Although there are some that will say that this movie is too contrived and predictable, I will say to them that this is a perfect example of good movie making that seems to have slipped away.
You don't have overdone special effects or gratuitous sex and violence, but a very good script with quality actors doing a very good job.
Yes, you have insinuated sex, such as the scene between Ann-Margret and Steve McQueen, but there was absolutely no nudity. Kind of like when radio used to make you use your imagination, whereas television and movies these days seem to resemble "chewing gum for the brain."
I was a young boy when I first saw this moving in 1965, and I never appreciated what a true sex symbol Ann-Margret really was. Man that woman was smoking hot! Tuesday Weld is a really pretty girl in this one too, but the sexy knob is turned down a bit on her for her part.
Do we have the equivelent of Edward G. Robinson today? Yeah, maybe Pacino or DeNiro, but he was in a class of his own. The ever reliable Karl Malden and Rip Torn turn in solid performances job also.
This is a very much worth watching movie. Buy it and wait for a rainy or snowy day. You won't be disappointed.
An all-around well-done movie!
This review is for the Warner Brothers DVD released in 2005.
The setting is during the Depression in New Orleans, mostly in the French Quarter. Eric Stoner also known as "The Cincinnati Kid" (Steve McQueen) is a very formidable stud poker player. He has a girlfriend named Christian (Tuesday Weld) and a longtime buddy named Shooter (Karl Malden). Shooter has a very attractive girlfriend named Melba Nile (Ann-Margaret). The movie is setup for a big showdown with poker legend Lancy Howard (Edward G. Robinson), who comes to New Orleans to play the "The Kid". Stoner's relationships with Christian, Shooter and Melba add a dynamic to the film that makes it more than just a "pure" poker movie.
There's a lot to like about this film. The color cinematography is superb and the props and setting for the French Quarter are a feast for the eyes (one major gaff however was a shot of a diesel train engine). In a fantastic opening scene, we see a Dixieland band playing a funeral march and then quickly changing the music to an upbeat jazz song with plenty of street dancing. The movie itself was masterfully crafted and the characters were unique and original. There are quite a few strong performances including great acting by Edward G. Robinson, Karl Malden and Rip Torn. I think the thing the made this movie work is that it was not about winning or losing for the sake of money. The central issues were winning for prestige and notoriety and making someone lose to destroy their ego. The ending is gutsy and I'll just leave it at that. My only critical comment of the film is that the onscreen relationship between McQueen and Weld lacked chemistry. But overall it's an extremely entertaining movie.
As for the DVD, it's a beautiful and flawless widescreen color presentation. The audio is excellent. There are a few worthwhile bonuses including commentary by director Norman Jewison and scene-specific analysis by poker commentators Phil Gordon and Dave Foley.
Movie: A-
DVD Quality: A
A great "oldie"
Purchased the Cincinnati Kid for my husband who has a large library of poker related movies and books. He said this one is still the best of even the much newer movies.
With the increase in the interest of poker today, this movie is great not only because of the content but also the old actors and actresses e.g. Steve McQueen, Edward G. Robinson, Ann Margaret, Joan Blondell. Even for the younger set who probably do not know these older actors the excitement of the poker game is still there.
Steve McQueen is his pentultimate role before succumbing to cancer stars in the somber biographical film "Tom Horn". Horn, a legendary cowboy, Indian scout and wizard with a rifle rides his way into Wyoming territory near the turn of the 20th century.
Cattle rancher John Coble played in an effective measured fashion by western veteran Richard Farnsworth recognizes his talent and hires Horn to work on his ranch. He introduces him to the local cattleman's association which was been plagued by rustling. They give him free reign and backing by the local marshall Joe Belle to rid the territory of the cattle thieves by whatever means deemed appropriate including death.
The association soon tire of Horn's violent techniques and plan to get rid of him. They railroad... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Steve McQueen - Linda Evans Director(s): William Wiard DVD Release Date: Released the 31 May 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
List Price: $19.97 Your Price: $15.98YOU SAVE $3.99!
Buy it
San Francisco has been the setting of a lot of exciting movie car chases over the years, but this 1968 police thriller is still the one to beat when it comes to high-octane action on the steep hills of the city by the Bay. The outstanding car chase earned an Oscar for best editing, but the rest of the movie is pretty good, too. Bullitt is a perfect star vehicle for cool guy Steve McQueen, who stars as a tenacious detective (is there any other kind?) determined to track down the killers of the star witness in an important trial. Director Peter Yates (Breaking Away) approached the story with an emphasis on absolute authenticity, using a variety of San Francisco locations. Jacqueline Bisset and Robert Duvall appear in early roles, and Robert Vaughn plays the criminal kingpin... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Peter Yates DVD Release Date: Released the 19 November 1997 Usually ships in 24 hours
List Price: $19.98 Your Price: $9.97YOU SAVE $10.01!
Buy it
A little drunk on its own arcane exotica as a gambling movie, Rounders is a film that takes us inside a world of high-stakes card players but falls short on such essentials as character development, relationships, that sort of thing. Still, it is a real curiosity, written by a couple of guys (David Levien and Brian Koppelman) who appear to know something about the dark underbelly of card hustling for fun and profit. Matt Damon stars as a reluctant law student who can't put aside his subterranean career of playing poker and blackjack for big money. After he loses his post-grad nest egg to a weird Russian kingpin (John Malkovich)--and also loses his disgusted girlfriend (Gretchen Mol) in the process--Damon's character turns to an unreliable old buddy (Edward Norton) for a dangerous... More Info about this DVD Director(s): John Dahl DVD Release Date: Released the 07 September 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
List Price: $14.99 Your Price: $10.99YOU SAVE $4!
Buy it
It's better than the 1994 remake starring Kim Basinger and husband Alec Baldwin, but this 1972 thriller relies too heavily on the low-key star power of Steve McQueen and Ali MacGraw, and the stylish violence of director Sam Peckinpah, reduced here to a mechanical echo of his former glory. McQueen plays a bank robber whose wife (MacGraw) makes a deal with a Texas politician to have her husband released from prison in return for a percentage from their next big heist. But when the plan goes sour, the couple must flee to Mexico as fast as they can, with a variety of gun-wielding thugs on their trail. MacGraw was duly skewered at the time for her dubious acting ability, but the film still has a raw, unglamorous quality that lends a timeless spin to the familiar crooks-on-the-lam scenario. As... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Steve McQueen - Ali MacGraw Director(s): Sam Peckinpah DVD Release Date: Released the 18 November 1997 Usually ships within 24 hours
List Price: $19.98 Your Price: $17.98YOU SAVE $2!
Buy it
Walker (Lee Marvin) strides through Los Angeles with the steel-eyed stare of a stone-cold killer, or perhaps a ghost. Betrayed by his wife and best friend, who gun him down point-blank and leave him for dead after a successful heist, Walker blasts his way up the criminal food chain in a quest for revenge. Did he survive the shooting or return from the grave, or is it all a dying dream? The question is left in the air in John Boorman's modern film noir, a brutal revenge thriller based on Richard Stark's novel The Hunter (remade by Brian Helgeland as Payback), set in the impersonal concrete and steel canyons of Los Angeles and eerily empty cells of Alcatraz. Walker kills without remorse, guided by shadowy "informant" Keenan Wynn, whose own agenda is carefully concealed, and... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Lee Marvin - Angie Dickinson Director(s): John Boorman DVD Release Date: Released the 05 July 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
List Price: $19.97 Your Price: $14.98YOU SAVE $4.99!
Buy it
