A stranger
in town cheats at a game of five card stud and is lynched by five
of the participants, despite the efforts of the seventh player,
Van Morgan (Dean Martin). Morgan then goes to Denver. When two of
the lynchers die violently, Rincon's barkeep (Yaphet Kotto) warns
Morgan that someone is apparently out to kill every man who sat
in on that stud game. The challenge brings Morgan back to Rincon
and a meeting with the other survivors (Roddy McDowall, Roy
Jenson, Bill Fletcher).
Indications
point to the killer being an outsider who meets with an insider
beside the cheat's grave to learn the identity of the next
victim. Among the newcomers in town are the fiery, self-ordained
preacher (Robert Mitchum), and a stable of beautiful lady
"barbers" whose boss (Inger Stevens) finds Morgan the
first man to attract her in years.
The
graveside tipoffs and the killings continue until a showdown
gunfight between the last two survivors of the game finally
closes the case of the five-card-stud murders.
5 Card Stud is a mixture of the western and who-done-it genres, different than others movies of its time. It keeps you guessing (at least until half way through the movie--one of the film's faults, along with Roddy McDowall's accent). It becomes almost obvious after the barn fire scene that the person Dean is chasing is Robert Mitchum, but this doesn't stop the momentum of the film.
The cast is a good one, including Yaphet Koto, who has recently been starring in the TV show "Homicide-Life on the Streets" and Denver Pyle from "The Dukes of Hazzard". Some of the film's flubs include the aforementioned Roddy McDowall's accent, nowhere near the way someone from Rincon would speak; a quick flub of Dean's hat coming off as he holds onto the bottom of a moving wagon, and the next cut shows the hat securely on his head again; when McDowall is shot by the killer there is no bullet hole on his shirt--even after his body is dumped into a shallow grave we see blood on his exposed stomach but no hole in the shirt.
The Berkeley
Medallion Paperback Tie-in (originally published as GLORY
GULCH--by Ray Gaulden) has the lead character named Van Nightheat
and the town is called Glory Gulch, not Rincon.
Sheet Music
Reprise 45
45 PromoThe 45 release is backed with ONE LONELY BOY.
The 45 promo has the title song on both sides.