The Cincinnati Kid PCLM-00006 ( 0194 )
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Eric Stoner is "The Cincinnati Kid", an up-and-coming poker player in 1930s New Orleans. He hears that Lancey Howard, an old master of the game, is in town, and sees it as his chance to achieve recognition as the new king of five-card stud.
Before they square off, Howard arranges a tune-up game with wealthy, corrupt William Jefferson Slade. For a dealer, he agrees to the services of Shooter, renowned for his integrity and a good friend of the Kid. Howard wins $6,000 from the prideful Slade in a 30-hour game, angering the man enough to seek to get even.
Slade then tries to bribe Shooter with the proceeds of a $25,000 bet into cheating in the Kid's favor when he and Howard meet. Shooter declines, but Slade calls in Shooter's markers worth $12,000, and blackmails him by threatening to reveal damaging information about Shooter's wife, Melba. Slade then throws in canceling the markers as a goose. Shooter agonizes over his decision, having spent the last 25 years building a reputation for honesty. Eventually, however, he caves in.
Meantime, even though Melba and the Kid's girl Christian are close friends, Melba tries to seduce him while Christian is visiting her parents. Out of respect for Shooter, he rebuffs her and spends the day before the game with Christian at her family's farm.
Back in New Orleans the next day the big game begins. It starts with six players, including Shooter playing as he deals, and a relief dealer, Lady Fingers, a popular but faded gambling diva. Howard busts an overconfident player called Pig, then Shooter bows out but remains as the dealer. Later, Yeller and Sokal also drop out. After a few unlikely wins, the Kid abruptly folds what would have been a winning hand and calls for a break. He then privately confronts Shooter, who admits to being forced into cheating by Slade. The Kid insists he can win on his own and tells Shooter to deal straight or he will blow the whistle, destroying Shooter's reputation. Before the game resumes, Melba succeeds in seducing the Kid, only to have Christian make a surprise visit and catch them after the fact. Christian walks out broken.
When the game resumes the Kid maneuvers to have Shooter replaced by Lady Fingers, claiming Shooter is ill. He then wins several major pots from Howard, who is visibly losing confidence. The Kid is clearly ready to break him.
Over a massive pot, the Kid is confident enough of his full house of aces over tens to place a $5,000 marker with Howard, only to have Lady Fingers, an ex-lover of Howard’s, deal Howard a queen-high straight flush. Howard then chastises the Kid, telling him that he will always be "second best" as long as Howard is around. Leaving the game, the Kid unexpectedly runs into Christian, and they embrace.
Alternative versions
In some cuts, the film ends with a freeze-frame on Steve McQueen's face following a penny-pitching loss to a brash young shoeshine boy who had been seeking, unsuccessfully, to “cut” him earlier in the movie. Turner Classic Movies and the DVD feature the ending with Christian. Jewison wanted to end the film with the freeze-frame but was overruled by the producer.[5]
A cockfight scene was cut by British censors.[6]