May 15, 2020 – The Cincinnati Kid (1965) Turner Classic Movies
The Cincinnati Kid features Steve McQueen as the up-and-coming stud poker ace who goes up against the older poker king played by Edward G. Robinson in 1930s New Orleans. There is a wealth of talent in this movie. The screenplay is by Oscar-winning screenwriter Ring Lardner Jr. and Terry Southern, who wrote the screenplays for Dr. Strangelove, Easy Rider, and Barbarella. This is Lardner’s first credit since he was blacklisted as one of the Hollywood 10. The film was directed by Norman Jewison and edited by Hal Ashby, who went on to direct Harold and Maude, Coming Home, and Being There, among other movies. Ray Charles sings the theme song, which is on my Shelter-In-Place Streaming Festival Playlist.
The cast is also amazing. Besides the two leads, the movie features the great Karl Malden, a very young Rip Torn, veteran Joan Blondell, Cab Calloway in a non-singing role, Tuesday Weld, and Ann-Margret who may be the second-most beautiful and sexy woman who ever lived, after my wife Wendey.
The story peters out at the end, but it is a fun ride getting there. There is a great chase scene through a railroad yard and some nice New Orleans jazz. This could be the fourth jazz movie in my festival, although unlike Paris Blues, Chico and Rita, and A Song Is Born, the music in The Cincinnati Kid is incidental to the plot and none of the characters are musicians.