Todfeinde

Despite 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

Tightly-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 ****

A 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.

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

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.