The Cincinnati Kid
Tags: suspenseful

Plot synopsis:
A casually dressed 30-ish man walks purposefully down a sidewalk. He passes a New Orleans' style funeral. He meets a young boy, they know each other and toss quarters, the man wins and gently teases the boy.Title sequence, bluesy jazz funeral march.At a card game, the man wins by calling his opponent's bluff. The Loser claims he marked the cards. Confrontation in the washroom, the winner escapes thru a window. Chased by two men he manages to get away by passing through a railyard.A nattily dressed 60-ish man arrives by train and is greeted as Mr. Howard at a fine hotel.In another room a card game is underway at a bar. Greeted by others as "Kid", the young man from earlier sits down to watch and takes $170 from a happy player, a payment on his markers. He greets a well dressed man, "Shooter", and they chat. Kid says he may move to Miami when the other man says "Lancey Howard" is in town, others ask if the Kid will play him.Lancey calls a man named Slade to offer a game of stud poker at noon, they agree. Slade, post coitus with a mistress, asks for Shooter to be the honest dealer. Lancey requests more tabasco for his oysters.Shooter and Kid chat on a ferry. Shooter recounts his past when he thought he was the best until he was gutted by Lancey. Lancey is "the Man" and the Kid wants to beat him. On the other side Kid meets his girl. She says she went to a French movie with subtitles. They continue to discuss the movie as Kid has a bath, the story concerns death and honour, Christian doesn't get it and mentions she went because Melba wanted to go.Shooter watches his sexy wife Melba work on a jigsaw puzzle, she trims pieces to fit. He chides her for cheating herself, she shrugs it off and munches on an apple. Lancey calls and explains the game with Slade, Shooter agrees.Melba and Christian are window shopping, then go to a turkish bath. Christian, a naif, gets her first rubdown massage. The two women talk obliquely about their men.The card game starts with Lancey and local players Slade and others. Shooter and Lancey talk about "the Kid" and the potential challenge.Kid is getting his shoes shined by the young boy again as the two women arrive. Melba annouces she heard the Cincinnati Kid will be playing Lancey Howard. Once again Kid beats the kid in a coin flip.At their home Christian tries to get a better idea of Kid's feelings for her. Since he doesn't respond she says she will be going home the next day. Kid's focus is on the upcoming game and his reputation, Christian doesn't want to be #2 and leaves on a bus to go home.At the poker game the players tally up, they have been playing for 30 hours and Slade writes a cheque to Lancey for $6000, acknowledging Lancey has taught him at $200 per hour. Lancey takes the cheque and subtly disses Slade. Slade then wants to meet Shooter later that night. Shooter telephones and asks Kid to take his wife to the "fight". Shooter and Lancey arrange the big game with the Kid for Monday. Shooter mentions he will bring along Ladyfingers, a fellow cardplayer, to be the relief dealer.Kid takes Melba to the cockfight and they bet and watch. Melba is excited by the action. Back at her home she tries to seduce the Kid, they kiss and he slaps her rump and leaves.At his home, Slade and shooter agree on a $12000 side bet on the Lancey/Kid game. Slade then tells Shooter to help Kid win the big game with Lancey. He holds $25000 in Shooter's markers as leverage, Shooter is upset at having to compromise his honesty and strongly believes Kid can win without help.Kid goes to the countryside to visit Christian and her parents. Stern and humourless, they have dinner together, then Christian asks the Kid to show a card trick. He fans out a deck of cards and tells the father to pick any card, then immediately calls it correctly as 3 of Hearts. The father laughs and Kid repeats the trick for the mother.In their bedroom, Melba and Shooter discuss Slade's demands, Melba mocks her husband's honesty.The big game is set for Monday at 5:00 pm in room 2A of the Lafayette Hotel. Kid and Lancey pack in their respective rooms and prepare, Kid studies the "New Practical Exercises in Rapid Calculations" math book, Lancey arranges several bundles of cash. Kid arrives by taxi and waits outside. Inside, a large gathering of local players are in the suite. Ladyfingers arrives and greets everyone, taunting Lancey. Kid makes his entrance and is warmly greeted as the local hero. Lancey, standing alone, observes the locals. Shooter introduces "Eric Stoner, the Cincinnati Kid" to Lancey Howard, they size each other up warily.Lancey, Kid and three locals set up to play with Shooter as the dealer. The