Edward G. Robinson famously replaced Spencer Tracy in the "old man" part in "The Cinncinati Kid" (whether Tracy walked for health or money is debateable), but I have read that before Tracy agreed to the role, it was offered to, and seriously considered by...Cary Grant.
Wouldn't Steve McQueen vs. Cary Grant been cool? And how about the final line for Robinson/Tracy/Grant?
I had never read that Grant was considered. Somehow I can't quite see Grant in the Robinson role, but it still would have been worth seeing.
"I drink to make other people interesting." - Groucho Marx
Wow that's really interesting. I like Robinson in the part just fine though.
What's the spanish for drunken bum?
I got this from a book on Cary Grant. Evidently, he considered playing the part for some time, and even took some poker lessons.
Things moved into production with Spencer Tracy, who wouldn't have been chopped liver, either. Health or billing or money took Tracy out. Probably health.
Robinson wasn't quite at the star level of Grant or Tracy, but he did have authority and that great voice...for that great line he delivers to McQueen at the end of their game.
According to some books about McQueen, Tracy allegdedly withdrew becuase he was struggling to find the character, he wasn't happy with how it was coming out. He also was in poor health at the time.
"I drink to make other people interesting." - Groucho Marx
Cary would've been smoother than Eddie and had more natural charisma. It's hard for me to imagine him as an old high stakes poker pro but I think he could have pulled it off. Cary had a smoothness Eddie lacked. I love Eddie G. when he's well cast but sometimes he just doesn't seem right. He has a long and distinguished filmography, and is one balance more good (or even great) than bad, but I thought he was just a little off for The Cincinnati Kid. Tracy, had be been in good health, maybe. In his prime he could have blown McQueen off the screen. Not so sure about 1965, though.Grant had that sublime suavity. He's have given Steve-O a run for his money in the charisma department. Let's face it: had Grant played Robinson's role the movie wouldn't be a Steve McQueen vehicle. It would be a Cary Grant-Steve McQueen flick. Sometimes the pairing of veteran star with a much younger one works. Usually, though, the veteran "wins" (Davis over Baxter in All About Eve, Fonda and Powell over Lemmon in Mr. Roberts , Fonda over Tony Perkins in Tin Star, Wayne over Jeff Hunter in The Searchers, Jimmy Stewart over everybody in everything: John Dall, Farley Granger, Nick Adams, George C. Scott, Doug McClure, Jack Lemmon, Ernie Kovacs, etc.). I suspect that McQueen knew as much and, aside from insisting on top billing, as was his custom, he didn't want to be overshadowed, let alone outacted, by a screen legend of Grant's magnitude. Interresting alternative for Grant, marginally more palatable due to small box-office clout at the time: Fred Astaire. Don't laugh. Fred can astonish you, and has screen magic equal to Grant's. This would have been a "softer landing" for McQueen, but still, had Fred rallied and really worked hard on the role he might have upstaged McQueen. Eddie G. was safer. Older, smaller, more cerebral, with less of an on-screen glow. Cinncinati Kid's a good, transitional movie from the mid-60's, not yet mod or hip but decidedly grownup, at least semi-serious, strong cast, at least an air of "new Hollywood" even if not the real thing. There were a lot of them for a while, then they passed: In Harm's Way, The Great Race, Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?, Grand Prix, Seconds, Fantastic Voyage and many others besides. They came, they saw, they vanished. It looked like Hollywood was heading in this new direction, but it wasn't. Bonnie and Clyde, Midnight Cowboy, The Wild Bunch and Easy Rider changed everything within a couple of years.
shareYes, I sometimes think that Grant and Tracy leaving "The Cinnicinati Kid" may have had some element of "issues with McQueen" behind it. Could have been from them, or from HIM. I think all three actors are among our "greats," but it is always tricky to convince them to work together. Tracy left "The Desperate Hours" with Bogart over (it is said) a billing dispute.
