THE CINCINNATI KID (1965)

After enjoying how Edward G. Robinson saved "Soylent Green," I tuned into this mediocre Steve McQueen vehicle. Robinson did it again. McQueen is the Kid, a rising card sharp in '30's New Orleans, determined to unseat "The Man," Lancey Howard (Robinson). McQueen dials in his performance, and the slow plot is encumbered with a sappy, pointless romance with Tuesday Weld, and an even more pointless infidelity with Ann-Margret. Karl Malden and Joan Blondell provide some color, and the card games are interesting. But it's Robinson who saves it from the pits--his Lancey is gentlemanly, borderline elegant, but always genial and never above the general riffraff that congregates around him and the Big Game with the Kid. Another great performance by Eddie G.