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Rating: It was supposed to be directed by Sam Peckinpah, but the director, exasperated by producer Martin Ransohoff's interferences, abandoned the shooting, and "Cincinnati Kid" was taken over by the softer character and excellent direction of Oscar winner Norman Jewison. Although ambitious and started with some minor issues (also due to McQueen, not exactly a "docile" actor on set), "Cincinnati Kid" is a well-executed work, loved by critics and audiences; it is a film about gambling, shot almost entirely in brothels and around a gambling table in the beautiful 1930s New Orleans, the capital of vice, perdition, and music.
Steve McQueen plays the role of Kid with icy ardor, a low-level gambler from Cincinnati, eager for a chance in the risky world of professional poker. Kid is deceitful, elusive, but women are fascinated by him and chase him; he lives for the game but is certainly not insensitive to the calls of beautiful women: when a stunning and easy Ann Margret tries to seduce him, with the help of a good drink and good music, he seems convinced. But if the cards call, Kid drops her at the best moment, after a passionate first kiss... and a slap on the bottom. Fantastic Steve.
One day comes the big, inevitable challenge with an old and seasoned champion: facing the braggart Kid in the game of a lifetime is an old lion of the table, the elegant and ruthless Lancey Howard (played by the great Edward.G.Robinson), the quintessential gambler known as "The Man" who accepts Kid's challenge. The cast also includes the neurotic, splendid Karl Malden, one of those "characteristic" actors who has made American cinema great.
The film, as already mentioned, is excellently directed by Norman Jewison, who directs this precise examination of gambling, enriching every single hand with tension; and if Steve McQueen is in it, the film automatically becomes a classic. Unmissable.
Take a seat and raise the stakes.
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