Movie review in 90 seconds: The Cincinnati Kid (1965)

The Cincinnati Kid (1965)

Thought I would rate this one out of 10. So, 9 out of 10

Pretty much the perfect movie. It had everything. The big star, the hot woman of the day, the great script, the scenery, the big finish.

Basic plot is the young upstart stud poker player, McQueen,  trying to dethrone the top poker player on the block, Robinson. Many subplots, but it all revolves around that and builds well to the last scene.

Steve McQueen. Great actor and clearly the lead in this movie. A mans man and he carried the movie.
You can certainly believe he was that character. His brash attitude came through in this one. He was at the top of his game at this point.
You haven't really lived a full life if you haven't seen him act. He truly was one of the chosen ones.

Edgar G. Robinson. He wasn't a superstar for nothing. He delivers exactly what you would expect.

Ann Margaret. What can you say about her? Simply the most beautiful woman on the screen at that time..and it shows here.

Tuesday Weld was a young fresh starlet in the making here. I thought she was ok, but not great in this. She does have screen presence. Her part was somewhat small and her character simple and not defined. They could have done more with her character,  however the movie was mainly about the conflict between McQueen and Robinson.  So there wasn't really room for her character,  except to put McQueen in context. If  a sequel had ever been made she could have played a larger role in that.

I thought Rip Torn was fabulous. I had never seen him as a young actor and he was sensational. Much different than he was on The Larry Sanders show. He clearly had real talent. He should have been a bigger star.

Karl Malden was solid, as he always was in anything he was in.  

My one knock was Joan Blundell as Ladyfinger. I didn't care for her performance at all.

I thought they captured the ambiance of 1930's New Orleans very well. The cinematography was tremendous throughout and the color really catches your eye. For an older movie the quality of the film was really very good.

If you have two hours and want to watch what a movie should be, then I highly suggest watching this movie. I can't fault it.