The Cincinnati Kid
Encyclopedia
The Cincinnati Kid is a 1965 American drama film. It tells the story of Eric "The Kid" Stoner, a young Depression
-era poker
player, as he seeks to establish his reputation as the best. This quest leads him to challenge Lancey "The Man" Howard, an older player widely considered to be the best, culminating in a climactic final poker hand between the two.
The script, adapted from Richard Jessup
's novel, was written by Ring Lardner Jr.
and Terry Southern
; it was Lardner's first major studio work since his 1947 blacklisting
as one of The Hollywood Ten. The film was directed by Norman Jewison
and stars Steve McQueen
in the title role and Edward G. Robinson
as Howard. Jewison, who replaced original director Sam Peckinpah
shortly after filming began, describes The Cincinnati Kid as his "ugly duckling" film. He considers it the film that allowed him to transition from the lighter comedic films he had previously been making and take on more serious films and subjects.
The film garnered mixed reviews from critics on its initial release; supporting actors Robinson and Joan Blondell
earned award nominations for their performances.
Howard arrives in town and arranges a game with William Jefferson Slade and secures Shooter's services as dealer. Howard takes Slade for $6,000 over a 30-hour game, angering Slade and wounding his pride. That night at Slade's home, Slade tries to bribe Shooter into cheating in the Kid's favor, as a big game involving the Kid and Howard has been arranged. When Shooter declines, Slade calls in markers worth $12,000 he holds on Shooter, and blackmails him by threatening to reveal damaging information about his wife, Melba. When Shooter asks him why he wants him to cheat, Slade tells him that he wants to see Howard gutted the way Howard gutted him. Shooter agonizes over his choice, having spent the last 25 years building a reputation for integrity.
With Stoner's girl Christian visiting her parents, Melba tries to seduce the Kid. Out of respect for Shooter he rebuffs her, and spends the day before the big game with Christian.
The big game starts with six players, including Howard, the Kid and Shooter playing as he deals. In the first big confrontation between Stoner and Howard, Stoner is short $2,000 and Slade steps in to stake him. Several hours later, Howard busts one player, perhaps with a bluff, and the remaining players take a break. Following the break Lady Fingers, who's been delighting in needling Howard all evening, takes over as dealer and continues to needle him.
As the game wears on, Shooter only deals the game, and then after another hand when Howard outplays them, two more players drop out, leaving just Howard and the Kid, who after a few unlikely wins catches on to Shooter's cheating. The Kid calls for a break and confronts Shooter, who brags about his skills as a mechanic but admits to being forced into cheating by Slade. The Kid insists he can win on his own and tells Shooter to deal straight or he'll blow the whistle, destroying Shooter's reputation. Before the game resumes, Melba tries again to seduce the Kid and succeeds, though Christian makes a surprise visit to the room, catches them after the fact and walks out on the Kid.
After another break in the game, Slade tells the Kid that Shooter will continue to cheat in his favor. Despite Slade's threats, the Kid tells him he won't allow Shooter to cheat, insisting he'll beat Howard without help. Back at the game, the Kid maneuvers to have Shooter replaced by Lady Fingers, and wins several major pots from Howard, who is visibly losing confidence.
. She deals Howard the 8♦ and the Kid the 10♣. The Kid bets $500 and Howard calls. Howard gets the Q♦ and the Kid the 10♠. The Kid bets $1,000 and Howard raises $1,000. The Kid calls. Lady Fingers deals Howard the 10♦ and The Kid gets the A♣. The Kid bets $3,000 and The Man calls. The Man's final card is the 9♦; The Kid gets the A♠. The Kid checks. The Man bets $1,000. The Kid raises $3,500 and is all in. Howard reaches into his wallet and raises another $5,000. The Man agrees to take his marker and the Kid calls the bet. Howard turns over the J♦ for a straight flush. The Kid turns over the A♥, to show his bad beat
with a full house, Aces full of tens.
