The corrosion of any sort of quality in the screenwriting of recent decades makes tight plotting a surprise wherever one finds it. Here it is. The ongoing verbal duel between Martin and Mitchum is Shakespeare compared to the posturing of recent tough-guy flicks. Also see Martin's acting in "Rio Bravo" to find significant talent in an often-overlooked comic actor.
Add a Review
-
occupant-13 September 2001
-
shortbread2262 December 2009Probably wouldn't have stuck with this one if I didn't know Robert Mitchum was showing up eventually but it ended up getting a lot better as it went on. The plot was interesting and I liked the way they didn't reveal the killer in a sensational twist seeing as most people would have worked it out by then. A good example of suspense being better than surprise.
That being said the structure of the film was a bit loose, It spent a lot of time on things that didn't really have any importance to the story when I thought it could have spent more time establishing certain characters motivations and relationships and I thought sometimes the snappy style dialog was a bit stilted. Some of the acting was also a bit awkward. It was only about a third to about a half way through the movie that I decided I liked it but in the end it was quite enjoyable and once again Mitchum was awesome -
hitchcockthelegend30 November 20135 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 -
dbdumonteil29 February 2004(It seems that some people are offended by the title of my review because they do not know Agatha Christie's first English title of "and then they were none" which includes a derogatory world ;could you please delete my first review and put this one instead:it's the same with the American title of Christie's book)
Agatha Christie meets western.It's really a whodunit!A cheat is lynched and then someone is doing away with the hangmen,one by one.And like in Christie's classic ,they are guilty and their deaths follow the same pattern:they all die strangled .Murders scenes recall more a thriller than a western .So does Maurice Jarre's music.The cast is perfect with an excellent Roddy McDowall whose character holds a grudge to the whole world.A lot of witty lines add spice to the plot.Dean Martin sings the title song. -
ma-cortes23 July 2012It's a film noir/Western/suspense of bizarre beauty and extraordinary performances ; being based on a novel by Ray Gaulden and interesting screenplay by Marguerite Roberts . A card shark is caught cheating, he is taken out and lynched , later on , this engenders several murders . The players in an ongoing poker game are being mysteriously killed off, one by one . A professional gambler (Dean Martin) who attempted to prevent the lynching tries to ensnare the assassin with the aid of a preacher (Robert Mitchum) with a weapon .
Suspenseful film dealing with a card player who is lynched by the drunkards he was playing against. Tension from the opening game going on until ending and never lets up , being for Agata Christie aficionados . This is a tremendously exciting story of an obstinate card player and a strange preacher with a gun . It begins as a slow-moving Western but follows to surprise us with dark characters , strong supporting work , solid plot and in whodunit style . The tale is almost grim , a priest comes to a town just in time to make sure its citizenry but later the events get worse . Main cast is frankly magnificent . Sympathetic Dean Martin as as a reluctant card gambler and nice Robert Mitchum as a gun-toting preacher . First-rate Robert Mitchum in similar role and performance to ¨Night of the hunter¨ that was the acting of his life . In addition , Roddy McDowall steals the show as the cynic Nick . Supporting cast is extremely good such as Inger Stevens as Lily Langford , Katherine Justice as Nora Evers , John Anderson as Marshal Dana , Yaphet Kotto as Little George , Denver Pyle as Sig and Whit Bissell as Dr. Cooper , among others . Good Technicolor cinematography by Daniel F. Fapp . Enjoyable musical score ties up a top-notch Western package ; it is composed by the maestro Maurice Jarre . Furthermore , agreeable song by Dean Martin , including lyrics by Ned Washington . Watchable results for this offbeat Western .
