It's always surprised me that people classify competitive poker as a sport, but I don't make the rules. If you can compete in something while having a gut and drinking a beer, I don't consider that very sporty.
Despite always being compared to The Hustler (a professional pool film), this film stands up pretty well. Cincinnati Kid tells the story of Steve McQueen as a professional poker player who takes on low grade opponents while waiting for his big chance against Edward G. Robinson, the reigning King of Poker. He gets his chance, and the last 45 minutes of this film is their game, trying to determine who is the best of all.
The structure is similar to The Hustler in that the new kid, in both films, wants a crack at the reigning champion, believing that he himself is to be the new boss. What's different (and superior) in Hustler is that Paul Newman has two cracks at the champ, while McQueen has only one.
I have always like Steve McQueen, but I think he is just a step behind Paul Newman as an actor. McQueen was amazing in Magnificent 7 and the Great Escape. He was no less excellent in Cincinnati Kid, but has always been compared to Newman, just as this film has always been compared to the Hustler. McQueen is probably best known for Bullitt, a 1968 neo-noir cop thriller where he gets involved in a legendary San Francisco car chase, back when car chases in films were all the rage. Bullitt was the first standout chase, followed by (and one upped by) the French Connection. Even John Wayne got into the action in McQ a couple of years later, where he raced the "Green Hornet" Firebird Trans Am through Seattle. Bullitt was enjoyable, but Great Escape and Magnificent 7 were both better.
Back to Paul Newman, it's funny that they both headlined the crappy disaster film The Towering Inferno in the 70s. A little trivia on that film is that neither actor could agree on who should get top billing on the titles so the producers came up with an interesting solution. One actor got his name in the bottom left hand corner (first) and the other was placed in the top right hand corner (above), so both men were happy. Egos.
As he waits for his chance to get in the game with the big man, the Kid is trying to work things out with his girlfriend, who is from a rural farm. She wants a normal family life, and he wants new and exciting challenges. She eventually figures out that her kind of life is never going to be exciting enough for him, and leaves him to go back to her farm. That's when he figures out that maybe having her leave was a bad idea, and that he doesn't feel like he can make it without her and follows her to the farm.
Her father lets him know that he does not like the Kid, and the Kid ends up leaving and going back to the city alone. Karl Malden plays and excellent role as a once big time dealer who, along with Joan Blondell, will be dealing the card game between the Kid and the Champ once things come together. Blondell received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actress. The game itself is fun, and the ending is tightly written and exciting.
IMDB gives the film 7.2/10, which is just about exactly right. Yes, the entire first part of the movie is the setup for the 45 minute game at the end, but it's so much fun, you'll forgive the producers later.
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