Le Kid de Cincinnati

A movie that shows the world of gamblers and card players should be elegant, claustrophobic, decadent, sexy an full of suspense. In 'The Cincinnati Kid' these are mixed in the most delicious way. Set in New Orleans, during the Depression the film tells the story of 'Cincinnati Kid', who wants to be the best card player in the world. He has the opportunity when the best ones get together in New Orleans for a marathon-lenght poker party. It's obvious that the final party would be between The Kid and Lancey Howard (very cool: Edward G. Robinson). It's a fine classic like almost all Steve McQueen-movies. McQueen is the king of cools and the supporting cast is good too. Tuesday Weld is pretty but Ann-Margret is the most seductive chick in town. The cock-fight scene and the final poker party is fantastically photographed and wonderfully edited (by Hal Ashby, who later directed the 'Coming Home'). And the music! Lalo Schifrin is a master and Ray Charles' song is simply fantastic and fits to the set and mood of the movie. The ending is unusual and unpredictable, but in my opinion it's very fair. Norman Jewison must have been liked his actors very much. The only flaw is the women hair-style. But it's an usual thing mostly in the films from the 60s (like 'Doctor Zhivago'). Although it's regarded as a classic, the wide audience don't recognize and respect it - 'You just not ready for me, yet.'

Steve McQueen's answer to Paul Newman's huge success with The Hustler isn't quite as good as the earlier classic; but it's still a damn fine movie. Poker is a fascinating game, and it therefore makes a great base for a film. The Cincinnati Kid capitalises on that fact and it draws all of it's excitement from the game at it's centre. The type of poker played in this movie is 5 card stud; and as a Texas Hold'Em fan, I was a little disappointed by this as stud simply isn't as good; but poker is poker, and 5 card stud is still an admirable base for a film. As implied, the film is at it's best when we're watching the action on the table; and it's easy to liken the structure of this movie to that of a disaster movie, in that it's central theme is the focus and the plot is then bulked out by human drama. The drama side of the story follows Eric Stoner (McQueen), a gambling man who's been honing his skills and working his way up to a game with 'The Man' (Edward G. Robinson). However, things are never that simple as when there's money involved; there's always someone willing to force it to go their way.

Steve McQueen makes a great leading man. His cocky swagger and charisma are always a delight to watch, but this combines with his off-screen personality, and when watching him I cant help but think about his big headedness when it comes to film billing and the like. However; he's not the star of this movie in my eyes, as it's Edward G. Robinson that takes that honour. Robinson is a fantastic actor, and one that rarely gets his dues when it comes to deciding the greatest actors of all time. Here, he adds great believability to his role as the top poker player and he ensures that the atmosphere around his player is one of confidence and authority. And that's how it should be - he is the man. The Cincinnati Kid is exciting throughout; but never more so than on the build up to it's conclusion. The ending is one of my favourite of all time, and Robinson's line shortly after the end stands up with the greatest lines ever written for cinema. While this film is no Hustler; it's still a damn good movie, and one that I hugely recommend. Especially if you're a poker player!

Thoroughly entertaining gambler's flick has Steve McQueen well-cast as stud-poker player involved in sweat-inducing winner-take-all poker tournament in New Orleans; Edward G. Robinson is the card-playing master who is Steve's main competition, Tuesday Weld is Steve's innocent squeeze, Ann-Margret is a sultry flooze. Great acting fuses a screenplay that seems cobbled together from different styles. It's hard-boiled at times, cartoony pulp at others. Ann-Margret is mostly used for visual flair (or as a punchline: while doing a jigsaw puzzle, she files down the pieces to make them fit at whim), though she's still quite a presence on the screen. Weld is very lovely, and the sequence where Steve shows up at her parents' house and does card-tricks is a little miracle of film-making: perfect writing, directing and acting all coming together wonderfully. Flaws and all, a slick genre piece and well-worth the viewing. *** from ****

Like the rest of the English-speaking world, I've recently succumbed to poker-mania, and started wasting some of my spare cash in amateur Texas Hold 'Em games.

Due to my newfound interest in card-playing, and my appreciation for old movies, I picked up "The Cincinatti Kid" on DVD. And I sure wasn't disappointed. The movie's awesome, on so many levels. As you might expect, the poker scenes are incredibly tense and, from what little I know of the game, they're pretty realistic. But other aspects of the film are great, too.

The New Orleans location shooting is gorgeous. You get to see a lot of the city, so I imagine the crew must've spent a fair amount of time there. There's plenty of cool jazz numbers and some nice French Quarter atmosphere. Director Norman Jewison manages to imbue New Orleans, and the movie as a whole, with an atmosphere that's both sleazy and glamorous at the same time.

The strong cast is another highlight. Steve McQueen is understated yet compelling, while Joan Blondell hams it up in a highly entertaining fashion (I love how she keeps teasing Lancey Howard about his age). Edward G. Robinson, one of my favorite character actors, radiates class and even a little menace as Howard. And - this is the best part - the movie also features the sweetly beautiful Tuesday Weld and the painfully sexy Ann-Margret. You just can't lose with a multi-generational cast of stars (and babes) like that.

Some commentators have complained that "The Cincinatti Kid" is slow, particularly during the scenes that don't feature poker. I can't say that I agree. The McQueen-Weld romance is sweet, and it doesn't really take up that much screen time. Sure, the movie may seem a little plodding if compared to contemporary films, but then again even "Aliens" is plodding compared to contemporary films.

The theme song's catchy, too. What more do you need? This movie's a mini-classic.

Norman Jewison's (`In the Heat of the Night,' `The Thomas Crown Affair,' `Fiddler on the Roof')1965 `The Cincinnati Kid' contains top notch location shooting in New Orleans and gritty dialogue (screenplay by Ring Lardner, Jr., `M*A*S*H*') that seems way ahead of its time.

The star power of this film is immense, with Steve McQueen portraying `the Kid' who is overly confident that he can beat `the Man,' Edward G. Robinson at his own game, stud poker. McQueen is ever confident while Robinson has seen it all and will not be surprised or scared by anything that he sees on the card table.

As in all great movies there is a very strong supporting cast in this film. Led by Karl Malden as `the Kid's' confidant, Shooter and a trio of strong supporting actresses, Ann-Margaret, Tuesday Weld and Joan Blondell. Ann-Margaret portrays Shooter's wife, Melba with great flair; she sees her husband as a loser and as a weakling. She openly commits adultery and talks down at him in front of anyone. Her characterization appears to be the role model for Fredo Corleone's wife Deanna, in `The Godfather, Part II.'

Beyond the obvious supporting roles is one of the best supporting/character players of all time, Jack Weston. He appears in many films in the 1960s and 1970s often as a person who gets in over his head with people and situations he cannot handle. In this movie he plays `Pig,' the first victim of Edward G. Robinson at the big card game. Pig thinks he is a pro but quickly and thoroughly gets gutted by `the Man.' Weston portrays a similar character in the original `Thomas Crown Affair.' Nobody sweats on camera like Jack. His type of adept characterizations can be seen in more recent settings, for example William H. Macy's `Jerry Lundergard' in 1996's `Fargo.'

Al in all this is one of the all time classics and by far is my favorite of any of the serious gambling movies such as `The Hustler,' `The Gambler' and `The Color of Money.'