This well-paced in cracking style flick is compellingly directed by Henry Hathaway and usually works very well , taking a firm grip on the action and suspense . Here he directs efficiently Dean Martin and with strong screen presence by Robert Mitchum , both of whom collaborated in some Western . Hathaway himself was only even nominated for an Oscar , but his movies themselves are testimony to his skills to heighten narrative tension and shoot action so exhilarating it made adrenalin run . He does the human touch and full of insight that accompanied him during most of his films and the story develops pleasantly in a large frame with an interesting plot and fully adjusted to the requirements of the action . Henry was a craftsman who had a long career from the 30s with successful films , and especially Westerns , as ¨Brigham Young¨ and ¨Raw Hide¨ . In his 60s Hathaway still got the vigour to make some fiery movies as ¨From Hell to Texas¨, ¨How the West was won¨, ¨Nevada Smith¨, and ¨Shoot out¨ . He was an expert on Western genre as he proved in ¨True grit¨ , ¨Five card stud¨ , ¨Nevada Smith¨ ,¨How the West was won¨ , ¨Rawhide¨ , ¨Brigham Young¨ , ¨Buffalo Stampede¨, ¨Garden of evil¨ and ¨The sons of Katie Elder¨. Rating : nice Western that will appeal to Robert Mitchum and Dean Martin fans . -
zardoz-134 July 2008"Garden of Evil" director Henry Hathaway's western whodunit "5-Card Stud" pits a "hellfire gambler" Dean Martin against a "gunfire preacher" Robert Mitchum in a frontier tale about lynching, murder, and revenge. Mind you, deducing the whodunit will pose only a minor challenge for astute audiences. You will spot the actor committing the crimes long before the film identifies him in its penultimate scene. If you scrutinize the stable strangling scene, the killer's headgear reveals his identity. The characters in "True Grit" scenarist Marquerite Roberts' screenplay, based loosely on Ray Gaulden's novel, are flat since they change neither their mentality nor their morality. Nevertheless, Roberts boots around a provocative question about "who people were before they became who they are" which segues with the mystery. Otherwise, this Hathaway horse opera is sturdy enough, features a believable cast, and blends comedy with drama nimbly enough so it rarely becomes either heavy-handed or repetitious.
Compared with Hathaway's other oaters, "5-Card Stud" doesn't top "True Grit," "The Sons of Katie Elder," "Garden of Evil," "From Hell to Texas," or "Rawhide." "5-Card Stud," however, does surpass "Shoot Out" and "Nevada Smith." Although some critics didn't cotton to Maurice Jarre's orchestral score and even denigrated it as "Dr. Zhivago" on the range,' I contend it is superb music and differs from anything Jerry Goldsmith, Elmer Bernstein, or Ennio Morricone would have provided. Jarre's score enlivens the action and enhances the atmosphere. The Dean Martin "5-Card Stud" title song marks this sagebrusher as a traditional western. As far back as the 1950s, most major sagebrushers contained either a ballad about the story or the hero with lyrics like ". . . Play your poke and he'd leave you broke." The song here paints a portrait of the protagonist and his poker playing skill.
Interestingly, "5-Card Stud" makes some racial references that chipped away at the usual barriers. In one scene, Mitchum's gunslinging preacher doesn't think it inappropriate that a black man be buried among whites, something that marked this western as a departure from Jim Crow mentality. John Sturges' "The Magnificent Seven" had broken ground earlier with a gunfight so an Indian could be buried in a white graveyard.
Professional gambler Van Morgan (Dean Martin of "Sons of Katie Elder") takes a break from a Saturday night poker game while Sig Ever's son Nick (Roddy McDowell of "Planet of the Apes"), stableman Joe Hurley (Bill Fletcher of "Hour of the Gun"), Mace Jones (Roy Jenson of "Big Jake"), storekeeper Fred Carson (Boyd 'Red' Morgan of "Violent Saturday"),and Ever's ranch hand Stoney Burough (George Robotham of "The Split") continue to gamble with newcomer Frankie Rudd (Jerry Gatlin of "The Train Robbers") until Nick catches Rudd cheating 'red-handed' and assembles a lynch party. They haul Rudd against his will out to a stream and string him up from the bridge. Barkeeper George (Yaphet Koto of "Live and Let Die") warns Morgan, and Morgan lights out after Nick and company to thwart the necktie party. "You don't hang a cheat," Morgan growls, "you kick him out of town." When Morgan arrives, Frankie is swinging with a noose around his neck, and Nick buffalos Morgan on the back of the head with his six-gun.
