This is the second entry featuring McQueen in the series. Both rely on superior scripts, probably an enticement for the then fast rising young actor. Also featured is McQueen's real life wife, Neile Adams, who quickly shows why she was a professional dancer and not a professional actress.
Anyway the two "meet cute" in an anonymous Las Vegas lounge when interrupted by the one-and-only Peter Lorre looking a bit like a human version of Pacman. Naturally, you suspect something weird from such a weird looking guy, and he doesn't disappoint. He proposes a cockamamie wager to McQueen: his convertible car for McQueen's little finger!-- (Thank you writer Roald Dahl for this one.) McQueen's intrigued; it's just strange enough to be interesting. Then too, maybe that will impress the shapely Miss Adams. The trick is for McQueen to light his cigarette lighter ten times without a miss, otherwise his fingers only count up to nine.
Thanks to the inbuilt suspense, we sweat a bucket-load, hanging with Steve as he flicks once, twice, three times, his other hand splayed across a table top with Lorre poised hatchet in hand. Frankly, in my view, the ending doesn't quite match the lead-up in pay-off. Still, the 30 minutes amounts to a fascinating premise with a lot of white-knuckle interest for fans beyond those of early McQueen.
