THE CINCINNATI KID!

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The uncertainty that Director Norman Jewison seemed to feel towards casting Steve McQueen in "The Cincinnati KId" is very intriguing to me. And I say that knowing that Jewison almost refused testing McQueen on the grounds that McQueen "had not done too much" up to that point, despite a television Western series ("Wanted Dead or Alive") and films such as "Ever So Few" with Frank Sinatra, his work with Yul Brynner in "The Magnificent Seven", "Love With the Proper Stranger" with Natalie Wood and a picture I now call "the cinch er" with "The Great Escape". When that film catapulted McQueen to stardom, Jewison decided to take a chance on McQueen's instincts, and the result was a brilliant pairing with a terrific cast in this coming-of-age 1930's Depression era picture of the gambling world set in New Orleans. Edward G. Robinson--is featured in what became one of his final film appearances as an unbeatable if not ruthless master of gambling halls who is paired with "newcomer" McQueen with plenty of intensity. During the filming, according to Jewison, Robinson asked him to come to his Beverly Hills home to discuss his editing. "You know I know a little something about character development, kid. This guy--he never looks me in the eye". Here was the great film "star" who was fluent in three languages pitted against McQueen, who never finished high school, but who, nevertheless, deployed a formidable amount of "street smarts" and timing to convey the film's loner--which McQueen was in real life! What irritated Robinson most was that McQueen would look at the ground before and sometimes during his delivery of a line. This ran counter-culture to Robinson's training as a veteran theatre and film actor. But this tension would serve each actor well in the high stakes world of mental endurance and emotional manipulation in gambling. Further, McQueen and actress Tuesday Weld (Christian--Stoner's girlfriend) were in fact, two real-life loners continuing those roles in the film as well. And the interplay between them was, according to Jewison, magic to watch. The late Sharon Tate was screen tested for the role of "Christian", but was rejected as being too shy and inexperienced at age 23. Sexy siren Ann-Margret delivers plenty of sass and sex appeal to Karl Malden's "sugar daddy" husband. (Karl turned 96 last week: HAPPY BIRTHDAY KARL!) Her first seduction scene with Steve is not to be missed (nor her second)! Meanwhile, William Jefferson-Slade (Rip Torn) tries to blackmail Shooter (Karl Malden) into cheating against Howard to gain revenge and allow "The KId" to win. A long time friend of Stoner, Shooter is faced with Slade revealing embarrassing information about Melba unless he goes along. When Stoner finds out about this scheme he forces the game to be played fair and square. The game lasts several grueling hours and begins with six players. The games' intensity finds both men winning and losing large pots. The ending is quite unpredictable and it will have you sweating! The Cast: Steve McQueen: is Eric "The Kid" Stoner; Edward G. Robinson is Lancey Howard (Robinson replaced an ailing Spencer Tracy); Ann-Marget is Melba Nile; Karl Malden is "Shooter"; Tuesday Weld is Christian Rudd; Joan Blondell is "Lady Fingers"; Rip Torn is William Jefferson Slade; Cab Calloway is "Yeller" and James Weston is "The Pig". Directed by: Norman Jewison, Produced by Martin Ransohoff. It's worth noting that Joan Blondell received both a Laurel Award and a Golden Globe Nomination as Best Supporting Actress; Edward G. Robinson was Nominated for a Laurel Award as Best Supporting Actor. Based on the book by Richard Jessup, the screenplay was written by Ring Lardner, Jr. and Terry Southern; Produced by Martin Ransohoff.

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As a footnote: Before McQueen was cast, this picture was initially shut down and the original director Sam Peckinpah who wanted to shoot the film in Black & White was fired and replaced by Norman Jewison. Jewison brought in different writers because the original script struck him as a bit melodramatic. It's amusing that he enlisted Edward G. Robinson's cooperation after telling him that he would make his entrance "like a Mephistopheles" stepping off the train at the depot and emerging through the steam with his face on a close-up (which was the case)!

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