Following the game, a gutted Kid leaves the hotel and loses a penny pitch to a shoe shine boy he'd beaten in the same contest at the film's opening. Around the corner, he runs into Christian and they embrace.
on Steve McQueen's face following his penny-pitching loss. Turner Classic Movies
and the DVD feature the ending with Christian. Jewison wanted to end the film with the freeze-frame but was overruled by the producer.
The cockfight
scene was cut by British censors.
, a change from the original St. Louis, Missouri
setting of the novel. Spencer Tracy
was originally cast as Lancey Howard, but ill health forced him to decline the role. Sam Peckinpah
was originally hired to direct; producer Martin Ransohoff fired him shortly after filming began for "vulgarizing the picture." Peckinpah's version was to be shot in black-and-white to give the film a 1930s period feel. Jewison scrapped the black-and-white footage, feeling it was a mistake to shoot a film with the red and black of playing cards in greyscale. He did mute the colors throughout, both to evoke the period and to help pop the card colors when they appeared.
The film features a theme song performed by Ray Charles
and a brief appearance during the film by The Preservation Hall Jazz Band, with Emma Barrett as vocalist and pianist.
which wrote "Martin Ransohoff
has constructed a taut, well-turned-out production. In Steve McQueen he has the near-perfect delineator of the title role. Edward G. Robinson is at his best in some years as the aging, ruthless Lancey Howard...." Howard Thompson
of The New York Times
called the film a "respectably packaged drama" that is "strictly for those who relish—or at least play—stud poker
" and notes that the "film pales beside The Hustler
, to which it bears a striking similarity of theme and characterization." Time
magazine also noted the similarities to The Hustler, saying "nearly everything about Cincinnati Kid is reminiscent" of that film, but falls short in the comparison, in part because of the subject matter:
A retrospective review published by the New York State Writers Institute of the University at Albany also noted the similarities the film had to The Hustler, but in contrast said The Cincinnati Kid's "stylized realism, dreamlike color, and detailed subplots give [the film] a dramatic complexity and self-awareness that The Hustler lacks.
Blondell was singled out for her performance as Lady Fingers with an award from the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures
and a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Motion Picture Exhibitor magazine nominated Robinson for its Best Supporting Actor Laurel Award.
on May 31, 2005. The DVD features a commentary track by director Norman Jewison, commentary on selected scenes from Celebrity Poker Showdown
hosts Phil Gordon
and Dave Foley
and The Cincinnati Kid Plays According to Hoyle, a promotional short featuring magician Jay Ose.
With the release of the film on DVD, one modern reviewer said the film "is as hip now as when it was released in 1965" and another cited McQueen as "effortlessly watchable as the Kid, providing a masterclass in the power of natural screen presence over dialogue" and Robinson "simply fantastic." Poker author Michael Wiesenberg calls The Cincinnati Kid "[o]ne of the greatest poker movies of all time."
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
-era poker
Poker
Poker is a family of card games that share betting rules and usually hand rankings. Poker games differ in how the cards are dealt, how hands may be formed, whether the high or low hand wins the pot in a showdown , limits on bet sizes, and how many rounds of betting are allowed.In most modern poker...
player, as he seeks to establish his reputation as the best. This quest leads him to challenge Lancey "The Man" Howard, an older player widely considered to be the best, culminating in a climactic final poker hand between the two.
The script, adapted from Richard Jessup
Richard Jessup
Richard Jessup was a prolific American author and screenwriter. He also wrote under the name of Richard Telfair.-Biography:...
's novel, was written by Ring Lardner Jr.
Ring Lardner Jr.
Ringgold Wilmer "Ring" Lardner, Jr. was an American journalist and screenwriter blacklisted by the Hollywood movie studios during the Red Scare of the late 1940s and 1950s.-Early life:...
and Terry Southern
Terry Southern
Terry Southern was an American author, essayist, screenwriter and university lecturer, noted for his distinctive satirical style...
