''5 Card Stud'' is a 1968 American

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

mystery film A mystery film is a film that revolves around the solution of a problem or a crime. It focuses on the efforts of the detective, private investigator or amateur Detective, sleuth to solve the mysterious circumstances of an issue by means of clues, ...

, directed by

Henry Hathaway Henry Hathaway (March 13, 1898 – February 11, 1985) was an American film director and producer. He is best known as a director of Western (genre), Westerns, especially starring Randolph Scott and John Wayne. He directed Gary Cooper in seven f ...

and starring

Dean Martin Dean Martin (born Dino Paul Crocetti; June 7, 1917 – December 25, 1995) was an American singer, actor, and comedian. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Cool", he is regarded as one of the most popular entertainers of ...

and

Robert Mitchum Robert Charles Durman Mitchum (August 6, 1917 – July 1, 1997) was an American actor. He is known for his antihero roles and film noir appearances. He received nominations for an Academy Award and a BAFTA Award. He received a star on the Holl ...

. The script is based on a novel by Ray Gaulden and was written by Marguerite Roberts, who also wrote the screenplay of '' True Grit'' for Hathaway the following year.

Plot

In 1880, an unknown drifter and gambler in the small town of Rincon, 100 miles (161 km) from

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

, Colorado, is caught cheating at a

five-card stud Five-card stud is the earliest form of the card game stud poker, originating during the American Civil War, but is less commonly played today than many other more popular poker games. It is still a popular game in parts of the world, especially ...

poker game. The players, led by the volatile Nick Evers, take the cheating gambler to

lynch Lynch may refer to: Places Australia * Lynch Island, South Orkney Islands, Antarctica * Lynch Point, Marie Byrd Land, Antarctica * Lynch's Crater, Queensland, Australia England * River Lynch, Hertfordshire * The Lynch, an island in the Rive ...

him. One of the players, Van Morgan, tries to prevent the others from administering frontier justice, but is unable to stop the hanging. Morgan leaves town, but later returns, when he hears that several of the other players from the poker game have become victims of grisly murders. Morgan starts relationship with Lily, the barbershop owner. The town has a new resident, a stern and somewhat edgy Colt .45-carrying

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

preacher, named Reverend Rudd. As more members of the lynch mob are killed off one by one by strangling, it becomes clear that someone is taking revenge, and it is up to Morgan to solve the mystery. Nick is shown to be the one telling Rudd who was at the game and involved in killing the stranger, who is Rudd's brother. Nick tells Rudd falsely that George was involved, Rudd kills George. As George is dying he puts his hands together like he is praying, Morgan knows that George never prayed, thus realizes that Rudd is the murderer, and he kills Rudd in a shootout. Last scene is with Morgan and Lilly as Morgan rides off to Denver and Lily is going to follow him in a week. Lily doesn't really play role in story...

Cast

as Van Morgan *

as Reverend Jonathan Rudd *

Inger Stevens Inger Stevens (born Ingrid Stensland; October 18, 1934 – April 30, 1970) was a Swedish-born American film, stage, and Golden Globe Awards, Golden Globe–winning television actress. Early life Inger Stevens was born in Stockholm, Swede ...

as Lily Langford *

Roddy McDowall Roderick Andrew Anthony Jude McDowall (17 September 1928 – 3 October 1998) was a British-American actor whose career spanned over 270 screen and stage roles across over 60 years. Born in London, he began his acting career as a child in his n ...

as Nick Evers * Katherine Justice as Nora Evers * John Anderson as U.S. Marshal Al Dana * Ruth Springford as Mama Malone * Yaphet Kotto as George "Little George" * Denver Pyle as Sig Evers * Bill Fletcher as Joe Hurley *

Whit Bissell Whitner Nutting Bissell (October 25, 1909 – March 5, 1996) was an American character actor. Early life Born in New York City, Bissell was the son of surgeon Dr. J. Dougal Bissell and Helen Nutting Bissell. He was educated at the Allen-S ...

as Dr. Cooper *

Ted de Corsia Edward Gildea De Corsia (September 29, 1903 – April 11, 1973) was an American radio, film, and television actor, best remembered for his chilling debut in ''The Lady from Shanghai'' (1947), as the ex-wrestler murderer Willie Garzah in the ...

as Eldon Bates * Don Collier as Rowan *

Roy Jenson Roy Cameron Jenson, also known and credited as Roy Jensen (February 9, 1927 – April 24, 2007), was a Canadian American football player, stuntman, and actor. Early years Jenson was born in Calgary, Alberta, and moved to Los Angeles with his ...

