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The Cincinnati Kid
An up-and-coming poker player tries to prove himself in a high-stakes match against a long-time master of the game.
1965 · Directed by Norman Jewison · 102 min · Drama · Screenplay in the scene database · 17 frames
Tagline
He'd take on anyone, at anything, anytime.
Plot
Eric Stoner is "The Cincinnati Kid", an up-and-coming poker player in 1930s New Orleans. He hears that Lancey Howard, an old master of the game, is in town, and sees it as his chance to achieve recognition as the new king of five-card stud.
Before they square off, Howard arranges a tune-up game with wealthy, corrupt William Jefferson Slade. For a dealer, he agrees to the services of Shooter, renowned for his integrity and a good friend of the Kid. Howard wins $6,000 from the prideful Slade in a 30-hour game, angering the man enough to seek to get even.
Slade then tries to bribe Shooter with the proceeds of a $25,000 bet into cheating in the Kid's favor when he and Howard meet. Shooter declines, but Slade calls in Shooter's markers worth $12,000, and blackmails him by threatening to reveal damaging information about Shooter's wife, Melba. Slade then throws in canceling the markers as a goose. Shooter agonizes over his decision, having spent the last 25 years building a reputation for honesty. Eventually, however, he caves in.
Plot summary from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA.
Crew
- Screenplay: Ring Lardner Jr., Terry Southern
- Cinematography: Philip H. Lathrop
- Edited by: Hal Ashby
- Music: Lalo Schifrin
- Produced by: Martin Ransohoff, John Calley
Cast
- Steve McQueen as Eric Stoner ("The Cincinnati Kid")
- Edward G. Robinson as Lancey Howard
- Ann-Margret as Melba Nile
- Karl Malden as Shooter
- Tuesday Weld as Christian Rudd
- Joan Blondell as Lady Fingers
- Rip Torn as William Jefferson Slade
- Jack Weston as Pig
- Cab Calloway as Yeller
- Jeff Corey as Hoban
Production
- Country: United States of America
- Language: English
- Studios: Filmways Pictures, Solar Productions, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
- Box office: $15,260,000
- Themes: poker, gambling, new orleans, louisiana, metrocolor
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