; it was Lardner's first major studio work since his 1947 blacklisting
Hollywood blacklist
The Hollywood blacklist—as the broader entertainment industry blacklist is generally known—was the mid-twentieth-century list of screenwriters, actors, directors, musicians, and other U.S. entertainment professionals who were denied employment in the field because of their political beliefs or...
as one of The Hollywood Ten. The film was directed by Norman Jewison
Norman Jewison
Norman Frederick Jewison, CC, O.Ont is a Canadian film director, producer, actor and founder of the Canadian Film Centre. Highlights of his directing career include In the Heat of the Night , The Thomas Crown Affair , Fiddler on the Roof , Jesus Christ Superstar , Moonstruck , The Hurricane and The...
and stars Steve McQueen
Steve McQueen
Terrence Steven "Steve" McQueen was an American movie actor. He was nicknamed "The King of Cool." His "anti-hero" persona, which he developed at the height of the Vietnam counterculture, made him one of the top box-office draws of the 1960s and 1970s. McQueen received an Academy Award nomination...
in the title role and Edward G. Robinson
Edward G. Robinson
Edward G. Robinson was a Romanian-born American actor. A popular star during Hollywood's Golden Age, he is best remembered for his roles as gangsters, such as Rico in his star-making film Little Caesar and as Rocco in Key Largo...
as Howard. Jewison, who replaced original director Sam Peckinpah
Sam Peckinpah
David Samuel "Sam" Peckinpah was an American filmmaker and screenwriter who achieved prominence following the release of the Western epic The Wild Bunch...
shortly after filming began, describes The Cincinnati Kid as his "ugly duckling" film. He considers it the film that allowed him to transition from the lighter comedic films he had previously been making and take on more serious films and subjects.
The film garnered mixed reviews from critics on its initial release; supporting actors Robinson and Joan Blondell
Joan Blondell
Rose Joan Blondell was an American actress who performed in movies and on television for five decades as Joan Blondell.After winning a beauty pageant, Blondell embarked upon a film career...
earned award nominations for their performances.
Plot
Eric Stoner, nicknamed "The Kid," is an up-and-coming poker player. He hears that Lancey Howard, a long-time master of the game nicknamed "The Man," is in town, and decides to take him on. The Kid's friend Shooter cautions him, reminding the Kid how he thought he was the best five-card stud player in the world, until Howard "gutted" him when they played.Howard arrives in town and arranges a game with William Jefferson Slade and secures Shooter's services as dealer. Howard takes Slade for $6,000 over a 30-hour game, angering Slade and wounding his pride. That night at Slade's home, Slade tries to bribe Shooter into cheating in the Kid's favor, as a big game involving the Kid and Howard has been arranged. When Shooter declines, Slade calls in markers worth $12,000 he holds on Shooter, and blackmails him by threatening to reveal damaging information about his wife, Melba. When Shooter asks him why he wants him to cheat, Slade tells him that he wants to see Howard gutted the way Howard gutted him. Shooter agonizes over his choice, having spent the last 25 years building a reputation for integrity.
With Stoner's girl Christian visiting her parents, Melba tries to seduce the Kid. Out of respect for Shooter he rebuffs her, and spends the day before the big game with Christian.
The big game starts with six players, including Howard, the Kid and Shooter playing as he deals. In the first big confrontation between Stoner and Howard, Stoner is short $2,000 and Slade steps in to stake him. Several hours later, Howard busts one player, perhaps with a bluff, and the remaining players take a break. Following the break Lady Fingers, who's been delighting in needling Howard all evening, takes over as dealer and continues to needle him.
As the game wears on, Shooter only deals the game, and then after another hand when Howard outplays them, two more players drop out, leaving just Howard and the Kid, who after a few unlikely wins catches on to Shooter's cheating. The Kid calls for a break and confronts Shooter, who brags about his skills as a mechanic but admits to being forced into cheating by Slade. The Kid insists he can win on his own and tells Shooter to deal straight or he'll blow the whistle, destroying Shooter's reputation. Before the game resumes, Melba tries again to seduce the Kid and succeeds, though Christian makes a surprise visit to the room, catches them after the fact and walks out on the Kid.
