowing review that the film 'is pervaded by his guilty-liberal fascination with power and money.' And continued by saying 'Director Lewis Milestone does little more than accent the hysteria of Rossen's script, though his portrait of the company town, bound in factory grime and feudal loyalty, is nicely done.'^[11]

Awards and nominations[edit]

John Patrick received an Academy Award nomination for Best Writing, Original Motion Picture Story.^[12]

Cannes Poker Run Games

See also[edit]

References[edit]

Notes

1. ^ ^abcdArnold, Jeremy. 'The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946)'TCM.com
2. ^ ^abMilestone, Lewis interview Los Angeles Sun Mirror (December 8, 1946), reported in 'Notes' in the American Film Institute Catalog entry.
3. ^'60 Top Grossers of 1946', Variety 8 January 1947 p8
4. ^'Festival de Cannes: The Strange Love of Martha Ivers'. festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 2009-01-06.
5. ^Pierce, David (March 29, 2001). Legal Limbo: How American Copyright Law Makes Orphan Films(mp3 in 'file3'). Orphans of the Storm II: Documenting the 20th Century. Retrieved 2012-01-05.
6. ^Douglas, Kirk (2007) Let's Face It: 90 Years of Living, Loving, and Learning New York: John Wiley. p.21 ISBN9780470084694
7. ^Thomas, Tony (1991). The Films of Kirk Douglas. Carol. pp. 33–36. ISBN9780806512174.
8. ^
9. ^ ^abcdCallahan. Dan. (2012) Barbara Stanwyck: The Miracle Woman University Press of Mississippi. pp. 151-153 ISBN9781617031847
10. ^'The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946)'. Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved November 14, 2020.
11. ^'The Strange Love of Martha Ivers'. Chicago Reader. 2000-01-01. Retrieved 2020-11-14.
12. ^The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946) - nominations at Oscars.org

External links[edit]

• The Strange Love of Martha Ivers at the American Film Institute Catalog
• The Strange Love of Martha Ivers on IMDb
• The Strange Love of Martha Ivers at the TCM Movie Database
• The Strange Love of Martha Ivers at AllMovie
• The Strange Love of Martha Ivers at Rotten Tomatoes
• The Strange Love of Martha Ivers is available for free download at the Internet Archive

A poker run is an organized event in which participants, usually using motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles, boats, snowmobiles, horses, on foot or other means of transportation, must visit five to seven checkpoints, drawing a playing card at each one. The object is to have the best poker hand at the end of the run. Having the best hand and winning is purely a matter of chance. The event has a time limit, however the individual participants are not timed.

According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the record for the largest event was set in 2009 with 2,136 motorcyclists benefiting the Fallen Firefighter Survivors Foundation (FFSF).^[1]

The record for the largest single venue event was set in 2012, with 586 motorcyclists raising money for Prostate Cancer research in Ottawa, Canada.^[2]

Variations[edit]

Poker runs usually require a fee to enter and some for each additional hand; in some events a small part of the fee may go to funding the event, including the prizes, while the rest goes to the event's charity recipient or club treasury. In charity events usually most, if not all of the funds goes to the selected charity. Prizes, such as money, plaques, or merchandise donated by commercial sponsors of the event, are awarded for the best hand. Some runs will award smaller awards for lower hands or even the lowest hand.

Each checkpoint might offer food or entertainment, either covered by the entry fee or at additional cost. Each participant is responsible to maintain the integrity of their hand during the run. Hands are usually written down or marked with punched holes on a ticket, rather than assembled from actual cards given to the riders. The only requirement is that riders arrive at the final checkpoint by the time prizes are awarded, usually near the end of the day, typically at a party with food and refreshments. It might be required that participants collect all of the requisite number of cards, five or seven, or they might be allowed to miss checkpoints and use a hand with fewer cards, though the odds of a winning hand are much lower.

Transport[edit]

Although most events are on motorcycles, off-road vehicles, boats, or horses, events involving small aircraft, ATVs, bicycles, golf carts, snowmobiles,^[3] skateboards,^[4] running,^[5] canoeing and kayaking,^[6] and geocaching^[7] have been held.

Dice run[edit]

A dice run is one variation, where instead of collecting cards, participants roll dice at each stop. The object is to have the highest score as determined by the sum of the dice rolls.

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

1. ^'Largest motorcycle Poker run - Guinness World Records Blog post - Home of the Longest, Shortest, Fastest, Tallest facts and feats'. Community.guinnessworldrecords.com. 2009-04-18. Archived from the original on 2009-05-09. Retrieved 2012-05-16.
2. ^'Largest motorcycle poker run (single venue)'. 2012-11-06. Retrieved 2013-02-26.
3. ^[1]Archived July 5, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
4. ^'Poker Run', Silverfish Longboarding - The Longboard Skateboard Community - P - General Longboard Glossary, archived from the original on 12 December 2007, retrieved 2010-07-02
5. ^[2]Archived August 16, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
6. ^Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier: Canoe/kayak poker run will benefit ill children
7. ^Geocaching.com: First Annual Lillington Poker Run

References[edit]

External links[edit]

Cannes Poker Run Results