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

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 Westerns, especially starring Randolph Scott and John Wayne. He directed Gary Cooper in seven films. Backgrou ...

and starring Dean Martin and

Robert Mitchum Robert Charles Durman Mitchum (August 6, 1917 – July 1, 1997) was an American actor. He rose to prominence with an Academy Award nomination for the Best Supporting Actor for ''The Story of G.I. Joe'' (1945), followed by his starring in ...

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

True Grit True Grit may refer to: Fiction * ''True Grit'' (novel), a 1968 novel by Charles Portis ** ''True Grit'' (1969 film), a film adaptation by Henry Hathaway, starring John Wayne ** ''True Grit'' (2010 film), a film adaptation by the Coen Brothers, ...

'' for Hathaway the following year.

Plot

In 1880, a gambler in the small town of Rincon, 100 miles from

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

, 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 i ...

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 River ...

him. One of the players, Van Morgan, tries to prevent the others from administering frontier justice, but is unable to stop the killing. 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. The town has a new resident, a stern and somewhat edgy Colt .45-carrying

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compe ...

preacher named Reverend Rudd. As more members of the lynch mob are killed off one by one, it becomes clear that someone is taking revenge, and it is up to Morgan to solve the mystery. When Morgan is the last man from the poker game left alive, he realizes that Rudd is the murderer, and he kills Rudd in a shootout.

Cast

* Dean Martin as Van Morgan *

as Reverend Jonathan Rudd *

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

as Lily Langford *

Roddy McDowall Roderick Andrew Anthony Jude McDowall (17 September 1928 – 4 October 1998) was a British actor, photographer and film director. He began his acting career as a child in England, and then in the United States, in ''How Green Was My Valley'' (1 ...

as Nick Evers *

Katherine Justice Katherine Justice (born October 28, 1942) is an American actress with many television guest star roles in the 1960s on through the 1980s and a few major film roles. She had a leading role in the made-for-TV movie, '' Columbo: Prescription Mur ...

as Nora Evers * John Anderson as U.S. Marshal Al Dana * Ruth Springford as Mama Malone *

Yaphet Kotto Yaphet Frederick Kotto (born Frederick Samuel Kotto; November 15, 1939 – March 15, 2021) was an American actor known for numerous film roles, as well as starring in the NBC television series '' Homicide: Life on the Street'' (1993–1999) as ...

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 as Eldon Bates *

Don Collier Donald Mounger Collier (October 17, 1928 – September 13, 2021) was an American actor best known for Western films and NBC television shows such as ''The High Chaparral'', ''Bonanza,'' ''Gunsmoke'', and ''Outlaws'' as Marshal Will Foreman. E ...

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 Born in Calgary, Alberta, Jenson moved to Los Angeles with his family as ...

as Mace Jones * Bob Hoy as Deputy Marshal

Production

The song led by 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 (genre), 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 – Jo ...

'' starring John Wayne.

Reception

In a contemporary review for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', critic

Vincent Canby Vincent Canby (July 27, 1924 – October 15, 2000) was an American film and theatre critic who served as 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 ...

identified ''5 Card Stud'' as one of a recent spate of "Buddy System" Westerns such as '' El Dorado'' (1966) with John Wayne and Mitchum; ''

The Way West ''The Way West'' is a 1949 western novel by A. B. Guthrie, Jr. The book won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1950 and became the basis for a film starring Kirk Douglas, Robert Mitchum, and Richard Widmark. The novel is one in the sequence o ...

'' (1967) with Kirk Douglas, 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) ...

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

Bandolero! ''Bandolero!'' is a 1968 American Western film directed by Andrew V. McLaglen and starring James Stewart, Dean Martin, Raquel Welch and George Kennedy. The story centers on two brothers on the run from a posse, led by a local sheriff who want ...

'' (1968) with James Stewart and Dean Martin; and ''

Villa Rides ''Villa Rides'' is a 1968 American Technicolor Western war film in Panavision directed by Buzz Kulik and starring Yul Brynner as Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa and Robert Mitchum as an American adventurer and pilot of fortune. The supporting ...

'' (1968) with

Yul Brynner Yuliy Borisovich Briner (russian: link=no, Юлий Борисович Бринер; July 11, 1920 – October 10, 1985), known professionally as Yul Brynner, was a Russian-born actor. He was best known for his portrayal of King Mongkut in th ...

, Mitchum and Charles Bronson. 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."

References

External links

* *
5 Card Stud
at

Turner Classic Movies Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie-oriented pay-TV network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasting campus in the Midtown business district of At ...

DVD reviews

DVD Savant review
by

Glenn Erickson Glenn Erickson is an American film editor and film critic. A graduate of the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television, he started in the film industry in 1975 as an editor of low-budget films and later worked in minor technical crew capacitie ...

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