men are all jovial and in good spirits as the stud poker game begins. After a while Pig, thinks he has a strong hand and tries to win the hand by betting heavily. An impassive Lancey sees all the bets and finally raises $1100, the same amount Pig has left. Pig folds and gives up the game, upset at being forced out. Shooter calls for a break. Slade puts down Shooter in front of Melba.During the intermission the characters chat. Kid and Lancey discuss women and Miami. Ladyfingers takes over as dealer and continues to tease Lancey. Quite a while later the other two locals, Doc Sokal and Yeller, tired and disheveled, throw in and leave the table leaving only Kid, Lancey and Shooter. Kid wins regularly, later, Kid glances at Shooter, then concedes a hand. He asks for a sleep break and Lancey agrees to restart at 5 o'clock.Kid leaves the room and Shooter follows. Kid confronts Shooter in private, he has noticed Shooter has been dealing him good cards for the past several hours. Shooter tries to explain but the Kid angrily wants to win without help. He places a wakeup call for 4:00. A weary Lancey also goes to sleep in his room muttering about the Kid.Melba comes to Kid's room and slides under the sheets with the Kid at 3:35. Kid rouses and makes love to her. While both are finishing dressing later, Christian unexpectedly arrives. Melba excuses herself and Kid makes a comment about timing.Play continues and the onlookers watch in silence. Finally Ladyfingers dealing calls another break, Lancey sets 1 hour, he appears tired and weary. While on break Kid has a nice steak and talks to Slade, once again refusing any assistance to beat Lancey. As the game begins Kid says Shooter looks unwell and asks for Ladyfingers to be the dealer. She wakes from the sofa and takes over dealing the cards.Over time Lancey appears to get more weaker under the hot lights. On one deal Lancey gets an 8 of diamonds, Kid 10 of clubs. Kid bets 500, Lancey matches. Lancey then gets the Queen of diamonds, Kid the 10 of spades. Kid bets 1000, Lancey raises 1000 and Kid calls. Lancey gets the 10 diamonds, Kid the Ace of clubs. Kid now bets 3000. The crowd senses something significant is happening, Lancey calls and gets the 9 diamonds. Kid gets the Ace of spades. Kid checks. Lancey bets 1000, Kid raises 3500, all he has left. Lancey calls the $3500 and raises $5000. Most of the onlookers, now clustered around the table, think Lancey cannot possibly have the Jack diamonds needed for a straight flush. Lancey takes the Kid's verbal IOU so Kid can call. Lancey overturns his hole card, it is the jack of diamonds. Everyone is stunned, a shocked Kid turns over his ace hole card. A smug Lancey rubs it in by calling Kid "2nd best". The game wraps up and Melba and Slade make angry comments, Shooter is sympathetic.Outside the hotel Kid meets the shoeshine boy again, they toss quarters this time the boy wins. Depressed, Kid walks around a corner and meets Christian. They embrace, fade to black and Ray Charles' theme song.

Review: 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.
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.
The movie follows the few days before the big game of the Cincinatti Kid and several other characters who in one way or another could be affected by the games results: One is a sort of a shady gangster (Rip Torn) who was "butchered" by "The Man" not very long ago and will do anything to get even with him including threaten and bribe one of the dealers named Shooter (Karl Malden) who is The kid's best friend.
Also in the mix is Shooter's sexy and seductive wife Melba (Ann-Margret at her most beauty) who has a few things on her mind (one of them is money of course and none of them is her poor husband) and also are trying to tempt Mcqueen's Character who is in relationships with a sweet and innocent country girl named Christian (the lovely Tuesday Weld) who wants to settle down.
But as that eminent American philosopher Ric Flair says, "to be the man, you got to beat the man." And there's a kid from Cincinnati played by Steve McQueen who thinks he can do it.McQueen's up for a fair and square game, but Robinson's developed a bad enemy in Rip Torn.
Anyway Robinson is a wily and wise old soul who goes to the poker table like most of us go to the office, to work.This is one of Steve McQueen's four or five best screen roles, he's an ultimate rebel hero here.
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.
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.
Five-card stud isn't played much anymore, but it's played for something like 30 hours in the final hour of "The Cincinnati Kid," a 1965 film directed by Norman Jewison and starring Steve McQueen, Edward G.