Mama Malone (Ruth Springford of "Vengeance Is Mine") discovers Morgan strewn on the boardwalk the following morning and summons George to help the battered gambler to his room. Morgan decides to pull out of Rincon and try his luck in Denver. Before he leaves, he rides out to Sig Ever's spread to bid goodbye to Sig's comely daughter Nora (Katherine Justice of "The Way West") and deck Nick as repayment for clobbering him at the hanging.
Naturally, the town marshal (John Anderson of "Young Billy Young") can neither identify the lynch mob nor can he identify the hanged man. Later, participants in the card game begin to die. One is wrapped up in barbed wire. Another is hanged in the church. Still another is suffocated in a barrel of flour. Indeed, Hathaway and Roberts make each death look different. Eventually, George visits Morgan in Denver and Morgan decides to return to Rincon. Two things have changed since Morgan rode out. First, the town has acquired a gun-toting pastor who renovates the church and holds services. Second, Lilly Langford (Inger Stephens of "Hang'em High") has opened a barbershop that features a $20 item that intrigues Morgan when he visits her establishment. Lilly and Nora contend for Morgan, while our hero closes in on the new preacher Jonathan Rudd.
"5-Card Stud" boasts several good scenes. Hathaway does a fine job of staging a shoot-out in the streets of Rincon when paranoid miners go berserk because they fear they may be the next victims of the local serial killer. If you slow down your DVD or VHS copy, Dean Martin loses his Stetson when he seizes an axle to let a wagon haul him out of harm's way. You can see his headgear fall off completely. In the next scene, Martin's hat is back on his head. Nevertheless, it is still a neat gunfight with Morgan and Rudd standing back to back against the opposition.
The scene at a windmill where Rudd hits each of the windmill blades because he was aiming at the spaces between the blades is fun, too. George plays a role in the story and provides his buddy Morgan with a clue to the killer's identity. The animosity between Nick Evers and Van Morgan is feisty throughout the action with Nora trying to do her best to dampen it. Van Morgan and Lilly have some mildly amusing banter. The expository scenes about Nick's childhood almost make his character marginally sympathetic.
Indeed, "5-Card Stud" is no classic, but it is good enough for a rainy day. -
Hey_Sweden12 November 2014This really isn't such a bad movie. A solid cast makes it more entertaining than it might have been otherwise. It just has a "throw away" sort of quality because, for a movie that's supposed to a mystery-Western, it's quite easy to predict. Also, it can't overcome the hilarious miscasting of Roddy McDowall, who can't quite suppress his English accent.
It's essentially an Agatha Christie sort of deal: during a card game, a man is caught cheating, and the players impulsively decide not just to punish the cheat, but to hang him. Soon after, these same men die mysteriously. A gambler named Van Morgan (Dean Martin) who'd tried to prevent the hanging knows that he could still be on the hit list. Soon, a gun toting stranger, Jonathan Rudd (Robert Mitchum), comes to town to preach.
This is worth sticking with for some things. First of all, both Martin and Mitchum exude their trademark cool. Mitchum, doing a variation on his role in "The Night of the Hunter", is especially amusing. Second, a young Yaphet Kotto gets a rather good role as the bartender in one of two competing saloons. Third, there are some very lovely ladies in the cast, Inger Stevens as Lily Langford, and Katherine Justice as Nora Evers. Finally, there's a first rate assortment of character actors on display: John Anderson, Denver Pyle, Whit Bissell, Ted de Corsia, and Roy Jenson.
McDowall, cast as Pyles' son, manages to be pretty good at playing a worthless weasel sort of man, but he simply looks too out of place here.
The theme song crooned by Dino may not be one of his best, but it *is* kind of catchy.
Six out of 10. -
Nazi_Fighter_David8 November 2007Despite his attempt to stop the execution, Van Morgan (Dean Martin) was hit by a gun on his head and thrown out, at night, in the streets of Rincon, Colorado and the clumsy crook was lynched
Feeling uncomfortable, Van Morgan leaves for Denver the next day In the days of his absence, two of the seven card players have been dead, one being drowned in a flour barrel, the other got it with a twist of wire
For Little George (Yaphet Kotto) who went to see Van in Denver, it looks to him somebody is out to kill every man at that party which is a real good reason for Van to steer clear of Rincon if he is figuring on coming back
Meanwhile, a gold rush has brought a bunch of outsiders to the town so, on his return, Morgan finds new faces like Jonathan Rudd (Robert Mitchum), the preacher with a Bible in his hand and a Colt in his belt ; and Lily Langford (Inger Stevens), with her elegant barbershop and her gorgeous lady 'barbers.'
