The Cincinnati Kid might have been a very different movie had original director Sam Peckinpah not been fired from the production, but as it stands, the film is calmly, competently helmed by replacement Norman Jewison. There's quite enough talent on both sides of the camera to make Kid more than just a post-Hustler gambling romp, including writers Ring Lardner, Jr. (MASH, Laura) and Terry Southern (Dr. Strangelove, Easy Rider); and editor Hal Ashby, who collaborated with Jewison on some of his best work. The all-star performances of Steve McQueen, Edward G. Robinson, Karl Malden, Joan Blondell and Ann-Margret help make The Cincinnati Kid not a suspenseful, gritty drama as well as a colorful, entertaining portrait of New Orleans during the Great Depression. Jewison, McQueen and Ashby would team up again for 1968's similar The Thomas Crown Affair.