Fred Astaire would have been a fine fit, roughly in the "Robinson" tradition -- once a star, but not quite anymore by 1965.
Key to the "old man" in "The Cinncinati Kid" is the failing health of the character as he battles McQueen at the poker table. I'm not sure the aging Cary Grant wanted to play that.
I like those "mid-sixties movies" you mention, Telegonus. They are the "last gasp of the studios," trying to "get hip" while retaining a lot of the old system, including the old stars.
I haven't looked at all the other posts on this board, but "The Cincinati Kid" began with Sam Peckinpah as a director. He was fired, for shooting in black-and-white and staging an early scene with Rip Torn and a hooker with too much nudity. It is said that the Torn scene was an "excuse" for the firing (the nudity could have just been cut), and that the producer simply didn't like Peckinpah's rushes.
Doing a quick mental review, the only time I recall "late" Cary Grant working with a new young star of marquee magnitude was "Operation Petticoat" with Tony Curtis. But that was a light comedy in which each star "got a girl." A buddy-pairing.
Grant also worked with Robert Mitchum in "The Grass Is Greener." But other than that, in his late years at least, Grant tended to like to be the male star of his movie, working with marquee women (Day, Hepburn, Caron).
Oh, I suppose James Mason in "North by Northwest" was a near-equal, but Mason played the villain in that one.
Yes, McQueen had a huge ego and I doubt that veteran stars, especially of Tracy's and Grant's magnitude, would want to put up with such antics.
McQueen flourished in those late studio (or "studio") pictures. Indeed, as I think about it, he never really moved on. He worked less in the 70's, but aside from Papillion most of what he did fit snugly into the mainstream of the time. His next two films right after The Cincinnati Kid were, if memory serves, Nevada Smith and The Sand Pebbles, more or less in the same vein as the earlier film, though the latter seemed at times to be obliquely commenting on American involvement in the affairs of an Asian nation, a hot button topic at the time (come to think of it, it still is!).
Guys like James Garner and Rod Taylor suffered more from the changing fashions in Hollywood. They were strongly identified with a mainstream that was starting to look more and more like a dinosaur with each passing year. They couldn't make the "jump". McQueen did. Paul Newman, like McQueen, survived, indeed flourished, in the following years. Hombre I think of as his last major film in the old vein, with the much more contemporary feeling (and ultra-cool) Winning and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid demonstrating beyond all shadow of a doubt that the Blue Eyed Kid was still in the running, still a top draw.
Cliff Robertson enjoyed a brief triumph and even won an Oscar for Charly, only to start sliding immediately thereafter. If ever there was a case for the "Oscar curse" it's this one. Arguably, Robertson was a minor A list guy at best, comparable to the Robert Youngs and Franchot Tones of the old days. Still, he was an ambitious guy, with a background, in early live television, good early film roles, similar to Newman and Jack Lemmon. He was always, it seems, on the cusp of something big but never quite pulled it off. What he should have done: leave Hollywood for Broadway, like Henry Fonda did in 1948, pick a role that was absolutely perfect for him, triumph, win a Tony, stay off-screen for a while, then return triumphantly, reinvented, a few years later. It worked for Fonda, who was in Ty Power's shadow all those years at Fox, and might have worked for Robertson.
McQueen was willing to concede top billing to Tracy, even writing him a letter asking him to stay on the film. Tracy replied thanking McQueen, but said the character just didn't suit him.
As for Robinson, I think it was the best role of his later career. He had the right amount of authority, snobbishness and ego to pull it off.
"I drink to make other people interesting." - Groucho Marx
Interesting about McQueen writing the letter to Tracy. After all, Tracy had a huge reputation at this time.
Odd about Tracy. Very ill through the sixties, he elected (?) to work almost exclusively with director Stanley Kramer: Inherit the Wind, Judgment at Nuremberg, Mad, Mad World (the biggest hit of the bunch) and, climactically "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" (for which Kramer and Hepburn put up the insurance money to hire the dying Tracy for his role.)