Robert Mitchum plays the man who is looking for the man who is looking for him Tension mounts when Nick Evers (Roddy McDowall) saves the hunter a long hunt Dean Martin waits as the gambler who doesn't bank on his cards, because if he does, he winds up broke -
Marta27 February 1999Murder mystery westerns don't come along every day, and while this one is kind of slow moving, it's still a great movie.
Dean Martin is cool and steady as the gambler who takes part in a game of five card stud that turns deadly. When he tries to stop the lynching of a cheating player, he's overpowered. Soon after the lynching, every one in the game is methodically murdered in the most inventive ways. One man is strangled with barbed wire, another is drowned in a flour barrel, etc. Dean spends the rest of the movie trying to figure out who's doing the killing.
While Dean is great, Roddy McDowall is fantastic as the sniveling brother of Dean's girlfriend. He's a mean, cowardly, lying weasel, and no one ever played a weasel better.
Yaphet Kotto is fine as the bartender, and Inger Stevens has a small, shining role as the local purveyor of tonsorial delights (a barber). Robert Mitchum comes into the film a little late; while he's straight and true as the scripture-spouting preacher who sweeps out the long abandoned church and begins hold services, you know he's hiding something.
All in all a fine film. Maybe a little too long, though; the whole movie doesn't amount to much more than enjoyable entertainment, but the actors and the acting in it make this really worth watching. -
moonspinner5517 December 2010Tightly-wound tale of bitter revenge, with lots of shooting and a high body count. In the gold-mining town of Rincon, Colorado, a tinhorn cheating at cards is lynched by his fellow poker players, who then find themselves at the mercy of a serial killer intent on picking them off one by one. Strong adaptation of a novel by Ray Gaulden provides the perfect opportunity for Robert Mitchum to get back into preacher's garb (following "The Night of the Hunter"), though Dean Martin as a professional gambler looks a bit piqued around the gills. There's some confusion in the final third regarding an important plot twist, and Roddy McDowall's sniveling lynch-mob leader is wearing; however, the salty mood of the piece and the mercurial characters are intriguing and enjoyable. As sagebrush whodunits go, this one stands fairly tall in an uncrowded genre. Yaphet Kotto is excellent as a no-nonsense bartender, while Inger Stevens provides a smart, sophisticated love-interest for Dino playing a barbershop proprietress-cum-Madame (another unusual facet). *** from ****
-
planktonrules11 February 2016"5 Card Stud" is a western that should have been a lot better. The plot setup was exceptional...but the film failed to adequately take advantage of this.
When the film begins, a man is accused of cheating at cards. Instead of calling the sheriff, the rest of the gamblers decide to hang the guy! Van (Dean Martin) tries to stop them and ends up getting beaten up for his efforts. Not surprisingly, after he awakens, Van decides to leave this hellish town. While he's gone, word gets to him that a couple members of the hanging party have themselves been strangled by someone...who, exactly, they didn't know.
Starting at this point, the film starts to fall apart because so often the film didn't make sense. Van decides to return to the hellish town....why? He easily could be next and it's not like Van is a sheriff or ninja!! And, once he's there, there's only one stranger in town--the weirdo preacher (Robert Mitchum) and he's pretty obviously the killer but it takes folks a very long time to figure this out. Other ridiculous plot problems include making Roddy McDowell the baddie who beats up Van!!! Heck, I think McDowell might have had trouble beating up Inger Stevens in this film and that just didn't make sense. Nor, did it make any sense his going into business with the killer...and vice-versa. It's all a real shame, as the film started off so well and degenerated due to poor writing and casting. Rarely have I seen a film go off the rails so quickly and completely. There's no mystery (there should have been), there are lots of inconsistencies and the film makes poor use of a fancy director (Henry Hathaway) and a decent cast. -
bkoganbing11 October 20045 Card Stud is a re-make of Dark City which was released in 1950 and was Charlton Heston's feature film debut. Dean Martin is now playing the Heston part and in many ways he's reprising the role he did in Some Came Running. The role of gambler comes natural to him, it was one of many professions Dino tried in his youth before discovering show business.