as Mace Jones * Bob Hoy as Deputy Marshal

Production

''5 Card Stud'' was shot in Mexico and filming wrapped in May 1968. The song led by Reverend Rudd at his first service in Rincon is "Mercy's Call," a late-19th-century

hymn written by W.H. Doane. This film marked one of the final appearances of

, and the second time that Mitchum played an unorthodox preacher (following 1955's '' The Night of the Hunter''). ''5 Card Stud'' brought together director Henry Hathaway and Dean Martin for a second time; the first was the 1965 film ''

The Sons of Katie Elder ''The Sons of Katie Elder'' is a 1965 American Western film in Panavision, directed by Henry Hathaway and starring John Wayne and Dean Martin. It was filmed principally in Mexico. Plot The four adult sons of Katie Elder – John, who is a fam ...

'' starring

John Wayne Marion Robert Morrison (May 26, 1907 – June 11, 1979), known professionally as John Wayne, was an American actor. Nicknamed "Duke", he became a Pop icon, popular icon through his starring roles in films which were produced during Hollywood' ...

Reception

In a contemporary review for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', critic

Vincent Canby Vincent Canby (July 27, 1924 – October 15, 2000) was an American film and theatre critic who was the chief film critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1969 until the early 1990s, then its chief theatre critic from 1994 until his death in 2000. ...

identified ''5 Card Stud'' as one of a recent spate of "Buddy System" Westerns, such as: ''

El Dorado El Dorado () is a mythical city of gold supposedly located somewhere in South America. The king of this city was said to be so rich that he would cover himself from head to foot in gold dust – either daily or on certain ceremonial occasions � ...

'' (1966) with

and Mitchum; '' The Way West'' (1967) with

Kirk Douglas Kirk Douglas (born Issur Danielovitch; December 9, 1916 – February 5, 2020) was an American actor and filmmaker. After an impoverished childhood, he made his film debut in '' The Strange Love of Martha Ivers'' (1946) with Barbara Stanwyck. ...

, Mitchum and

Richard Widmark Richard Weedt Widmark (December 26, 1914March 24, 2008) was an American film, stage, and television actor and producer. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his role as the villainous Tommy Udo in his debut film, ''Kiss of Death (1947 film ...

; '' The War Wagon'' (1967) with John Wayne and Kirk Douglas; '' Bandolero!'' (1968) with

James Stewart James Maitland Stewart (May 20, 1908 – July 2, 1997) was an American actor and military aviator. Known for his distinctive drawl and everyman screen persona, Stewart's film career spanned 80 films from 1935 to 1991. With the strong morali ...

and Dean Martin; and '' Villa Rides'' (1968) with

Yul Brynner Yuliy Borisovich Briner (; July 11, 1920 – October 10, 1985), known professionally as Yul Brynner (), was a Russian-born actor. He was known for his portrayal of King Mongkut in the Rodgers and Hammerstein stage musical ''The King and I'' (19 ...

, Mitchum and

Charles Bronson Charles Bronson (born Charles Dennis Buchinsky; November 3, 1921 – August 30, 2003) was an American actor. He was known for his roles in action films and his "granite features and brawny physique". Bronson was born into extreme poverty in ...

. Canby wrote: "Without important exception, all of these titles, stories and settings are interchangeable, to say nothing of the stars, some of whom are beginning to look as if they'd been hatched from dinosaur eggs. ... Buddy System Westerns are somehow basically soft." In the ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily nonprofit newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has long held the second largest circulation among Chicago newspaper ...

'', critic

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...

wrote: "'Five Card Stud' is not a great movie, but it's a polished, professional one, and it's a good deal more than a common Western. ... But, it also has something rather rare, a well-made story. Most action Westerns are directed by rote: good guy, bad guy, a standard pattern of fights, an eventual triumph for the gentleman in the white hat. Not this one, which presents a suspense story in a Western setting."

References

External links

* *
5 Card Stud
at

Turner Classic Movies Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie channel, movie-oriented pay television, pay-TV television network, network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcas ...

DVD reviews

DVD Savant review
by Glenn Erickson
DVD Verdict review
by Eric Profancik
digitallyOBSESSED! review
by Mark Zimmer {{Henry Hathaway 1968 films 1968 Western (genre) films American Western (genre) films 1960s English-language films Films scored by Maurice Jarre Films directed by Henry Hathaway Films produced by Hal B. Wallis Films set in Colorado Films set in 1880 Paramount Pictures films Films about poker 1960s American films English-language Western (genre) films