In a real way, "The Cincinnati Kid" is a contest between the Kid (Steve McQueen) and "the Man" (Edward G Robinson). But I don't mean the pivotal card game, but the game of life itself. In the main, each is what the other is not. The question is: is one more compelling than the other?
The opening scenes are all Steve McQueen's, but those that follow are more lackluster. And, it's not until Robinson makes his entry that the real show--and showdown begins. It's then, despite all the ambiguity surrounding the anti-hero McQueen, that the question becomes: who's going to emerge the winner?
Obviously, this depends on the viewer, but I kept leaning toward "the Man." Yup, I know that if this were the McQueen of "Bullitt," my allegiance to him would be unquestionable. But in "Kid," he isn't a crack, high-wired police detective, with an outsider's backbone, but rather a raw, fast rising star as a sub-world gambler.
"The Man," who I think is the more riveting figure, and perhaps the larger character, is a professional card sharp, who after decades in the game, has perfected his craft. He's classy, comfortable, polite, quietly confident, and self-accepting. He lives, with precision, on the borders of the mainstream and the shades below. He accepts the demands of his "career" which include a solitary life style, hotel life, travel, marathon-like working hours, and an inglorious attention to detail and personal rituals.
He knows the framework of the game, how it works in a broader social world, and is willing to conform to it, and its rules. But most importantly, he's perceptive of human nature, and in touch with the whims, foibles, follies, and fates which cling to it. He knows what he doesn't know. Luck is not an issue for him anymore than cheating is for "the Kid." And, we begin to grasp that, despite his age and fading skills, he will win more because of his character than his methods--or that he is better at life than his intriguing opponent.
"The Kid's" more marginal, gutsier, and rebellious life is certainly to his advantage. How does one not find McQueen's character appealing, cool, and free-spirited. But there are things about him that detract. For one, he seems a little a bit above the role, a bit too fortunate in his prowess, or spoiled by his commanding wins in life. It's as if he's a cut above his peers, more advantaged, more modern.
And then there are a couple of his scenes which provoke maximum unease. In the blood-sport cock fight, which subjects us to a heavy dose of animal cruelty, we await the Kid's endorsement of our rage, or at least for a minimal show of dismay, but instead, as the camera flashes back on him, we get hit in the gut by his excited public display as he ups his bets by passing cash down through the hands of the roaring crowd. But even worse is the Kid's infidelity during a snooze break in his long championship showdown with the Man. This selfish act violates three of his closest friends and speak loudly of the failure of this individualist rebel.
Both boasting incidents show the Kid's clutching for impressions. In the first, he hides behind the crowd; in the second, he hides behind masculine image. Both times he buckles under the glare of lights. And this might be the critical difference between the Kid and the disciplined Lancey Howard, his champion opponent--and the Man. It's the Kid who prefers the look of a winner, the look of masculinity, the look of sexual prowess to reality. Perhaps that little detail of the Kid's making the cab driver spin around the blocks a few more times so as to 'enter the Ring' last, while his larger than life opponent waits patiently, eyeing his watch, was a true preview of the big match, in which form trumps appearance.
The opening scenes are all Steve McQueen's, but those that follow are more lackluster. And, it's not until Robinson makes his entry that the real show--and showdown begins. It's then, despite all the ambiguity surrounding the anti-hero McQueen, that the question becomes: who's going to emerge the winner?
Obviously, this depends on the viewer, but I kept leaning toward "the Man." Yup, I know that if this were the McQueen of "Bullitt," my allegiance to him would be unquestionable. But in "Kid," he isn't a crack, high-wired police detective, with an outsider's backbone, but rather a raw, fast rising star as a sub-world gambler.
"The Man," who I think is the more riveting figure, and perhaps the larger character, is a professional card sharp, who after decades in the game, has perfected his craft. He's classy, comfortable, polite, quietly confident, and self-accepting. He lives, with precision, on the borders of the mainstream and the shades below. He accepts the demands of his "career" which include a solitary life style, hotel life, travel, marathon-like working hours, and an inglorious attention to detail and personal rituals.
He knows the framework of the game, how it works in a broader social world, and is willing to conform to it, and its rules. But most importantly, he's perceptive of human nature, and in touch with the whims, foibles, follies, and fates which cling to it. He knows what he doesn't know. Luck is not an issue for him anymore than cheating is for "the Kid." And, we begin to grasp that, despite his age and fading skills, he will win more because of his character than his methods--or that he is better at life than his intriguing opponent.
"The Kid's" more marginal, gutsier, and rebellious life is certainly to his advantage. How does one not find McQueen's character appealing, cool, and free-spirited. But there are things about him that detract. For one, he seems a little a bit above the role, a bit too fortunate in his prowess, or spoiled by his commanding wins in life. It's as if he's a cut above his peers, more advantaged, more modern.
And then there are a couple of his scenes which provoke maximum unease. In the blood-sport cock fight, which subjects us to a heavy dose of animal cruelty, we await the Kid's endorsement of our rage, or at least for a minimal show of dismay, but instead, as the camera flashes back on him, we get hit in the gut by his excited public display as he ups his bets by passing cash down through the hands of the roaring crowd. But even worse is the Kid's infidelity during a snooze break in his long championship showdown with the Man. This selfish act violates three of his closest friends and speak loudly of the failure of this individualist rebel.
Both boasting incidents show the Kid's clutching for impressions. In the first, he hides behind the crowd; in the second, he hides behind masculine image. Both times he buckles under the glare of lights. And this might be the critical difference between the Kid and the disciplined Lancey Howard, his champion opponent--and the Man. It's the Kid who prefers the look of a winner, the look of masculinity, the look of sexual prowess to reality. Perhaps that little detail of the Kid's making the cab driver spin around the blocks a few more times so as to 'enter the Ring' last, while his larger than life opponent waits patiently, eyeing his watch, was a true preview of the big match, in which form trumps appearance.