In the original the part Robert Mitchum plays originated with Mike Mazurki. Mazurki had a limited role in Dark City so Mitchum's part has been built up considerably. As always Robert Mitchum is interesting.
The original Dark City involved a high stakes poker game in which Don DeFore got trimmed of the rent money and just about everything else. Rather than go home, he kills himself. Soon afterward his psychotic brother goes on a rampage against everyone in that game.
It's no suicide here, but a lynching as the victim is caught cheating. If you've seen Dark City than you already know who the murderer is and it's not too hard to figure it out here.
In the supporting cast, standing out are Roddy McDowell as the spoiled son of a local rancher who leads the lynch party and Yaphett Kotto who is the bartender in the saloon where the fatal poker game took place.
Martin and Mitchum work well together, this is good entertainment. -
gridoon202422 December 2011I'm more of a Mystery than a Western fan myself; "Five Card Stud" is a rather unique genre crossover - a bit like "Ten Little Indians" with gunfights thrown in. Leisurely paced but never boring, occasionally humorous without losing its seriousness, it is particularly recommended to those looking for the offbeat. It may be a little disappointing that the most obvious suspect turns out to be the person responsible for the killings, but the ironies and the morally grey areas of the story remain strong. The film also benefits from a great cast: Robert Mitchum is both amusing and larger-than-life as a preacher who's also an ace shooter ("By day he sweats for a pinch of yellow dust, and at night he squanders it on LUST!"), but extra-sweet Katherine Justice and extra-slimy Roddy McDowall stand out as well; and in 1968 it was still fairly uncommon even for an excellent black actor like Yaphet Kotto to be allowed, like he is in "Five Card Stud", to hold his own against an otherwise entirely white cast. Score and photography are top-notch. *** out of 4.
-
bensonmum215 August 2005
- During a game of cards, one of the players is found the be a cheat. The others decide that running him out of town isn't good enough and lynch the cheater. Soon afterward, however, the men in the lynching party begin dying violent deaths. In the Old West, a showdown between two armed men was one thing, but murder is murder.
- Considering the cast assembled for Five Card Stud (Dean Martin, Robert Mitchum, Roddy McDowall, Yaphet Kotto, Denver Pyle, and Inger Stevens) I expected a solid and enjoyable Western. And while each of these actors does their best to prop-up the movie, they are let down at almost every opportunity by uninspired directing and a weak plot. The movie is billed as a Western/Mystery. But, there's no mystery. It is so painfully obvious who the killer is that I'm shocked it took Dean so long to figure it out. Hathaway does nothing to add any suspense or drama. I was expecting, and hoping, for a big twist ending to save Five Card Stud, but it never came.
- But the worst part of the movie has to be the editing. Five Card Stud is over-long and needlessly bloated with scenes that go nowhere and do nothing to advance the storyline. Better editing to create a tighter, leaner movie could have done wonders and might have made it really enjoyable.
-
lee188825 May 2006Not a bad movie. Robert Mitchum and Dean Martin pull this one off pretty good. There are a few flaws in the plot but it all works out in the end. It's a good popcorn movie to watch when you have nothing to do. Besides the mild violence, I think your kids could watch this one with you as a family movie.
Roddy McDowall plays the whinny little weasel perfect. You hate him from the start to the ending, and can't wait for him to get his. And this is what a great actor can make you feel. And Inger Stevens plays the temptress so well. How could anyone not fall for a beautiful woman like her? She could make a good man go bad, and a bad man blush.
So break out the popcorn, sit backs and don't expect too much, and you might have a smile on your face after the movie. -
elshikh415 August 2017Firstly, things I loved: The idea of a mystery / western movie. How most of the cast did their roles fairly. The music while Yaphet Kotto's death, which was a variation on Maurice Jarre's theme music, as joyful as the background's atmosphere, yet with a smart tense twist. A number of lines: "There's only one thing worse than a crook, that's a clumsy crook", "Somebody gave Stoney a new string tie. Only it was made of barbed wire, and a little tight", "Sometimes the truth is actions, not words". And the theme song which was the top of this movie for me.