The one "sixties Spencer Tracy movie without Kramer" was the so-so volcano epic "The Devil At 4'Clock(1961)which rather nicely pairs old man Tracy with a respectful Frank Sinatra. This is one of those rare movies where Sinatra pays attention to his acting,probably because he had to act against Tracy.
I would suspect that Grant pulled out of "The Cincinnati Kid" before McQueen could get the chance to "care" -- but then Grant and McQueen both played to the ladies. Tricker than Old Man Tracy.
Robinson was very good. If I'm not mistaken, this was surely the biggest hit of Robinson's last decade, and he had a very juicy role, that's for sure.
I don't want to spoil it, but Robinson's climactic line to McQueen is one of the great ones and he reads it "just like Edward G. Robinson." It starts with "You're good, kid..."
Newman and McQueen maneuvered around each other as the top guys in the late sixties. I think Garner and Taylor may have been a bit too traditional and "square-jawed"; Newman and McQueen had that rebel spirit aborning. They were either older or peers to Garner and Taylor, but seemed more youthful.
I like "The Sand Pebbles" very much. It earned McQueen his only Oscar nomination, and Richards Crenna and Attenborough are marvelous in support. I might go post on it on its board.
Interesting: "The Sand Pebbles" went to Paul Newman first. He passed, and my research indicates he passed for a "sure thing gone wrong": "Torn Curtain," a DOA Hitchcock spy thriller (with some good points.) How it must have galled Newman to have picked wrong (Hitchcock!) with McQueen getting that beaut of a part in "Sand Pebbles." On the other hand, McQueen was BETTER for "The Sand Pebbles," and its tale of an inarticulate sailor bound to his ship's engine as much as any lover or friend.
Cliff Robertson played "Charly" on TV and evidently worked hard to secure the movie rights because he'd lost his TV role in "Days of Wine and Roses" to Jack Lemmon. It worked, briefly, and ironically: Robertson won the Oscar while ia Robert Aldrich action movie in the Phillipines (with Michael Caine, who wrote hilariously of getting bopped on the head by a fake Oscar given to Cliff as the two men arrived at LAX from location.)
Robertson was a good-looking man with Oscar acting chops, but he didn't have "it." It was fairly quickly that the roles fitting him arrived: bureaucratic middle-America types. He was perfect as a button-down CIA "quasi-villain" opposite Robert Redford in "Three Days of the Condor."
Also recommended by Robertson: "Masquerade" (1965) a Hitchcock-esque chase thriller written by William Goldman and..."Batman." The TV series! Robertson did a hilarious send-up of Shane as a crooked cowpoke called "Shame." I believe he played the part twice, once in 1968 : his Oscar year!
Oh goodness Ecarle, don't tell me you're a Batman! fan too. One of your posts on that show would make me giddy with happiness. You can add Get Smart! to my request list as well. I guess I just have a thing for 60s comedy/action shows with exclamation points in the title.
What's the spanish for drunken bum?
I'll see what I can do.
"Get Smart" was truly historic,a comedy show that actually got funnier every season, as new and somewhat more "hip" writers (who would go on to write for "Mary Tyler Moore" and other comedy shows) were added and got away from the "would you believe" jokes of the early years. I think I had some posts on the show on that board, but they may have disappeared. I'll try again soon.
"Batman" the TV show, is from my misspent childhood, but I would say this: I'm a Hitchcock fan, and Hitchcock believed "the better the villain, the better the movie." Well, "Batman" pushed the "Special Guest Villain" concept with a vengeance, and the series creator said: "The show is really about the villains."
