The game is Stud Poker rather than Pool, but in most ways THE CINCINNATI KID is THE HUSTLER-Lite. And maybe all the better for it, dropping the heavy-lifting & gravitas. With Steve McQueen & Edward G. Robinson in for Paul Newman & Jackie Gleason as New Kid on the Block out to beat the Smooth Past-Master, the charisma factor is (if anything) possibly stronger, with a storyline that doesn’t mythologize so strenuously.* Typical of the mid-‘60s, period detail never quite convinces as the 1930s: hair, makeup & attitude the main culprits. But the St. Louis locations & atmosphere are nicely caught by lenser Philip Lathrop, especially exteriors, and it’s very well dialogued & structured by scripters Ring Lardner Jr. & Terry Southern, camouflaging a pretty small story. (Though does Ann-Margret really have to snack on an apple so we know she’s temptation personified? Bad girl to loyal Tuesday Weld.) Most of all, this is the first film where you can feel director Norman Jewison starting to show some real personality along with steady control. So much so that the big climax can still make you jump even if you know what’s coming.
ATTENTION MUST BE PAID: *A third main character, George C. Scott’s controlling manager, is changed into Rip Torn’s far more conventional rich loser out for revenge.
DOUBLE-BILL: As mentioned above THE HUSTLER.
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