The Cincinnati Kid (1965)

Directed by Norman Jewison. Starring Steve McQueen, Edward G. Robinson, Karl Malden, Ann-Margret, Rip Torn, Tuesday Weld, Joan Blondell, Jack Weston, Cab Calloway, Jeff Corey.

McQueen plays The Kid, a Depression-era hotshot at stud poker who decides to take on a longtime legend of the game, Lancey Howard, also known as The Man (Robinson). Resemblance to The Hustler would have been even more obvious if the film had been shot in black & white as original director Sam Peckinpah had wanted (he was replaced shortly after filming began), although The Hustler was a character study as much as it was a gambling/sports picture, while this one prefers surfaces and textures and bright playing cards against the drained colors of the seedy game rooms. Romantic liaisons involving “good girl” Weld and sex kitten Ann-Margret are largely pointless, and the sub-plot of ruthless cardsharp Torn trying to fix the game in The Kid’s favor as revenge against The Man doesn’t have a payoff before it’s casually discarded just before the climax. When the movie focuses on the cards, the vivid personalities, and the high-stakes drama, though, it works. Robinson is quite good in one of last meaty film parts, though McQueen’s a little too old and a little too detached for his role. Based on Richard Jessup’s same-named novel.

67/100