After another break in the game, Slade tells the Kid that Shooter will continue to cheat in his favor. Despite Slade's threats, the Kid tells him he won't allow Shooter to cheat, insisting he'll beat Howard without help. Back at the game, the Kid maneuvers to have Shooter replaced by Lady Fingers, and wins several major pots from Howard, who is visibly losing confidence.
The final hand
With Lady Fingers dealing, the Kid is on the buttonButton (poker)
In poker, the buck or dealer button is a marker used to indicate the player who is dealing or, in casino games with a house dealer, the player who acts last on that deal...
. She deals Howard the 8♦ and the Kid the 10♣. The Kid bets $500 and Howard calls. Howard gets the Q♦ and the Kid the 10♠. The Kid bets $1,000 and Howard raises $1,000. The Kid calls. Lady Fingers deals Howard the 10♦ and The Kid gets the A♣. The Kid bets $3,000 and The Man calls. The Man's final card is the 9♦; The Kid gets the A♠. The Kid checks. The Man bets $1,000. The Kid raises $3,500 and is all in. Howard reaches into his wallet and raises another $5,000. The Man agrees to take his marker and the Kid calls the bet. Howard turns over the J♦ for a straight flush. The Kid turns over the A♥, to show his bad beat
Bad beat
In poker, bad beat is a subjective term for a hand in which a player with what appear to be strong cards nevertheless loses. It most often occurs where one player bets the clearly stronger hand and their opponent makes a poor call that eventually "hits" and wins...
with a full house, Aces full of tens.
Following the game, a gutted Kid leaves the hotel and loses a penny pitch to a shoe shine boy he'd beaten in the same contest at the film's opening. Around the corner, he runs into Christian and they embrace.
Alternative versions
In some cuts, the film ends with a freeze-frameFreeze frame shot
A freeze frame shot is used when one shot is printed in a single frame several times, in order to make an interesting illusion of a still photograph....
on Steve McQueen's face following his penny-pitching loss. Turner Classic Movies
Turner Classic Movies
Turner Classic Movies is a movie-oriented cable television channel, owned by the Turner Broadcasting System subsidiary of Time Warner, featuring commercial-free classic movies, mostly from the Turner Entertainment and MGM, United Artists, RKO and Warner Bros. film libraries...
and the DVD feature the ending with Christian. Jewison wanted to end the film with the freeze-frame but was overruled by the producer.
The cockfight
Cockfight
A cockfight is a blood sport between two roosters , held in a ring called a cockpit. Cockfighting is now illegal throughout all states in the United States, Brazil, Australia and in most of Europe. It is still legal in several U.S. territories....
scene was cut by British censors.
Cast
- Steve McQueenSteve McQueenTerrence Steven "Steve" McQueen was an American movie actor. He was nicknamed "The King of Cool." His "anti-hero" persona, which he developed at the height of the Vietnam counterculture, made him one of the top box-office draws of the 1960s and 1970s. McQueen received an Academy Award nomination...
- Eric "The Kid" Stoner - Edward G. RobinsonEdward G. RobinsonEdward G. Robinson was a Romanian-born American actor. A popular star during Hollywood's Golden Age, he is best remembered for his roles as gangsters, such as Rico in his star-making film Little Caesar and as Rocco in Key Largo...
- Lancey "The Man" Howard - Ann-MargretAnn-MargretAnn-Margret Olsson is a Swedish-American actress, singer and dancer whose professional name is Ann-Margret. She became famous for her starring roles in Bye Bye Birdie, Viva Las Vegas, The Cincinnati Kid, Carnal Knowledge, and Tommy...