Then, things I didn't love: Oh, dear. Take a list: Dean Martin was too indifferent; like it's "I'll say the lines, do the moves, then give me the money please". And while he was 51 year old, he seemed older, with run-down, if not sick, features. For instance, during his scene in the cemetery, he was too pale as if he was the one to be buried!
Director Henry Hathaway didn't do anything dazzling along the way, or maybe didn't want to. Actually, more than one point tells you that not much effort was exerted. In one moment, when Martin punches Roddy McDowall in front of the latter's sister, you'll notice that there wasn't a proper sound effect for the punch. And in another, when the same 2 clash in the cemetery, their fight was weak, childish, and shot while both of them were wearing the same color and outfit (so you couldn't tell who's who!). Let alone that the few action scenes were done routinely. That's why I felt TV-ish western for all the time.
The romantic part wasn't taken care of seriously. I mean the young girl loves the lead, and he loves the older woman; so why is that? Does the girl related to issues like land and stability, and the lead is always a traveling gambler, so that's why he preferred the barbershop's owner? Is that woman more experienced, so she's more suitable for him? Well, the movie itself doesn't give a hoot, and the whole romantic scenes seemed eventually irrelevant.
Speaking about the writing, the matter of Robert Mitchum saying a line that ends a scene, while he walks away from the people, repeated dully. I thought that Mitchum didn't have to turn the chair over the card table to assure for Martin that he's the killer. And I didn't get the constant talk about the coming development with Ruth Springford as Mama Malone; that wasn't a relief, or part of the drama, or sort of satire which serves some purposed substance?? Was there any use out of this, other than filling the blanks between the scenes of the main "loose unknown killer" plot??
Roddy McDowall can be a lot of characters, but the violent psychopath killer isn't one of them. He tried his best, and did well, but he wasn't the character for me, and the "very well" rank could have been given for another actor in that role. While Jarre's music is nothing but one theme and variations for it, it did bore sometimes, and - worse than that - sounded sarcastic in the wrong place; like the first sequence.
Then, that awful climax. OK, I can't describe it as a climax in the first place. It's all about talking endlessly, then one fast bullet form the protagonist to kill the antagonist?? Nobody ever bothered themselves to make something more big and satisfying?? This is not a way to end a movie, and not a way to kill a proficient gunslinger like Mitchum's character. They didn't have the time, the money, the energy?? I really don't know. But what I do know is that when this lazy executive spirit dominated, the movie got cold, and it turned out to be that Dean Martin wasn't the only indifferent around!
They even gave the mystery's solution away in the original poster (s); which's a proof for how uninterested most of this movie's makers were. Now it could be a fact that an uninterested movie equals an uninteresting movie! -
Uriah431 May 2013A gambler by the name of "Van Morgan" (Dean Martin) is playing cards late one night inside a saloon in the small mining town of "Rincon". When he briefly excuses himself and leaves the table, the other men discover one of the players cheating. Led by a man named "Nick Evers' (Roddy McDowell), they lynch him before Van can stop them. Not long afterward those men at the card game begin to die one by one. But who is killing them? Anyway, rather than spoil the mystery I will just say that this is an enjoyable western with good actors and a decent storyline. I especially liked the way the film kept trying to tantalize the audience about the identity of the killer for a good portion of the movie. I also enjoyed the romantic situation that Van Morgan found himself caught up in between "Lily Langford" (Inger Stevens) and "Nora Evers" (Katherine Justice). Tough choice. At any rate, this is a fine movie and it should appeal to those who enjoy a good western from time to time.
-
Inger Stevens was an undervalued actress. She was often cast as the cool, blond beauty the leading man took for a sex object/partner but never given a major role in anything, never given a chance to shine in her own film. Dean Martin in 5 Card Stud. Clint Eastwood in Hang em High. George Peppard in House of Cards. Despite all the stations now rerunning classic TV, the Farmer's Daughter languishes in a vault.
