Review of 5 Card Stud

Tightly-wound tale of bitter revenge, with lots of shooting and a high body count. In the gold-mining town of Rincon, Colorado, a tinhorn cheating at cards is lynched by his fellow poker players, who then find themselves at the mercy of a serial killer intent on picking them off one by one. Strong adaptation of a novel by Ray Gaulden provides the perfect opportunity for Robert Mitchum to get back into preacher's garb (following "The Night of the Hunter"), though Dean Martin as a professional gambler looks a bit piqued around the gills. There's some confusion in the final third regarding an important plot twist, and Roddy McDowall's sniveling lynch-mob leader is wearing; however, the salty mood of the piece and the mercurial characters are intriguing and enjoyable. As sagebrush whodunits go, this one stands fairly tall in an uncrowded genre. Yaphet Kotto is excellent as a no-nonsense bartender, while Inger Stevens provides a smart, sophisticated love-interest for Dino playing a barbershop proprietress-cum-Madame (another unusual facet). *** from ****