Five Card Stud
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Movie Reviews of Five Card Stud
Movie Review: Martin, Mitchum, and murder
Summary: 4 Stars
Although I'll grant that this is not one of the best Westerns ever filmed, it's still one that I enjoy. Van Morgan (Dean Martin) is a gambler who wanders to and fro in search of games but keeps coming back to Rincon, Colo., where Nora Evers (Katherine Justice), daughter of the local big rancher (Denver Pyle), has been in love with him since she was a girl. Late one night he and five other men, including Nora's spoiled brother Nick (Roddy McDowall), are playing poker when Nick catches the only stranger at the table cheating and incites his fellow players to a lynching. Van tries to stop them ("You run a tinhorn outta town, you don't kill him!") and fails, and leaves for Denver the next day. Several months later a gold strike transforms Rincon into a boom camp--and one of the players in the game turns up strangled. When Van returns to find out what's going on, other deaths follow. Only Van and the other players, and Little George (Yaphet Kotto), the bartender in the saloon where they were playing, knew why a stranger was found lynched from the railroad trestle--but now, it seems, someone else has learned the truth too, and is taking payment for the stranger's death.
The best part of this movie is Mitchum as the Rev. Jonathan Rudd, a gunslinging preacher ("Every man was somethin' else once," he says) who takes over the deserted church. Black-clad and menacing, he hovers like a buzzard over the scene, and although we know he must have something to do with the deaths, it's still intriguing to watch how Van works out the truth--and to learn how Rudd himself found out who he should be pursuing. His decision to kill one of the victims by using his own church's bell-rope--and then to preach a funeral sermon in which he damns the murderer (himself) for sacrilege--adds wonderful depth to his character; you feel as though he knows he's condemned his own soul, yet feels that duty requires him to do so. Longtime TV character stalwart John Anderson also does a nice turn as Marshal Al Dana.
Movie Review: Enjoyable thriller western
Summary: 4 Stars
Five Card Stud is a very good mystery western that seems like a thriller or horror movie at times. The movie starts with a lynching of a stranger in the town of Rincon who was cheating at a card game. Soon after, all the men in the mob start turning up dead. No one knows who is responsible for all the grisly murders that keep going on. The story is well told throughout even though the viewer knows who the murderer is almost from the beginning. The mood and musical score contribute to the overall feeling of the movie more as a horror or thriller movie than as a western, but there are still plenty of gunfighters, gun battles, and barroom smoke everywhere.Dean Martin stars as Van Morgan, the gambler who attempts to stop the lynching but ultimately fails. As the hero, he plays his usual cool self which works in this role. Robert Mitchum plays the preacher who appears in town soon after the lynching. This role is very similar to that of The Night of the Hunter. Yaphet Kotto is very good as George, the bartender and friend of Van Morgan. Roddy McDowall is also excellent as Nick Evers, the leader of the lynch mob. Also starring are Inger Stevens, Denver Pyle, Thelma Ritter and several other familiar western faces. The DVD offers a widescreen presentation which is very good after seeing it mangled on full screen. Very enjoyable murder mystery western with an excellent cast!
Movie Review: SEVEN LITTLE PLAYERS
Summary: 4 Stars
5 CARD STUD, based on the Ray Gaulden novel 5 CARD STUD, was directed by veteran director Henry Hathaway in 1968. Aging actors Dean Martin and Robert Mitchum were the stars of the film while the younger generation was embodied by Roddy McDowall and Katherine Justice.
I was very pleased with this movie I discovered only recently at my local DVD store. The main theme of 5 CARD STUD mixes two conventional genres rarely handled together : mystery and western. So, mystery it is with several murders committed by an unknown killer who appears right after the lynching of a card cheater. As to the western ingredients, there are enough colts, saloons, ranches and horses in 5 CARD STUD to make you forget you're not in Mrs. Marple's St-Mary's Mead.
Several scenes will stay in my memory like the lynching of Frankie Rudd, filmed in a very crudely manner by Henry Hathaway, and all the scenes with Robert Mitchum who plays an ambivalent character hiding a gun in a book. If you like either the mystery genre either the western genre, 5 CARD STUD won't disappoint you.
A DVD zone curiosities.
Movie Review: An Underated Western Mystery
Summary: 4 Stars
This Dean Martin vehicle was a childhood favorite. Getting to see it on DVD forty years later, I still am a fan.
The plot, involving a string of revenge killings,is much like a "Columbo" episode. Solving the case, though fun, is not nearly as important as wotching the interaction of the principles. In this case, they are Dean, Robert Mitchum, and Roddy McDowell. Dean is a card-playing "everyman", not as much heroic, as resigned to playing out the string to see what befalls him. His understated performance is a perfect foil for Mitchum, as a gun toting preacher, just arrived in town.
The Reverend steals every scene he is in. McDowell plays a callow, craven son of a rancher, just a bit "over the top". All three are a joy to watch.
Yaphet Kotto and Inger Stevens provides nuanced secondary characters and give solid performances.
The story is a good one, with elements of revenge, romance, deceit, humor, and world-weary cynicism. The pace is usually quite brisk, and the camera work excellent.
Any fan of the lead actors owes it to themselves to pick up this "Noir Western".
Movie Review: Entertaining Mystery Western.
Summary: 4 Stars
This is a fine mystery thiller under the guise of a western.The movie opens with a card game and one player accused of cheating,this player is hanged. Soon members of the card game
begin to die one by one. Card player Dean Martin attempts to
find out who the killer is before he ends up dead. While there
are a few suspects, most viewers will soon figure out who the
killer is. Why is not revealed till the end. Still this is a
movie that works, this is due to the entertaining cast. Dean
Martin retains his easy going style, while Robert Mitchum brings
a performance that is edgy and not as straight forward as he
appears. Roddy McDowall delivers an entertaining performance
as the spoiled rich kid at odds with Dean Martin. Yapphet Kotto
gives a strong performance as the bartender who helps Dean work
out the mystery. I have seen this movie a few times and enjoy
it due to the cast, as well as to the scenery. Attention to detail is well thought out in this western town. So saddle up.