Cliff Robertson won the Oscar around the same time he played Shame on "Batman." Art Carney won the Best Actor Oscar a few years after playing "The Archer" (a paunchy Robin Hood with an inexplicable Brooklyn accent) on "Batman." They got some quality players to play the villains on that show. I think Robertson did that role for his kids. I know that Vincent Price played "Egghead" because his kids wanted him to. But then, that's also why Tommy Lee Jones played Two-Face in the movies.
The villains stole the show on "Batman" but Adam West's performance as the Caped Crusader was actually pretty nice: comic yet serious ENOUGH. Burt Ward: not so much.
Ah, but this is a "Cinncinati Kid" board, so I guess I'll move to those other TV boards some time for more comments...
Fair enough, but since this thread is about "what if" casting, have you heard that Adam West turned down a chance to play James Bond? I think he was going to be Connery's first replacement, but HE said no! Incredible. Though, I suppose in retrospect it might've been a good decision, since he turned out to be such a great comedian, and Batman! turned out to be such a phenomenon.
What's the spanish for drunken bum?
I did not know that.
I know that John Gavin ("Psycho") was actually hired to play Bond in "Diamonds Are Forever," but was paid off when Connery said he'd come back just once for a gazillon dollars.
I think Spencer Tracy is one of the greatest film actors of all time, as he proved for nearly four decades. However, Eddie was absolutely perfect in the role of Lancey. He gave a truly stellar performance, clearly stealing the film from McQueen (and everyone else). By 1965, Spencer Tracy was quite fragile and his voice wasn't nearly as commanding as it had been. Just watch "Guess Whose Coming to Dinner" for proof of his physical decline. Eddie was still quite commanding, still had that marvelous voice and had a rough edge to him, as always.
I think Robinson's performance is very underrated. The movie itself is average at best, until the final poker scene. But Eddie's performance is in a league by itself!
You're sharp on Robertson, who must have been more than a little miffed that so many of his contemporaries hit the really big time while he only hit the medium big time. His 60's filmography contains some very good films; some traditional but pleasant, like PT 109 (JFK personally chose him for the part, I read), to the solid mainstream serious, such as The Best Man, to the occasionally offbeat,--Sam Fuller's Underworld, USA. I think of him as sort of the Dana Andrews of his generation. Solid actor, some excellent, even classic films, but not, by a long shot, an iconic figure. At least Cliff got the Oscar. Even then, though, Beatty and Hoffman were the hot new things (though Beatty had been around a while) in 1968, and Redford, Voight and Nicholson were right around the corner. Poor Robertson just got buried. I've always felt that Robertson was actually hindered by his tall, dark and handsome good looks, which were just going out of fashion when he arrived on the scene. His type reigned in the black and white era, but color would become the norm after 1966. Even before that, though, his physical type was coming to seem a little anachronistic.
I've never seen all of The Sand Pebbles in one sitting, but from what I've seen of it I like it. Lots of pre-release publicity for this one, including a cover story in The Saturday Review, a magazine that seldom featured movies as feature stories, or when they did tended to favor pictures likes Bridge On the River Kwai and Lawrence Of Arabia. This was probably McQueen's most prestigious film up to this time. I agree that he's perfect for it, the way Bogart was perfect for Casablanca and Holden for Stalag 17. McQueen is his character. He almost didn't have to act. I really like Richard Crenna in this one. The guy has screen presence. He might have emerged as an offbeat major star, the way the very different Walter Matthau later did, but the timing was a little off and he didn't get that one lucky shot he needed. Newman wouldn't have been as good as McQueen in TSP, I agree. I can't see him looking right in a sailor suit. Uniforms never looked good on him. He'd have vibed too contemporary, with that Actors Studio-existential air he had the movie's allegorical-symbolic aspects would have been more obvious. From what I remember of the movie, McQueen really served his material in this one, while I have a creeping suspicion that with Newman in the lead the material would have served Newman (it was awfully difficult for Newman to disappear into a role, with his Hombre just barely making the grade, and a first rate cast really stealing his thunder). As to Torn Curtain, it must have looked perfect on paper: the great Hitchcock, Julie Andrews, the reigning box-office queen of the time. The film's not living up to its expectations hurt Hitchcock and probably even Andrews a little, but was just a blip on the radar screen for the Newman.