- Melba - Karl MaldenKarl MaldenKarl Malden was an American actor. In a career that spanned more than seven decades, he performed in such classic films as A Streetcar Named Desire, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, On the Waterfront and One-Eyed Jacks...
- Shooter - Tuesday WeldTuesday WeldTuesday Weld is an American actress.Weld began her acting career as a child, and progressed to more mature roles during the late 1950s. She won a Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Female Newcomer in 1960...
- Christian - Joan BlondellJoan BlondellRose Joan Blondell was an American actress who performed in movies and on television for five decades as Joan Blondell.After winning a beauty pageant, Blondell embarked upon a film career...
- Lady Fingers - Rip TornRip TornElmore Rual "Rip" Torn, Jr. , is an American actor of stage, screen and television.Torn received an Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actor for his role in the 1983 film Cross Creek. His work includes the role of Artie, the producer, on The Larry Sanders Show, for which he was nominated...
- Slade - Jack Weston - Pig
- Cab CallowayCab CallowayCabell "Cab" Calloway III was an American jazz singer and bandleader. He was strongly associated with the Cotton Club in Harlem, New York City where he was a regular performer....
- Yeller - Theodore Marcuse - Felix (as Theo Marcuse)
- Milton SelzerMilton SelzerMilton Selzer was an American stage, film, and television actor.-Early life:Born in Lowell, Massachusetts, Selzer and his family moved to Portsmouth, New Hampshire where he was raised. After graduating from Portsmouth High School, he attended the University of New Hampshire before serving in World...
- Sokal - Karl SwensonKarl SwensonKarl Swenson was an American theatre, radio, film, and television actor.-Biography:Born in Brooklyn, New York of Swedish parentage, Swenson made several appearances with Pierre-Luc Michaud on Broadway in the 1930s and 40s, including the title role in Arthur Miller's first production, The Man Who...
- Mr. Rudd - Émile GenestÉmile Genest-Career:Born in Quebec City, Quebec, as a young man Émile Genest served with the Canadian Navy during World War II. At war's end, he worked for a time in radio in his hometown before accepting a job with CBC radio in Montreal where he would eventually become a sportscaster, working in both the...
- Cajun (as Emile Genest) - Ron Soble - Danny
Production
The Cincinnati Kid was filmed on location in New Orleans, LouisianaNew Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...
, a change from the original St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
setting of the novel. Spencer Tracy
Spencer Tracy
Spencer Bonaventure Tracy was an American theatrical and film actor, who appeared in 75 films from 1930 to 1967. Tracy was one of the major stars of Hollywood's Golden Age, ranking among the top ten box office draws for almost every year from 1938 to 1951...
was originally cast as Lancey Howard, but ill health forced him to decline the role. Sam Peckinpah
Sam Peckinpah
David Samuel "Sam" Peckinpah was an American filmmaker and screenwriter who achieved prominence following the release of the Western epic The Wild Bunch...
was originally hired to direct; producer Martin Ransohoff fired him shortly after filming began for "vulgarizing the picture." Peckinpah's version was to be shot in black-and-white to give the film a 1930s period feel. Jewison scrapped the black-and-white footage, feeling it was a mistake to shoot a film with the red and black of playing cards in greyscale. He did mute the colors throughout, both to evoke the period and to help pop the card colors when they appeared.
The film features a theme song performed by Ray Charles
Ray Charles
Ray Charles Robinson , known by his shortened stage name Ray Charles, was an American musician. He was a pioneer in the genre of soul music during the 1950s by fusing rhythm and blues, gospel, and blues styles into his early recordings with Atlantic Records...
and a brief appearance during the film by The Preservation Hall Jazz Band, with Emma Barrett as vocalist and pianist.
