The Cincinnati Kid

1965 poker movie

Rating: 16/20

Plot: The kid's the best five-card stud player in town. He knows it and everybody else knows it. But he can't become The Man until he beats The Man, the venerable Lancey Howard. He gets his chance when The Man rolls into town with his big bankroll. The kid's pal The Shooter, recognized as one of the best and most trustworthy dealers in the business, sets up the game, but breasts, betrayal, and bad beats might stand in the way of him reaching his top.

When the cards are a-flyin', this is a terrific poker movie, probably the best I've seen, with realistic tension, great character acting, and a real understanding of how the game works. The women are beautiful (Tuesday Weld and Ann Margret if you're keeping score) and the men are cool. The smoke-strangled hotel rooms and oily dives serving as the setting for the poker games set a mood and the camera work brings the audience right into the heart of the game. It's good stuff. In fact, there's so much goood poker in this that it might be a turn-off to people who don't know the game. For me, there might be a bit too much going on between hands, but I do like how some of the side plots, namely Shooter's financial struggles and tension with his flirtatious wife, work their way into the picture's central themes. Steve McQueen and Edward G. Robinson are both great in this, complimenting each other well as rivals with enormous respect for one another. Really, the performances in this are great from top to bottom.