Cinq cartes à abattre

Despite his attempt to stop the execution, Van Morgan (Dean Martin) was hit by a gun on his head and thrown out, at night, in the streets of Rincon, Colorado and the clumsy crook was lynched…

Feeling uncomfortable, Van Morgan leaves for Denver the next day … In the days of his absence, two of the seven card players have been dead, one being drowned in a flour barrel, the other got it with a twist of wire…

For Little George (Yaphet Kotto) who went to see Van in Denver, it looks to him somebody is out to kill every man at that party which is a real good reason for Van to steer clear of Rincon if he is figuring on coming back…

Meanwhile, a gold rush has brought a bunch of outsiders to the town so, on his return, Morgan finds new faces like Jonathan Rudd (Robert Mitchum), the preacher with a Bible in his hand and a Colt in his belt ; and Lily Langford (Inger Stevens), with her elegant barbershop and her gorgeous lady 'barbers.'

Robert Mitchum plays the man who is looking for the man who is looking for him… Tension mounts when Nick Evers (Roddy McDowall) saves the hunter a long hunt… Dean Martin waits as the gambler who doesn't bank on his cards, because if he does, he winds up broke

The corrosion of any sort of quality in the screenwriting of recent decades makes tight plotting a surprise wherever one finds it. Here it is. The ongoing verbal duel between Martin and Mitchum is Shakespeare compared to the posturing of recent tough-guy flicks. Also see Martin's acting in "Rio Bravo" to find significant talent in an often-overlooked comic actor.

Inger Stevens was an undervalued actress. She was often cast as the cool, blond beauty the leading man took for a sex object/partner but never given a major role in anything, never given a chance to shine in her own film. Dean Martin in 5 Card Stud. Clint Eastwood in Hang em High. George Peppard in House of Cards. Despite all the stations now rerunning classic TV, the Farmer's Daughter languishes in a vault.

5 Card Stud is a re-make of Dark City which was released in 1950 and was Charlton Heston's feature film debut. Dean Martin is now playing the Heston part and in many ways he's reprising the role he did in Some Came Running. The role of gambler comes natural to him, it was one of many professions Dino tried in his youth before discovering show business.

In the original the part Robert Mitchum plays originated with Mike Mazurki. Mazurki had a limited role in Dark City so Mitchum's part has been built up considerably. As always Robert Mitchum is interesting.

The original Dark City involved a high stakes poker game in which Don DeFore got trimmed of the rent money and just about everything else. Rather than go home, he kills himself. Soon afterward his psychotic brother goes on a rampage against everyone in that game.

It's no suicide here, but a lynching as the victim is caught cheating. If you've seen Dark City than you already know who the murderer is and it's not too hard to figure it out here.

In the supporting cast, standing out are Roddy McDowell as the spoiled son of a local rancher who leads the lynch party and Yaphett Kotto who is the bartender in the saloon where the fatal poker game took place.

Martin and Mitchum work well together, this is good entertainment.

(It seems that some people are offended by the title of my review because they do not know Agatha Christie's first English title of "and then they were none" which includes a derogatory world ;could you please delete my first review and put this one instead:it's the same with the American title of Christie's book)

Agatha Christie meets western.It's really a whodunit!A cheat is lynched and then someone is doing away with the hangmen,one by one.And like in Christie's classic ,they are guilty and their deaths follow the same pattern:they all die strangled .Murders scenes recall more a thriller than a western .So does Maurice Jarre's music.The cast is perfect with an excellent Roddy McDowall whose character holds a grudge to the whole world.A lot of witty lines add spice to the plot.Dean Martin sings the title song.