I'd forgotten about Robertson's tough and villainous turn in "The Best Man." He was actually quite good at "cold."
Recall him in an early role as the rich friend turned foe of William Holden in "Picnic"? Unfortunately, that was exactly the kind of part Robertson DIDN'T need to advance. Holden blew him off the screen.
A few nuggets on Cliff:
-- There's a movie called "Sunday in New York" from 1963 that features Jane Fonda in her early, fluffy, sexy, funny incarnation, surrounded by three male leads. Robert Culp plays her fiancee; Rod Taylor has the "true" male lead as the man who will win Fonda from Culp; and Cliff Robertson is quite rakish and warm as Fonda's brother, an airline pilot who balances babes while warning his sister to remain "a good girl." (1963, right.) At a certain point in the farce, Taylor fakes that he is Fonda's brother to avoid trouble with Culp. Robertson, the real brother, comes along on a "group date" and is amused watching Taylor play "him."
It's a weird movie, as Fonda (a true star aborning) is served by three young male stars, none of whom would make it to the big time. But all three men are charming (even the "loser," Culp.) Rod Taylor demonstrates that, for a bit, he had the "star thing" (macho but suave.) And Cliff Robertson is very funny in a relaxed part as a caring brother.
-- In his book "Adventures in the Screen Trade," screenwriter William Goldman writes nicely of Cliff Robertson as the first "star" to appear in a Goldman script ("Masquerade.") Robertson was a nice man, but he WAS a star, with star perks and attitudes, in Goldman's eyes, at that time. It didn't last.
--In 1976, Robertson would take what was effectively the James Stewart role in Brian DePalma's "Vertigo" semi-remake, "Obsession." Close but no cigar, even with another great Bernard Herrmann score (his last released). It is an unfortunate comparison of a good actor to a great one.
-- Around the same time, Robertson blew Hollywood wide open by revealing that a movie mogul named David Begelman was forging checks in Robertson's name for movies he never made. The ensuing studio battle among Begelman and others was huge, involving billionaires fighting over control of studio power. But Robertson -- already rich from family money and his wife's wealth so unafraid of a blacklist -- walked away OK. He kept getting TV roles and small movie parts.
----
I think I'll hold off on "The Sand Pebbles" for a bit, but on "Torn Curtain," it is probably true that Newman shrugged it off and moved on. In the sixties, when older male stars were running out of gas, Newman was ALWAYS in demand. Whether his movies hit or flopped, two or three more scripts were always lined up for Newman. There were very few stars in his bracket (younger but established) at that time. McQueen was one, too, but there were more scripts than stars. There always are.
"Torn Curtain" hurt the others, true. Hitchcock could never cast a star again in his three movies after "Torn Curtain." And Julie Andrews "quick fade" began rapidly. "Mary Poppins" and "The Sound of Music" were giant hit vehicles that Julie could not replicate; nor could she find the sexy presence needed to serve Hitchcock and newer directors. Following "Torn Curtain" with the megaflp musicals "Star" and "Darling Lili," Andrews was off to TV and stage and a few movies with husband Blake Edwards.
I agree that Robertson's a very capable actor, but lacking in charisma (in my opinion at least). Maybe that's why he never entered the top tier of stardom. There was also the David Begelman scandal which hurt his career for some time as pointed out above.