Robinson, Karl Malden, Ann-Margret, Tuesday Weld, and Joan Blondell.McQueen is The Cincinnati Kid, a rounder, someone who looks for poker action in various towns, and Robinson is a long-time champion, also a rounder.
And the cast is terrific -- Joan Blondell as a replacement dealer, Jack Weston as a fellow player, Torn as the angry Slater, Ann-Margret in top form in looks and sex appeal, Malden as the frustrated Shooter - all are excellent.Considered one of the best, if not the best poker movie of all time.
Cincinnati gets together in 30's New Orleans for big poker game with unexpected consequences .This interesting film contains emotion , drama , a lot of competing game in the tradition of the not dissimilar : The Hustler , and meaningless romances between McQueen , Tuesday Weld and Ann Margret .
McQueen is the title character, a cocky young player who's out to prove his worth by taking out the veteran Lancey Howard (Robinson) in a game dealt by Shooter (Malden).
People will sit down at the table with you, just so they can say they played with The Man. Blah blah blah is the feelings I get when I see comments about this being McQueen's answer to The Hustler, the Newman film is firmly ensconced in the hall of classics and rightly so, but this is a different animal that stands up on its own two feet as a great film regardless of comparisons of leading men or films they respectively delivered."It's a pleasure to meet someone who understands that to the true gambler, money is never an end in itself, it's simply a tool, as a language is to thought"Steve McQueen is The Cincinnati Kid of the title, a young man who has an enviable reputation as the pretender to the throne of king stud poker player.
Reading through all the other comments let me give you my idea what the movie is about: The Cinicinnati Kid, a young talented but poor poker player gets the opportunity to play against Lancey, an old and rich master player.The Kid thinks he has nothing to lose, it is the only opportunity he's got, poker is the only thing he can do, the can succeed alone on his own, he is in control of his side of the game, life would change for the better should he win, he is respected, Lancey is the man to beat, it is a fair game.
Not so here.Steve McQueen and Edward G Robinson do a great job at building suspense and meaning into their encounter: if you haven't seen this you'll stick around to the end to find out who wins.Norman Jewison allows for moments of too much theatricality in places, but also uses the extreme close-up to great effect when necessary.The rest of the cast Ann-Margaret and Rip Torn, both looking impossibly young, and Rip Torn is unrecognizable compared to his later roles, are all excellent.Above all this is worth watching to see Steve MaQueen being Steve McQueen and for watching poker as it can be at its best on screen..
This film send for audience an important lesson not to depend on luck only but it must need from ourselves to depend on our shoulders to reach for our aims.Cincinnati left every things to be a great poker player by gaining the master and professional player by crossing his people and his lover but at the end of this story he lost his hope by losing from the master and when he left the poker room by receiving blame comments from his friends he met a young Negro boy who learned from him a poker but in street not in a high society and he invited him to play with him to take a revenge in the last match between them but also he didn,t be good in poker in the street level as a message that he must return to his nature after loosing everything but the only thing he did not lose it his lover that she waited him beside poker club to take his hand to cross this turmoil to begin a new life with soft soul and pure hearts in spite of this crisis..
Steve McQueen, an underrated actor in his lifetime who was actually quite subtle and gifted as his films now confirm, is an up-and-coming poker player, The Kid, cocky and sure of himself, smitten by Ann Margret's sexy purring miss, and led into the lion's den - a game against Lancey Howard (The Man - a showy and assured performance from Edward G Robinson) - by Shooter, a crooked card sharp (Karl Malden).Mainly a poker film, that's where all the scenes of tension lie.
Steve McQueen plays the title role of the Cincinnati Kid; a young, up-and-coming poker player.
Kid's colleague Shooter (Karl Malden) is appointed the trusted dealer, but after an exclusive meeting with a head honcho named Slade (Rip Torn), Shooter is put into a corner and is forced to rig the game.Meanwhile, when Kid's girl Christian (Tuesday Weld) is out of town visiting her parents, he begins an unsteady relationship with Melba Nile, played by the beautiful Ann-Margret.
Joan Blondell rounds out this great assemble as Lady Fingers, a respected card dealer and old friend of Lancey Howard."The Cincinnati Kid" is a pretty entertaining movie.