-
kenjha30 December 2010After a poker player is lynched for cheating, the members of the lynching party start dying one by one. This Western is fairly well made by veteran Hathaway, but the plot is too simplistic to raise it above mediocrity. The identity of the killer is so obvious that even a two-year old can figure out who done it. Apparently, there are no two-year olds in town, as nobody seems to have a clue who it could be. Martin is his usual unflappable self as one of the card players who tried to stop the hanging. Mitchum plays a variation on his psycho preacher character in "The Night of the Hunter." McDowall seems out of place in a Western. Stevens provides love interest.
-
MartynGryphon11 May 2009There can't be more whodunit westerns out there, which makes 5 card stud unique. The plot is a watered-down westernised version of Agatha Christie's 'Ten Little....whatever', or 'And Then There Were None' to give it it's American title.
After a fellow poker player is exposed as a cheat, Van Morgan, (Dean Martin), tries to stop a lynching and only succeeds in getting blindsided by a gun butt for his trouble. The culprit and leader of the lynch mob is Nick Evers, (played by a slightly miscast Roddy McDowall).
Unable to go to the town Marshall he opts to leave town instead. It is only when he hears about the killing of two members of the lynching party he becomes suspicious that one of the other poker players are trying to cover their tracks by bumping off the others. Not happy about being a potential target, he returns to town to find the killer, before more deaths occur.
Robert Mitchum is the town's new arrival as Reverand Johnathan Rudd. Rudd's a Reverand with a difference, he's just as quick with a gun as he is to pull a quote from the good book. Van immediately takes a liking to this 'Pastor with a Pistol', and to all around he seems a pleasant amiable fellow if not a bit of a religious nut case.
With each death, Van knows that his odds of survival are shortening and uncovers the identity of both the killer and the guy who's been tipping him off just in time.
Even though Roddy McDowall had been in America for nearly 30 years at this point, he is still just too English to have been cast in a western. This was also not Robert Mitchum's first time playing the mad pastor. He'd done it before in 1955 in the gripping The Night Of The Hunter though his portrayal of Harry Powell in that movie had a more psychotic edge than Rev. Rudd's friendly persona.
Dean Martin happily sleeps his way through his role with relative ease, as only he could, and does it with style. However, we're given a love triangle sub-plot with Katherine Justice and Inger Stevens, which isn't really needed and thankfully doesn't detract from the main plot.
Another thing worthy of note is the Maurice Jarre penned theme tune sung brilliantly by Dean Martin, in my opinion the best singer of 'em all. However, the closing credit informing the audience that it was Martin singing seemed a little redundant as he had one of the most unmistakable voices in show business.
Great Western though a little outdated for the time given that Hang 'em High. The Wild Bunch and Butch & Sundance were it's contemporaries.
Enjoy. -
LeonLouisRicci28 November 2021Not Quite a Miss-Fire,
but this Western is Mostly a Go-thru-the-Motions Paycheck for the Name Cast, Director, and Crew.
The Mystery-Angle is Mentioned ad-nauseum Whenever this Title Rears its Lazy-Head.
You can Go Down the Stellar Cast and Check-Off the Names that are Miss-Cast or Barely Show any Energy.
Just Another Day, Another Movie, and Another Dud of a Western from the Period.
The Time Between the Sergio Leone Trilogy and Peckinpah's "The Wild Bunch" (1969) was a Waste-Land.
With very Few Exceptions, one is Leone's "Once Upon a Time in the West".
The 1950's had Drained Every Drop of Blood from the Genre,
with the Devastating Over-Exposure on the Big and Small Screens, Westerns were Decidedly 'Out-of-Favor".
America's Involvement in a Real "Shoot em' Up" ( The Vietnam War),
was Infecting the "Soul" of Patriots and Protestors Alike on a Daily In-Your-Face Onslaught of Media Exposure, also
Didn't Do the Genre Any Favors.
This One is just One More of the Sorry Output Hollywood Shamelessly Foisted on the Movie-Going Public, and Not Many Fans or Critics were Pleased.
With the Hollywood Studio System Drawing its Final Breath, it would Soon be Relieved of its "Death-Bed" Gasps at Creativity.
Not the Worst Big-Studio Western Ever Made.
But, Overall it's Embarrassing and can be put on the Pile with the Other Westerns that Tried, but the Heart of the Genre had Stopped Beating.
