5 Card Stud (1968)

The players in an ongoing poker game are being mysteriously killed off, one by one.

Director:

Henry Hathaway

Writers:

Marguerite Roberts (screenplay), Ray Gaulden (from a novel by)

Stars:

Dean Martin, Robert Mitchum, Inger Stevens

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Dean Martin	...	Van Morgan
Robert Mitchum	...	Rev. Rudd
Inger Stevens	...	Lily Langford
Roddy McDowall	...	Nick Evers
Katherine Justice	...	Nora Evers
John Anderson	...	Marshal Dana
Ruth Springford	...	Mama Malone
Yaphet Kotto	...	Little George
Denver Pyle	...	Sig Evers
Bill Fletcher	...	Joe Hurley
Whit Bissell	...	Dr. Cooper
Ted de Corsia	...	Eldon Bates
Don Collier	...	Rowan
Roy Jenson	...	Mace Jones

Storyline

After a card shark is caught cheating, he is taken out and lynched by the drunkards he was playing against. Soon afterwards, the men who were in the lynch mob start being murdered, one after another; all by hanging, strangling, or smothering. Who will be killed next and who is responsible? Is it one of the original party seeking to cover their accursed deed, or perhaps the mysterious Rev. Jonathan Rudd, who has recently arrived in town?

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Plot Keywords:

poker game | year 1880 | serial killer | denver colorado | cheating at cards | 

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Taglines:

From the producer of The Sons of Katie Elder, Gunfight at the O.K. Corral and Last Train from Gunhill.

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Genres:

Mystery | Romance | Western

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Certificate:

Approved

Did You Know?

Trivia

Robert Mitchum's character was a variation on his role in The Night of the Hunter (1955).

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Goofs

All of the characters have perfect, or nearly perfect, dental work. Considering that modern dental practices only became common and affordable in the 1950s, this would not be possible.

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Quotes

[explaining why a murdered black man should be allowed to be buried in the graveyard with deceased whites]
The Rev. Jonathan Rudd: Well, they all look alike to the worms.

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Soundtracks

Hymn:
Mercy's Call"
by Howard Doane (as W. H. Doane) and Fanny Crosby (as F. C. Van Al Styne)

User Reviews

When he played he played for blood.

5 Card Stud is directed by Henry Hathaway and adapted to screenplay by Marguerite Roberts from a novel written by Ray Gaulden. It stars Robert Mitchum, Dean Martin, Inger Stevens, Roddy McDowall, Katherine Justice, John Anderson, Ruth Springford and Yaphet Kotto. Music is by Maurice Jarre and cinematography by Daniel L. Fapp.

Rincon, Colorado and when a gambler is caught cheating at poker, the rest of the players administer frontier justice and hang the man. All except one man that is, Van Morgan (Martin), who tried desperately to stop the lynching. When members of the card school from that night start being killed off, it's clear that somebody is also administering their own brand of retribution justice. Morgan teams up with the new unorthodox preacher in town, Reverend Jonathan Rudd (Mitchum), to try and crack the case.

I don't think anyone would seriously try to argue that 5 Card Stud is a great movie, but it is a fun picture made by people who knew their way around the dusty plains of the Western genre. Basically a Western take on Agatha Christie's Ten Little Indians, it's a whodunit at the core, but surrounded by Western staples as fights, gun-play, murders, barroom shenanigans and thinly veiled prostitution exist during the run time, while the Durango location photography is most pleasant (TCM HD print is gorgeous).

It's not short of flaws, mind. Jarre's musical score is simply odd, I'm not even sure what film genre he thought he was scoring, but it's about as far removed as being in tune with a film as can be. McDowall as a whiny weasel villain doesn't work, the costuming is a bit sub-par and the reveal of the perpetrator is revealed too early. Yet film overcomes these problems because being in the company of Mitchum and Martin brings rewards.

Dino harks back to his Western glory days in the likes of Rio Bravo, and Mitch gets to parody his Night of the Hunter preacher whilst adding six- shooter charms into the bargain. The girls are short changed by the writing, but both Stevens and Justice grace the picture with their presence, and Kotto enlivens a role that quite easily could have been standard fare. A good time to be had with this Poker Oater © 7/10

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 November 1968 (France)

Also Known As:

Five Card Stud

Filming Locations:

Mexico City, Mexico

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hal Wallis Productions, Paramount Pictures Corporation, Wallis-Hazen

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1