Dean Martin was like his contemporary, Frank Sinatra. He was a well liked talented singer, who was able to branch out into other mediums, like movies and television. Oddly enough, after the breakup of the Martin and Lewis comedy team; it was thought, wrongly, that his career would suffer. He had a successful film career, starring alongside such film legends as John Wayne and Marlon Brando. 5 Card Stud isn’t his best movie, but he does project well on the screen.
Dean Martin plays Van Morgan, a gambler, in the town of Rincon, Colorado. He is involved in a late night card game. One of the players is caught cheating. This angers Nick Evers, (Roddy McDowall), one of the players. Roddy McDowell had talent, and is good in his role, as the spoiled vindictive rancher’s son. McDowall gained fame, playing various characters in heavy makeup, in The Planet of the Apes movies. Nick Evers is so upset that he forms a lynching party with the players, except Van Morgan. Dean Martin’s character tries to stop the hanging, but can’t. Van Morgan later confronts Nick Evers, and hits him, then leaves town briefly.
Van Morgan comes back to town, and gets a haircut from the local barber, Lily Langford, (Inger Stevens). He finds out that there was a gold strike in town. This sudden good news has brought many people to the town. One of these new citizens is Reverend Rudd, (Robert Mitchum). His appearance coincides with a series of murders, with various methods. They have one pattern. The victims were all players in the card game. Nick Evers gets into a confrontation with the reverend. Robert Mitchum has devised an interesting way of defending himself. He has a hollowed out bible, where he conceals a derringer. Before Evers can draw, the reverend shoots him dead. During the murders, Van Morgan has figured out Mitchum’s character, is the killer. His motive was that the murdered card player, was his brother. Van Morgan confronts Reverend Rudd, and sees that he’s holding the good book, upside down. Of course before Mitchum can fire Dean kills him. He then goes back to his love interest in the film, Lily Langford.
The most interesting thing about 5 Card Stud, is Dean Martin becomes a western version of Sherlock Holmes. He has figured out that one person who was killed, Little George, (Yaphet Koto), had his hands folded in prayer. Van Morgan has been given the final clue, to the killer’s identity. This clue of course, lends to the phrase, only in a movie. This film is a different take on a western. It is that and the performances of Martin, Mitchum and McDowall, that make this film worth watching.