Have No Fear, Because the Very Next Year one of the Best Westerns Ever Made would Resuscitate and Give Hope to All Movie Western Fans,
and it Took a Maverick Director's Love for the Genre and an Incredible, Not-Easily-Forgotten Film to Revisit the Movie Western.
It Literally would Inject New-Blood and a New-Style to the Old 'Work-Horse".
Of Course, that would be the Aforementioned Sam Peckinpah and His Movie Masterpiece, "The Wild Bunch". -
BartSamson28 August 2012Thank God it has a great opening song!
Frankly, as a Western aficionado and a big fan of Dean, this movie is a tough one to get through. And yet, it's a stellar cast! Dino, Mitchum, McDowall, Yaphet Kotto! You know the problem doesn't come from there! The pacing is all wrong, the staging is all wrong, I'm guessing the shooting script was all wrong... Even Maurice Jarre score is all wrong (for this movie)!
This is a big, full fledged train-wreck of a movie! So awful you can't look away but yet, you cringe all the way through. Hard to believe this was directed by Henri Hathaway (who directed the original "True Grit" a year later) and produced by the great Hal Wallis (who had produced all the Martin & Lewis movies, back in the 50's)!...
It's a shame... I'd like to be able to enjoy this movie more, but seeing it could have been done so much better in a variety of ways just takes all the fun out of it. That is one movie that would benefit being remade... Except for the cast... Those legends are all gone now (except for Kotto). -
RNMorton17 September 2000Martin is (unwilling) member of card game that lynches cheater, in 1880s West. Participants in hanging soon find themselves dying off from mysterious causes. Deano is solid as "the best gambler in the West"; great performances also by Roddy McDowall as lynching ringleader, Inger Stevens as the local madame, and particularly Mitchum as the gun-toting, Bible-quoting preacher who comes to town. My favorite of the non-Eastwood westerns.
-
I've seen a handful of Hopalong Cassidy Westerns in which Robert Mitchum appeared as a heavy (he went by Bob back then), so it was cool to see him in a villainous role at the top of the bill here with Dean Martin. He doesn't come on the scene until a good while into the story but he makes his presence felt forcefully as the newly arrived preacher in Rincon. If you think about it, it didn't take much to establish his character as the killer of the poker game participants that hung a player for cheating. How that all came about is what makes the story interesting.
I had to question Mama Malone's (Ruth Springford) response to the new saloon competitor in town when she described her marketing plan as 'good liquor, a few card games and no girls'. Two out of three ain't bad, but Van Morgan (Dean Martin) would have had a problem with that last one even if he was a long time friend of Mama. Maybe if Lily Langford (Inger Stevens) offered the first two she could have owned the whole town. Speaking of which, her prices for a shave ($1.00), a haircut ($2.50) and a shampoo ($3.00) seemed kind of steep for the 1880's compared to other era Westerns I've seen. The $20.00 Miscellaneous fee sounded about right.
I guess I'd have to question the casting of Roddy McDowall in the picture as the guy pulling strings with Preacher Rudd (Mitchum). Setting aside his British background, he just didn't seem to be the right choice to portray a Western bad guy. Be that as it may, I thought it was rather generous of Van Morgan to cover for Nick Evers' (McDowall) complicity in the murders by chalking up his death to getting 'on to the Preacher'. Heading on to Denver, he'd be the only one to know better. -
jordondave-2808524 October 2022(1968) Five Card Stud WESTERN/ MYSTERY
Adapted from the novel by Ray Gaulden with the first half was great, but then it becomes 'rushed' and obvious as the film progresses. Focuses on a group of the only 7 or 8 card players playing in a saloon after hours, until Van Morgan (Dean Martin) walks away taking a break from the group. As soon as one of the card players were caught cheating, Nick (Roddy McDowall) calls out for a lynching to hang him on some undisclosed location. And as soon as Van comes back to the card table again, bartender, Little George(Yaphet Kotto) informs him about what had just happened as Van goes out to find and then stop them but by the time he got to them, he was then knocked out from the barrel of Nick's handgun. They then bring him back into town, and it wasn't until morning Van woke up from unconsciousness. What happens later is a series of strangled deaths amongst the people who were involved with that lynching. Robert Mitchum also stars as the preacher.