The Cincinnati Kid

And he wanted roles that let him be in control.

He was about to enter the most powerful phase of his career, the era of The Cincinnati Kid, The Sand Pebbles, The Thomas Crown Affair, and Bullet.

But before all that, he had one more film to make, a poker drama that would showcase his subtlety, his intelligence, and his ability to command the scene without saying a word.

Coming up next, The Cincinnati Kid, 1965, right after these sponsor messages.

By the time The Great Escape finished its theatrical run, Steve McQueen was no longer just a rising star.

He was a phenomenon.

He needed a role that required stillness, intelligence, and emotional control.

He needed a role where the tension came not from explosions or chases, but from the quiet war between two men.

From 1971.

I guess I'm going to say mine is The Cincinnati Kid.

I kind of thought it was okay.

Okay.

Like noting someone's genealogy, this is a very straightforward and practical identifier.

It's also very Old West, like Pecos Bill, or Texas Red, or the Cincinnati Kid.

Hey! Nobody laughs at the kid.

All right, listen up, you clowns.

I'm here, and I'm looking for the Toronto Kid.

I'm the Cincinnati Kid.

Yeah, we

know.

Taken together, Robinson had found himself a durable second career.

Then came the part that, in some ways, brought it all full circle, The Cincinnati Kid.

Set in Depression-era New Orleans, The Cincinnati Kid follows a young poker player, played by Steve McQueen, as he comes for Lancey Howard, a gambler who has spent more than 30 years at the top, played by Robinson.

On paper, Lancey had some of Little Caesar's Rico in him.

The money, the power, the old tough guy manner.

I did not know that.

Did the Cincinnati Kid.

Rollerball.

Norman Jewison did Rollerball.

It's going to be third and one, a big third down for the Giants.

Joe Morrison, who was a running back in college, known as the Cincinnati Kid.

And the big shakeup this week puts him in the halfback spot.

All right, they break it again.

Sam, you sang so well earlier.

But there's the Cincinnati Kid, California Split, The Gambler, Casino 21 for our generation, Mississippi Grind, Ryan Reynolds and Ben Mendelsohn.

Yeah.

Molly's Game, Jessica Chastain, The Card Counter, which was Oscar Isaac, kind of one of the forgotten Paul Schrader films that he made after First Reformed, and of course, Uncut Joms.

And I said, The Thomas Crown Affair.

And when she very rightly said, what? I had to immediately remember, oh, I actually mean The Cincinnati Kid.

And had I not known or been familiar with the filmography, I would have been screwed and look like an idiot.

So that's not to say that I'm not capable of looking like an idiot.

You're absolutely right.

You're right.

I'm thinking of the Cincinnati Kid.

I'm glad that she's here to fact check me.