Review of Man from the South

In the 1960 "Man From the South", a young up-and-coming Steve McQueen isn't even given a name; he's merely "the gambler" and his real-life wife, Neile Adams is cast as "the girl." They accidentally bump into each other at a Las Vegas lounge in the early hours of the morning and strike up a conversation. It's obvious that they're both broke and looking for a fast way out of town. Their chance meeting may be one of desperation, but the two seem to hit it off extremely well. Soon they might even be potential lovers until they're interrupted by an obnoxious stranger. Enter Peter Lorre as "Carlos" who offers McQueen and his new girlfriend a quick exit in the form of a strange and very macabre wager. After over-hearing how impressed McQueen is with his new cigarette lighter, Lorre offers to wager his brand new convertible if Steve can get the lighter to strike successfully ten times in a row. If the lighter fails just once, Lorre gets to whack off the little finger on McQueen's left hand with a meat cleaver. At first, McQueen declines the wager---until he re-evaluates his current and dire financial situation. After some brief soul-searching, he decides to take the bet.

There's a nice punch line to all of this and it has nothing to do with the evils of gambling. Lorre keeps the plot moving with his excellent performance and McQueen does his best to hold his own when the two are on screen together. McQueen also does some major sweating while he flicks his lighter once, twice, three times, etc. With a bored and forlorn expression, Lorre stands over him with his meat cleaver firmly in hand. Then another "gambler" enters the picture...