"I drink to make other people interesting." - Groucho Marx
I've seen only parts of Sunday In New York, which has one of those bright young things casts that at the time probably looked like the superstars of tomorrow. Only Jane Fonda made it that big. Odd about Robert Culp, whom I remember as a likeable, smart, photogenic leading man, often on anthology series of the 60's. He'd once had his own western series, in the late 50's, but I never saw it. I thought that he had real star potential, possibly of the Steve McQueen kind, but cooler, lighter, not so intense; also, he showed the makings of a somewhat younger, hipper, jockish James Garner, which have fit right into the SoCali spirit of the times back then. He did make it big with I Spy, which started out as his show, soon became Cosby's. The series had a healthy three year run on NBC, and is seldom discussed today. Not a megahit, it was popular in its time. Kind of the reverse of Star Trek, also NBC, which struggled through three seasons and is now, of course, a legend, a classic,--a franchise. Culp never fully capitalized on his small screen success. That the series ended in 1968, a dreadful year, didn't help matters. Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice seemed to show that Culp might have had a big screen career, but things didn't turn out right for him. I sense an ego in him, maybe a big star complex. Possibly a Pernell Robertsish arrogance. Whatever. Pernell had a lot of good will from his Adam days on Bonanza, and chose his comeback vehicle wisely when he returned to a regular prime time series. I don't think Culp ever did return to star in a regular series again. He let himself go gray way too soon, and often appeared in weird or offbeat projects. It just goes to show that for an actor, even a young, talented, good looking one like Culp, one lucky break is not enough. A career has to be built up, brick by brick as it were, and Culp either would not or could not do this.
Okay, way OT. Just musing. I remember Cliff Robertson on a TV talk show a year or so after the Begelman scandal. Probably Tom Snyder. He candidly discussed what had happened with Begelman and why and then went on to talk, with extreme honesty, some bitterness but no real hatred in his heart, about how so many of his old friends and colleagues did not come to his defense or help him find work after the scandal blew over. With many of these people,--and Cliff, ever the gentleman, didn't name names--he shared similar political beliefs, had appeared at rallies with, that sort of thing. He was somewhat philosophical about this but obviously hurt. My mind drifted to people Robertson had worked with, and Jane Fonda's name sprang to him. Cliff and Jane were pretty much on the same page politically, or fairly close, though Cliff didn't go out of his way to attract attention the way Jane did. Since Jane was the reigning female superstar of the time I couldn't help but wonder if she was one of those who did not, as Cliff put it, return his phone calls. Cliff's a liberal but not a hipster; no Donald Sutherland or Jack Nicholson. His gentlemanliness seemed a tad old-fashioned even when he was young, and was positively anachronistic by 1980 or thereabouts. Maybe Jane was one of those who "abandoned" him. To the best of my knowledge he never worked with Fonda again. Hollywood can be a cruel place, we all know that, but even veteran player Cliff Robertson was taken aback by just how cruel it could be.
On a happier note, in an alternate universe I can see Robertson doing nicely by Hitchcock, rather as Joseph Cotten, Farley Granger and Ray Milland did. A Hitch flick would have been a nice feather in his cap. Also, he might have done well by Fritz Lang, as Glenn Ford did on a couple of occasions. I can also see him in Ford's role in The Blackboard Jungle and doing just as well as Ford. It's unlikely that Hitchcock would have even considered second-tier Robertson for the male lead in Torn Curtain, though, especially with Julie Andrews as co-star (though Julie did nicely indeed with Plummer and Van Dyke in her two biggest hits, so maybe...). Actually, I think that TC might have stood a better chance at the box-office with Robertson instead of Newman in the lead. Reason: lower expectations, possibly a pleasant surprise. Newman and Andrews were so hot that they overwhelmed the director and the movie turned out to be a good example of a "star heavy" picture. Sometimes this can backfire. It wasn't the right movie for these two particular stars at that point in their careers. Cast Robertson and, say, Eva Marie Saint, and it might have come from left field and proved a winner. Not of Psycho proportions but along the lines of Strangers On a Train or Dial M For Murder.
I think you got it backwards. Edward G. was the best choice, followed by Spencer and finally the fabulous Mr. Archie Leach would have been worst for the role.
Badges? We don't need no stinking badges!
