Very Cool!!!

An absolute waste of money

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

It has been quite a while since I last watched Norman Jewison's "Cincinnati Kid"; I was a teenager when this movie was shown in movie theaters. One thing that always intrigued me was the scene in which the character Slade (Rip Torn) tells his children a bedtime story about Shooter's wife Melba Nyle. In this scene Slade's son is dressed in pink and his daughter is dressed in blue! I don't believe this ostensible gender reversal was a bedroom fashion statement in New Orleans during the 1930's (the epoch in which the movie is set). Was Norman Jewison or his wardrobe consultant trying to convey some subtle point? I also wondered if cock fighting went on at that time in New Orleans; if so, was it legal? Wouldn't it have been a hoot if the The Kid and Melba had instead gone to watch a bare knuckle brawl between Chaney (Charles Bronson) and Jim Henry (Robert Tessier)!

Somewhere I read that at the heart of it, deep down in their souls, all hard core gamblers really want to lose…that they enjoy the pain and angst. Personally, I think that's complete bullshit. But "The Cincinnati Kid" is a profile of a stud playing expert, one Eric Stoner, played by Steve McQueen in one of his most memorable roles. By 1965 McQueen had become a screen superstar, following the release of "The Great Escape" in 63 and he would have about a 10 year run of top notch dramatic classics that would also include "Nevada Smith" "The Sand Pebbles" "Bullitt" and "Papillion" among some other solid offerings. In TCK McQueen is paired with screen legend Edward G. Robinson, who is brilliant as "the Man" Lancey Howard, regarded as the top stud poker player of his era. Their characters are similar to their real life personas…McQueen, like the Kid was an up and coming superstar while Robinson, like Lancey was now entering the twilight of a brilliant career, but not ready to step aside yet.TCK has a superb cast. Karl Malden is Shooter, the Kids mentor and seemingly only real friend. Ann Margaret plays his incredibly hot wife Melba, a complete slut and gold digger. She's one of those women men can't resist, even though they know she will only cause trouble and Ann is at her absolute sexiest in this role. 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. Speaking of which, the marathon poker game which is at the heart of this movie is done superbly. Also credit director Norman Jewison for keeping this moving at a steady clip, 102 minutes. I could easily see where other directors could have stretched this out to well over 2 hours, give us a lot of back story about McQueen's character. But we get virtually none-the Kid really had nothing except his ability to play poker. Whether he and Christian have any future together after the game is left for the audience to speculate.

An up-and-coming poker player tries to prove himself in a high-stakes match against a long-time master of the game (Edward G. Robinson , though Spencer Tracy was originally cast as Lancey Howard but poor health forced him to withdraw and he was replaced). Cincinnati Kid lets nothing stand in his way , especially the reigning king of the card tables , Lancey Howard . 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 . Nice acting by Steve McQueen as a roving card-shark determined on his way to the big time, here he had one of his earliest and best performances . Awesome Edward G. Robinson as a veteran poker player , this is the second movie in which plays a gambler that features a straight flush in diamonds , the first was Smart Money (1931) . Extraordinary support cast such as Rip Torn , Jack Weston , Cab Calloway , Jeff Corey , Milton Selzer , Karl Swenson , Robert DoQui , Dub Taylor and Sharon Tate was replaced in the film by Tuesday Weld . And special appearance by Joan Blondell , Mitzi Gaynor campaigned for the role of "Lady Fingers", but it ended up going to Joan ; rumors are abound as to why Blondell got the role, with the most common being that Gaynor and Ann-Margret did not quite get along . Appropriate and evocative Art Direction by Edward C. Carfagno and George W. Davis . Marvelous cinematography capturing splendidly New Orleans settings by top-notch director of photography Philip H. Lathrop . Adequate as well as atmospheric soundtrack by Lalo Schifrin , including catching jazz music . The motion picture was well realized by Norman Jewison , he directed after Sam Peckinpah was fired by producer Martin Ransohoff who was unhappy with the film tone and fired Peckinpah . Jewison is a prestigious and veteran filmmaker, his greatest hit is , of course , ¨Jesus Christ Superstar¨ . He directed successful movies as ¨Fiddler on the roof¨ , ¨Agnes of God¨ , ¨Moonstruck¨ , ¨Thomas Crown¨ and this ¨Cinncinati Kid¨ . However , he also got some flops as ¨Bogus¨, ¨In country¨ , ¨Only you¨ and ¨Other's people money¨ and his last picture titled ¨The statement¨ . He considers ¨The Hurricane¨ (1999) the last in a trilogy of racial bigotry movies he's realized, the first two being ¨In the Heat of the Night¨ (1967) and ¨A Soldier's Story¨ (1984). Cincinnati Kid rating : Good, worthwhile seeing for its prodigious interpretations , magnificent settings and colorful cinematography . .

Quite a fine movie. The cast is the best part-McQueen doing his uber-cool thing, Ann-Margret as the sultry decoration, Malden the jittery best friend, a youngish Rip Torn as the baddie, Edward G. as Minnesota Fats, more or less.It's set in New Orleans in the thirties, it involves a killer marathon poker-showdown between the reigning champion of these events-Edward G. Robinson, and the local up and coming hotshot, Steve McQueen. Familiar faces such as Cab Calloway, Dub Taylor, Jeff Corey and Joan Blondell get into the action and help make this one even better me thinks just because.Only real debits-slowish pacing in the middle, Malden too trusting w/ his gal A-M around McQueen, and it really doesn't have that authentic Sting/Thirties look to it. A-M and Weld could have walked in off the Viva Las Vegas sets, you know? The marathon poker match is the best part, certainly, keep an eye out for Jack Weston here-he certainly adds something to the preceedings.I was surprised by Edward G winning by the way-it looked like a real set-up to have McQueen take him down at the end. No dice. I think Edward G also steals the show here, he's quite in his element and the camera just loves him.Check it out, well worth your time. *** outta ****