Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with today’s installment of A Movie A Day.
[For those now joining us, A Movie A Day is my attempt at filling in gaps in my film knowledge. My DVD collection is thousands strong, many of them films I haven’t seen yet, but picked up as I scoured used DVD stores. Each day I’ll pull a previously unseen film from my collection or from my DVR and discuss it here. Each movie will have some sort of connection to the one before it, be it cast or crew member.]
Let it be known, if there was ever any doubt, that Steve McQueen has a great poker face. Those pale blue eyes don’t waver and feel like they’re dissecting your every movement. Who could possibly sit across from McQueen at a 5 card stud table without flinching?
Well, in this case it’s Edward G. Robinson and it’s a damn good thing, too, because there aren’t many people who could out-badass Steve McQueen. Although, I will say this is the era for it. If McQueen existed today as he did in the ‘60s and ‘70s he’d have free run… Maybe a Russell Crowe could stand up to him. Maybe. Back in the day, there were tons of people who could match McQueen. His MAGNIFICENT SEVEN co-stars Yul Brenner and Charles Bronson, for sure. Robert Shaw could have dished it back. Paul Newman might have to grow into it a bit… But you got Brando, Lee Marvin, Lee Van Cleef, Clint Eastwood… Kinda missing these days, huh?
Essentially, Robinson is “The Man,” the top dog of poker, the most respected and rich man in the game.
McQueen is the titular character, the up and coming superstar. He has beaten the best of the best in Chicago, New York, all the big cities and is currently finishing up his run in New Orleans. I’ve actually hit a lot of New Orleans films recently… from AMADs like this one and PANIC IN THE STREETS to recently catching BENJAMIN BUTTON. Weird how those threads show up every once in a while.
Anyway, McQueen is known as the best player in town, every big poker player in the area owing him money. McQueen is almost there. He’s proven himself in every possible way but one. He has to take down Lancey Howard (Robinson). When Robinson makes it down his way, McQueen pulls some favors to make sure he’s in on the big cash game.
There’s a subplot about a Richie Rich type (an incredibly young and thin Rip Torn) who wants to knock Robinson down a peg or two after getting taken for a few grand. Through threats (very real threats) he convinces the movie’s nice-guy, played by Karl Malden, to fix the game so McQueen not just beats Robinson, but clears him out.
It’s an interesting subplot, mostly for Malden’s conflict. He’s a very honest guy, but he’s put in a situation that is almost impossible. His wife is a rather large bitch, but a very beautiful one… it’s Ann-Margret, so of course she’s got it in the looks department, but damn is she cold here. And a cheat. She cheats at everything in her life, from fun and games to her own marriage.
When we’re introduced to her Malden is giving her a lecture on cheating. She’s cutting corners off of puzzle pieces, making them fit to whatver shape she needs to fill it out. It’s not even an option for her to do it the legit way and it makes no difference that the outcome is a huge mess.
You can say the same thing about her relationship. She spends the movie doing her damndest to bed McQueen, Malden’s best friend.
So, it is pretty ironic that Malden buckles under Rip Torn’s threats and is willing to cheat when it really, really counts. You can see his point of view, though. His wife is a slut, he owes over $12k in IOUs to this rich guy, with plenty of muscle to back him up if he should call in all the markers at once, and has hit rock bottom. This cheat represents a clean slate for him.
But we know McQueen is such a badass that he doesn’t need the help and when the big finale comes up and McQueen smells something is up he reacts just as I expected him to. There’s no honor in this for him if he wins by cheating. It’s not about the money. Money is just a tool, a pawn in this game of wits between McQueen and Robinson.
There are other people in on the game… badass people, too. Karl Malden’s in at the beginning, Jack Weston is in and, baddest of them all, Cab Calloway as a character called Yeller. I have to accept this movie as a work of fiction because no matter how badass Robinson and McQueen are, in real life Cab Calloway out-cools them a thousand to one.
But in this fictionalized reality, the game is only between McQueen and Robinson.
What I really loved about the movie was its simplicity. There are layers, of course… a romantic layer between McQueen and Tuesday Weld, one of the absolute hottest women to ever, ever appear onscreen, there’s the cheating layer, there’s the Ann-Margret seduction layer… But McQueen’s Cincinnati Kid is a simple character. He’s the best, he knows he’s the best and goddamnit he’s going to prove it.
There isn’t a long series of games that all culminate in one big game, like in MAVERICK (which I love) or ROUNDERS (which I also love). We get a few games with McQueen, a game with Robinson, but the second half of the movie is, essentially, in one room as the big game unfolds.
And the ending… I won’t give it away, but damn I love it when movies do what this movie did.
Norman Jewison’s direction is predictably great. He finds some great New Orleans faces as McQueen wanders the city, most notably in a Jazz Bar where an angelic voice comes out of a life-worn old lady with few teeth in her mouth, but those that are left jut out in a very bizarre way.
The cinematography by Philip H. Lathrop (POINT BLANK) is the perfect combination of gritty and gorgeous, I’d bet still utilizing the great IB Technicolor process. Lalo Schifrin’s score is jazzy and upbeat. In short, this is one of those movies that feels effortless. I wouldn’t call it a perfect 10 movie, but it’s exactly what it should have been, what it intended to be and is a prime example of confidence of filmmaking. The film is assured and that counts for a whole lot.
Final Thoughts: I’m a big poker nut. I don’t claim to be a brilliant player… in fact, I’m pretty bad at playing high stakes games, but I found I’m good at my local cash game and not too bad in the few local tournaments I’ve entered… That’s all to say that this movie was right up my alley from the first frame. I love poker, I love watching the dramatics of the game. I’m not so big on five card stud, but that doesn’t matter. The drama is the same. Seeing Robinson, Calloway, Malden, Torn and McQueen getting to play in the same sandbox is worth a watch alone, but add on top of that a truly fun and well-made flick and you get a guaranteed good time.
Here’s what we have lined up for the next week:
Friday, December 5th: POCKETFUL OF MIRACLES (1961)
Saturday, December 6th: MIKEY & NICKY (1976)
Sunday, December 7th: TWO MINUTE WARNING (1976)
Monday, December 8th: THE SENTINEL (1976)
Tuesday, December 9th: HOW TO STEAL A MILLION (1966)
Wednesday, December 10th: WHAT’S NEW PUSSYCAT? (1965)
Thursday, December 11th: BEING THERE (1979)
Wow, that’s a biggie. It’s about time I start plugging my bigger Hal Ashby holes. Tomorrow we follow Ann-Margret one more time, hitting Frank Capra’s 1961 dramedy POCKETFUL OF MIRACLES, her first film. See you folks tomorrow for that one!
-Quint
quint@aintitcool.com
