5 Card Stud (1968)
103 mins | Western | 12 July 1968
Director:
Henry HathawayWriter:
Marguerite RobertsProducer:
Hal B. WallisCinematographer:
Daniel L. FappEditor:
Warren LowProduction Designer:
Walter TylerProduction Companies:
Hal Wallis Productions , Paramount Pictures Corp.Producer Hal B. Wallis acquired screen rights to Ray Gaulden’s 1967 novel, Glory Gulch, in spring 1967, as noted in the 17 May 1967 Var. Shortly after, the 8 Jun 1967 DV confirmed that Henry Hathaway would direct. The project marked a re-teaming of Wallis and Hathaway after The Sons of Katie Elder (1965, see entry). Filming was initially scheduled to begin on 1 Oct 1967 at Paramount Pictures studios in Hollywood, CA, and on location. An item in the 28 Aug 1967 DV later reported that Hathaway was scouting locations in Durango, Mexico. The start of production was delayed until early Feb 1968, the 22 Dec 1967 DV reported.
The 29 Aug 1967 LAT announced that Dean Martin and Robert Mitchum would co-star. On the same day, a DV news brief stated that Burt Reynolds had met with Wallis to discuss playing the role of a “heavy,” but had turned it down. Items in the 19 Feb 1968, 20 Feb 1968, and 16 Mar 1968 LAT listed Hope Summers, Trinidad Villa, and Robert Houser as cast members.
According to a 13 Mar 1968 LAT news item, Hathaway wrote an original hymn, titled “Come, Sinners,” to be used in a church meeting scene, but he did not plan to credit himself, or the song, onscreen.
Principal photography began on 7 Feb 1968 in Durango, Mexico. As noted in the 27 Mar 1968 DV, twenty-two actors and fifty-two crewmembers were flown in from Hollywood. After seven weeks of filming in Durango, the 22 Mar 1968 DV ...
Producer Hal B. Wallis acquired screen rights to Ray Gaulden’s 1967 novel, Glory Gulch, in spring 1967, as noted in the 17 May 1967 Var. Shortly after, the 8 Jun 1967 DV confirmed that Henry Hathaway would direct. The project marked a re-teaming of Wallis and Hathaway after The Sons of Katie Elder (1965, see entry). Filming was initially scheduled to begin on 1 Oct 1967 at Paramount Pictures studios in Hollywood, CA, and on location. An item in the 28 Aug 1967 DV later reported that Hathaway was scouting locations in Durango, Mexico. The start of production was delayed until early Feb 1968, the 22 Dec 1967 DV reported.
The 29 Aug 1967 LAT announced that Dean Martin and Robert Mitchum would co-star. On the same day, a DV news brief stated that Burt Reynolds had met with Wallis to discuss playing the role of a “heavy,” but had turned it down. Items in the 19 Feb 1968, 20 Feb 1968, and 16 Mar 1968 LAT listed Hope Summers, Trinidad Villa, and Robert Houser as cast members.
According to a 13 Mar 1968 LAT news item, Hathaway wrote an original hymn, titled “Come, Sinners,” to be used in a church meeting scene, but he did not plan to credit himself, or the song, onscreen.
Principal photography began on 7 Feb 1968 in Durango, Mexico. As noted in the 27 Mar 1968 DV, twenty-two actors and fifty-two crewmembers were flown in from Hollywood. After seven weeks of filming in Durango, the 22 Mar 1968 DV stated that cast and crew moved to Churubusco Studios in Mexico City, where interiors would be shot. Filming was scheduled to be completed on 15 Apr 1968, as reported in the 16 Feb 1968 DV. The 10 Apr 1968 DV confirmed that Robert Mitchum and Dean Martin had finished work on the picture, and the 24 Apr 1968 Var announced that principal photography had ended.
5 Card Stud opened on 12 Jul 1968 at the Oriental Theatre in Chicago, IL. Openings followed on 31 Jul 1968 in New York City, and on 14 Aug 1968 in Los Angeles, CA. Despite lukewarm reviews, the 5 Feb 1969 Var cited a cumulative domestic box-office gross of $3.5 million, to date.
In 1880, a stud poker game in Rincon, Colorado, ends violently when one of the players, a stranger, is lynched for attempting to cheat. Gambler Van Morgan, who alone tried to prevent the hanging, decides to move on to Denver. After he leaves, a gold rush hits Rincon, bringing with it the self-ordained Reverend Jonathan Rudd, a fire-and-brimstone preacher, and Lily Langford, a madam with a group of lady barbers. After learning that two of the poker players have been murdered, Van returns to Rincon, despite the warning of bartender Little George that someone may be planning to kill every man who played in the game. While Van divides his time between tracking down the killer and diverting himself with both Lily and Nora Evers, two more of the game's participants are murdered. Unknown to Van, the killer is Rev. Rudd, whose brother was the lynch victim; he was supplied with the names of the other players by Nora's brother, Nick, who claims he tried to circumvent the hanging, although he actually instigated it. After killing Little George on Evers's advice, Rudd discovers that Nick was the ringleader of the lynching and that Van was also in the card game. He outdraws Nick and then goes after his final victim, but the preacher is killed in the final shootout. Van leaves once more for Denver, bidding farewell to both Nora and ...
In 1880, a stud poker game in Rincon, Colorado, ends violently when one of the players, a stranger, is lynched for attempting to cheat. Gambler Van Morgan, who alone tried to prevent the hanging, decides to move on to Denver. After he leaves, a gold rush hits Rincon, bringing with it the self-ordained Reverend Jonathan Rudd, a fire-and-brimstone preacher, and Lily Langford, a madam with a group of lady barbers. After learning that two of the poker players have been murdered, Van returns to Rincon, despite the warning of bartender Little George that someone may be planning to kill every man who played in the game. While Van divides his time between tracking down the killer and diverting himself with both Lily and Nora Evers, two more of the game's participants are murdered. Unknown to Van, the killer is Rev. Rudd, whose brother was the lynch victim; he was supplied with the names of the other players by Nora's brother, Nick, who claims he tried to circumvent the hanging, although he actually instigated it. After killing Little George on Evers's advice, Rudd discovers that Nick was the ringleader of the lynching and that Van was also in the card game. He outdraws Nick and then goes after his final victim, but the preacher is killed in the final shootout. Van leaves once more for Denver, bidding farewell to both Nora and Lily.
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