Pôquer de Sangue

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.

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.

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

(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.