Reception
Upon its 1965 release, The Cincinnati Kid was favorably reviewed by VarietyVariety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
which wrote "Martin Ransohoff
Martin Ransohoff
Martin Ransohoff is a cinema and television producer, and member of the Ransohoff family.Ransohoff was born in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1927. He founded the film production company Filmways, Inc. in 1960 and remained with the company until 1972...
has constructed a taut, well-turned-out production. In Steve McQueen he has the near-perfect delineator of the title role. Edward G. Robinson is at his best in some years as the aging, ruthless Lancey Howard...." Howard Thompson
Howard Thompson (film critic)
Howard Thompson was an US journalist and film critic whose career of forty-one years was spent at the New York Times....
of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
called the film a "respectably packaged drama" that is "strictly for those who relish—or at least play—stud poker
Stud poker
Stud poker is any of a number of poker variants in which each player receives a mix of face-down and face-up cards dealt in multiple betting rounds. Stud games are also typically non-positional games, meaning that the player who bets first on each round may change from round to round...
" and notes that the "film pales beside The Hustler
The Hustler (film)
The Hustler is a 1961 American drama film directed by Robert Rossen from the 1959 novel of the same name he and Sidney Carroll adapted for the screen...
, to which it bears a striking similarity of theme and characterization." Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
magazine also noted the similarities to The Hustler, saying "nearly everything about Cincinnati Kid is reminiscent" of that film, but falls short in the comparison, in part because of the subject matter:
- Director Jewison can put his cards on the table, let his camera cut suspensefully to the players' intent faces, but a pool shark sinking a tricky shot into a side pocket undoubtedly offers more range. Kid also has a less compelling subplot. Away from the table, McQueen gambles on a blonde (Tuesday Weld) and on the integrity of his dealer pal, Karl Malden. Pressure comes from a conventionally vicious Southern gentleman (Rip Torn), whose pleasures include a Negro mistress, a pistol range adjacent to his parlor, and fixed card games. As Malden's wife, Ann-Margret spells trouble of another kind, though her naive impersonation of a wicked, wicked woman recalls the era when the femme fatale wore breastplates lashed together with spider web. By the time all the bets are in, Cincinnati Kid appears to hold a losing hand.
A retrospective review published by the New York State Writers Institute of the University at Albany also noted the similarities the film had to The Hustler, but in contrast said The Cincinnati Kid
Blondell was singled out for her performance as Lady Fingers with an award from the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures
National Board of Review of Motion Pictures
The National Board of Review of Motion Pictures was founded in 1909 in New York City, just 13 years after the birth of cinema, to protest New York City Mayor George B. McClellan, Jr.'s revocation of moving-picture exhibition licenses on Christmas Eve 1908. The mayor believed that the new medium...
and a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Motion Picture Exhibitor magazine nominated Robinson for its Best Supporting Actor Laurel Award.
Home media
The Cincinnati Kid was released on Region 1 DVDDVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
on May 31, 2005. The DVD features a commentary track by director Norman Jewison, commentary on selected scenes from Celebrity Poker Showdown
Celebrity Poker Showdown
Celebrity Poker Showdown was a celebrity game show on the cable network Bravo. It was a limited-run series in which celebrities played poker, and ran eight tournaments during its five-season run....
hosts Phil Gordon
Phil Gordon
Philip Stewart Gordon is an American professional poker player, commentator and author.-Personal life:Gordon was born in El Paso, Texas. He spent his formative years in Stone Mountain, Georgia. Gordon began attending Georgia Tech at the age of 15 while still attending high school...
and Dave Foley
Dave Foley
David Scott "Dave" Foley is a Canadian comedian, writer, director, and producer best known for his work in The Kids in the Hall, NewsRadio, A Bug's Life, and Celebrity Poker Showdown...
and The Cincinnati Kid Plays According to Hoyle, a promotional short featuring magician Jay Ose.
With the release of the film on DVD, one modern reviewer said the film "is as hip now as when it was released in 1965" and another cited McQueen as "effortlessly watchable as the Kid, providing a masterclass in the power of natural screen presence over dialogue" and Robinson "simply fantastic." Poker author Michael Wiesenberg calls The Cincinnati Kid "[o]ne of the greatest poker movies of all time."