First McQueen's character, Eric Stoner, a.k.a. The Cincinnati Kid, must take on the guy everyone else in the world he inhabits calls the Man, Lancey Howard (Edward G.
When McQueen and Robinson lock horns, that's when this movie goes into a whole different orbit, aided by Terry Southern and Ring Lardner Jr.'s sly, unsentimental scriptwork; fantastic set design and use of New Orleans locales; a supporting cast of great character actors at the peak of their craft; and a director, Norman Jewison, who knew how to get the right shot for every moment.Sure, Jewison took over the project from Sam Peckinpah, one of my favorite directors, but I can't see even Sam pulling off a better job than this.
Jewison milks the kind of drama Sam never would have found from guys sitting in chairs smoking cigars, and his shafts of welcome humor arrive with a grace and subtlety Sam had no patience for."The Cincinnati Kid" is quintessential McQueen, the ladies' man who's a loner at heart and who knows, like Robert Mitchum in "Out Of The Past", that winning in the end is just a matter of losing more slowly.
Ann-Margret is sexy, as usual, never more so than at the rooster fight, but Tuesday Weld does little in the equivalent of Piper Laurie's role in "The Hustler." Rip Torn goes over the top playing Slade, yet I remember every line of his dialogue ("How's that steak, kid?").
(Significant spoilers ****) Up-and-coming hotshot "Kid" (Steve McQueen) prepares for showdown with reigning poker king Lancey Howard "The Man" (Edward G.
It didn't pick up a single Oscar nomination but it probably provided more pleasure than any of the films that were nominated that year, including "The Sound of Music".Some people describe it as 'The Hustler' of poker with Steve McQueen as The Kid who wants to be The Man. The Man is actually Edward G Robinson and he's simply magnificent here.
As well as McQueen and Robinson there's Ann-Margaret, (a bad girl and Oscar-worthy), Tuesday Weld, (a good girl), Karl Malden, Rip Torn and a terrific Joan Blondell as Lady Fingers.The brilliant screenplay is by Ring Lardner Jr. and Terry Southern from the novel by Richard Jessup, (the film is at least the equal of the book and probably better), and it's superbly photographed, designed and scored.
THE CINCINNATI KID is a drama film that shows us, in an interesting way, the sharpness and the ability of poker game during the Great Depression.
An authentic scenery and sharp dialogues very well correspond to a red-hot atmosphere of a scam and love.Steve McQueen as Eric "The Kid" Stoner is a charismatic character who wants to prove that he is the best poker player in the region.
(Then too, I'll bet Robinson and Blondell {Ladyfingers} had fun talking over old times at Warner Bros.) Add the always reliable Karl Malden, a slimy Rip Torn (Slade) and a sweaty Jack Weston (Pig), along with the ravishing Ann Margret and the vixenish (not here) Tuesday Weld, and you've got a cast that could carry even a bad movie, which this movie definitely is not.
The opening scenes are well done, and the ending poker scene is unquestionably classic, but the middle is seriously bogged down by the romantic scenes between McQueen and Tuesday Weld.during the awful middle segment of this movie, and amidst all the hype the characters are making about the big game, you're just begging the director Norman Jewison to just deal the cards already.
From the cool jazzy world of New Orleans, comes the story of Eric Stoner (Steve McQueen) who believes he has got what it takes to beat "The Man" (Edward G.
With the memorable talents of Karl Malden as Shooter, Rip Torn as William Slade, Jack Weston as Pig, Cab Calloway as Yeller, Ann-Margret as Melba and Tuesday Weld as Christian, the film evolves into a classic from sheer star power.
Robinson, Steve McQueen, Karl Malden, Tuesday Weld, and Rip Torn (and Joan Blondell and Ann-Margaret with a cameo from the immortal Cab Calloway, for good measure) under the direction of a world class director (Norman Jewison)?
It seems to me that I've read a number of reviews on this site which are quite critical of this movie,seeing nothing original or unique in the plot.Given the original story,which was written the year before,they might appear to have lodged a valid complaint.Nobody is doing anything in this picture that they haven't done in at least 2 or 3 others.But there IS another way of looking at it.We can be very critical of this movie for a lack of originality in terms of content.OK,a brash,bold young upstart challenges the old champion,and is roundly trounced.Nothing at all new here.But,maybe we can examine it in terms of process-not what they're saying,but,rather,how they say it.We've got a first-rate cast assembled,playing as a team.Some players are doing more than others,but,as the line goes"No small parts,just small actors."We see how they of and with others.And the technical aspects are first rate.And,by putting it back in a late Depression setting,we view it through an almost mystical lens.Give credit for a fun movie.I don't think that anybody involved would have considered it great art,including the players.