I'm a big fan of Cary Grant, but I can't see him in Edward G. Robinson's role. You're right that a pairing of Grant and McQueen would have been awesome.
I did read about Spencer Tracy being first considered for the part. Honestly, I can't see him in this one either.
If both Humphrey Bogart or Clark Gable were alive, they may have suited the part well. Imagine Bogart and McQueen in a movie together!!
Sinatra would have been a great pick as well.
"Dry your eyes baby, it's out of character."
There are only so many stars at a given time, and the number is reduced further when age enters in and an older star is necessary for a part.
In the sixties, Cary Grant was aging and offered a lot of roles he turned down: The Music Man, My Fair Lady, Man's Favorite Sport, Gambit, Torn Curtain...and The Cincinnati Kid.
"Kid" would have been fascinating because the movie required another young star -- McQueen -- and Grant and McQueen each specialized in a certain "quiet cool," however different their styles may have been.
Frankly, I doubt that Grant was that willing to share the screen with McQueen at that date. Grant was the star of his final movies.
Seeing as how we're playing "What If"---Let me in
Ed G Robinson played the role the greatwst had dignity, and a trace of menace
Tracey---The greatest of his generation could have done as well, but I don't think better
Grant could've have pulled it off, had the trace of menace, but I don't think he would have gotten along with McQueen. Interesting to note he was latter offered a role (not specified) in "The Verdict"
James Mason of all He could have bested Robinson, calm, cool Suave, and deboner, and a touch of menace that could,kill at a glance.
I'd rather go hunting with Dick Cheney, than driving with Ted Kennedy
Good comparisons.
I've read that about Cary Grant and "The Verdict." He was long retired by then (1982), with only a few years to live (1986), but he was robust, making public appearances, and still able to act if he wanted to.
I've always wondered:
Was Grant offered:
Paul Newman's role...the late-middle-aged, alcoholic, failed but ultimately heroic lawyer...
or...
James Mason's role...the aged, elegant, erudite, formidable, intimidating and quite unethical lawyer who is the "villain" of the piece?
The funny thing is, Grant would have fit either role well, but especially Mason's villain!
I always thought it was the Mason role he was offered, after Redford dropped out of the main part it was offered to Newman who took it
Frank Sinatra was also offered a part in The Verdict, I'm thinking the Judge or Mickey. He would have done well in either
I'd rather go hunting with Dick Cheney, than driving with Ted Kennedy
To pick up only FOUR years later: The Robert Culp TV Western was called "Trackdown" and I think the entire run is on DVD. Culp saw himself as more than an actor and wrote some "Trackdown" scripts and did several for "I Spy," one of which, "Home to Judgment" is still one of the most disturbing shows I've seen on network TV. Why he never moved into wrting and/or directing films, I have no idea.
"We're fighting for this woman's honor, which is more than she ever did."
[deleted]
I love Eddie G. here...he brought an urbane gravitas to the role, and a kindliness that shielded a ruthless cunning.
I'm not sure if one movie could contain all the coolness of McQueen facing off against Grant in a high-stakes poker game; sweaters would be required viewing. However, we'd be talking about a completely different movie than the one we have. The movie would be just as much about Grant, who would be a womanizing charmer who also happened to know his way around a card table, rather than a shrewd, legendary gambler. A romantic subplot would be required; he'd likely compete with McQueen for the affection of either Margret or Weld. The film would be more farcical and light-hearted in tone, with both players heading off to the bar together at the end with their women in tow.
Tracy would have of course sufficed, but again, I really like the "little giant" here.
http://jmoneyyourhoney.filmaf.com/owned
Robinson has a bite that the other simply do not have!
shareJust here to say that this thread right here makes me mourn for the IMDb boards. Threads like this will never be created again. Bygone era.
I also want to say that I can't imagine anyone other than Edward G. Robinson in that role. He absolutely owned every single role he ever played.