Steve Mc Queen aka The Kid is to become poker-gambler number one, if it wasn't for "The Man", extremely well played role by Edward G Robinson.
The thing is that there isn't that much to tell, the whole movie seems to be filmed around the table the game is playing...and yet, director Norman Jewison makes it one of the best McQueenmovies ever.
Interesting film with good cast led by Steve McQueen as Cincinnati Kid and the always effective Edward G.
McQueen was really good in the role of an efficient poker player who tries to prove himself playing against the smart Lancey Howard (Robinson).
The first half of the movie seems to be slow, tedious, and a bit dramatic at time, but its worth it when it comes to the actual poker game between The Kid (Steve McQueen at his coolest) and The Man (Edward G Robinson), you end up getting hooked till the last minute, though It would help if you knew a bit about poker.
Tuesday Weld turns in a surprisingly strong performance as the Kid's girlfriend Christian, who has moved to New Orleans from a farm in rural La. She and McQueen are in love but they both know that his top priority in life is stud poker.
Another problem is that while McQueen is very good in the role, his character, the main one, is outdone by too many of the supporting players including Robinson, Karl Malden and Ann Margret.
Steve McQueen plays the cool, strong challenger, a young clever stud poker gambler, ready to risk his whole world on the turn of a card...Edward G.
But for all her urbane sophistication, Melba is still searching for love in vain...Tuesday Weld plays the sweet country girl in love...Joan Blondell is the relief dealer whose only hope is to see the 'Man' finished!If you like pressure and tension, and you love the atmosphere of professional poker marathon game, and you enjoyed "The Hustler" with Paul Newman and Jackie Gleason, well, don't even hesitate to see this fascinating exhibition of professional characters competing for supremacy...
This might have been a better and more profound film about maturity and honor had the script "dealt" more thoroughly on the only two characters who really matter: "The Kid," Eric Stoner (Steve McQueen," and "The Man," Lancey Howard (Edward G.
Most viewers will find "The Cincinnati Kid" entertaining enough for one look, but it is not the kind of film you'll want to see often unless you are a die-hard fan of McQueen, Robinson, or five-card stud.BTW: The "French" movie that Tuesday Weld's character talks about early in "The Cincinnati Kid" is a real flick – "La Kermesse heroique," (The Heroic Village Fair), which was released in the United States as "Carnival in Flanders." This 1935 film (a hint to the historic timing of "The Cincinnati Kid") was directed by Belgian-born Jacques Feyder, from a story by Charles Spaak, and was highly honored, winning the Grand Prix du Cinema Francaise and the Best Foreign Film awards from the New York Film Critics' Circle and the National Board of Review in the United States.
POSSIBLE SPOILERS: Finally got a chance to see this flick that I had been trying to catch for years, drawn by its great cast (McQueen, Robinson, Malden, Rip Torn, etc.) However, the fine efforts of the performers cannot rescue a script that basically goes nowhere and does nothing to develop the possible subplots, e.g. the romantic conflict between Melba (Ann-Margret) and Christian (Tuesday Weld), Shooter's conflict with Slade (Rip Torn), the hints - that never play out - at Lancey Howard (Robinson) having a serious illness, etc.
(Spoilers!) Steve McQueen plays Eric Stoner (the Cincinnati Kid), a young professional poker player.
"The Kid" (Steve McQueen) is the up-and-coming new player in the stud poker world.
One poker flick that's never forgotten in the wide array of films in the subgenre is 'The Cincinnati Kid.' The film features one of Steve McQueen's most legendary performances (in a long list of great roles) and puts him alongside such other great actors like Karl Malden, Rip Torn, and oh-so-sexy Ann-Margret.One issue that has come along with this film is that it does feature a LOT of poker, but what really works about the poker scenes is that it's more about the characters than the actual game.
Robinson an old master, Karl Malden is their friend and dealer, Ann Margret his flirtatious girlfriend, and Tuesday Weld is McQueen's.