Taglines: Don’t tip the little lady’s hand or your friends will hate you!
A Big Hand for the Little Lady movie synopsis. A couple with a young son arrive in the town of Laredo, just as the five richest men of the area are settling down to play the biggest game of poker of the year. When the wife disappears, the husband, after watching a few hands, joins in the game only to lose most of the families savings. As the wife returns, he finds that he has dealt himself a winning hand, but does not have the cash to continue. In the following argument he collapses, and his wife has no choice but to continue with his hand in order to win back their money, the only problem being she can’t play poker.
A Big Hand for the Little Lady (released in the UK as Big Deal at Dodge City) is a 1966 Technicolor western film made by Eden Productions Inc. and released by Warner Bros. The film was produced and directed by Fielder Cook from a screenplay by Sidney Carroll, adapted from their TV play Big Deal in Laredo which aired on The DuPont Show of the Week in 1962.
The film stars Henry Fonda, Joanne Woodward, Paul Ford, Jason Robards, Burgess Meredith, Charles Bickford, Kevin McCarthy, John Qualen, Robert Middleton, Jean-Michel Michenaud and Virginia Gregg. The original TV play starred Walter Matthau as Meredith.
About the Story
The five richest men in the territory gather in Laredo for their annual high-stakes poker game. The high rollers let nothing get in the way of their yearly showdown. When undertaker Tropp (Charles Bickford) calls for them in his horse-drawn hearse, cattleman Henry Drummond (Jason Robards) forces a postponement of his daughter’s wedding, while lawyer Otto Habershaw (Kevin McCarthy) abandons his closing arguments in a trial, with his client’s life hanging in the balance. They are joined by Wilcox (Robert Middleton) and Buford (John Qualen) in the back room of Sam’s saloon, while the curious gather outside for occasional reports.
Settler Meredith (Henry Fonda), his wife Mary (Joanne Woodward), and their young son Jackie (Gerald Michenaud) are passing through, on their way to purchase a farm near San Antonio, when a wheel on their wagon breaks. They wait at Sam’s while the local blacksmith repairs it. Meredith, a recovering gambler, learns of the big poker game and begins to feel the excitement once again. The newcomer buys into the game, eventually staking all of the family savings, meant to pay for a home.
The game builds to a climactic hand; the gamblers raise and re-raise until more than $20,000 is in the pot. Meredith, out of cash, is unable to call the latest raise. Under the strain, he collapses. The town physician, Joseph “Doc” Scully (Burgess Meredith), is called to care for the stricken man. Barely conscious, Meredith signals for his wife to play out the hand.
Taking his seat, Mary asks, “How do you play this game?” At this, the other players object loudly, but eventually give in. The situation is explained to her: if she cannot match the last raise (and any others that may follow), she will be out of the hand.
Despite the men’s protests, she leaves the room to borrow additional funds. With Jackie and four of the players trailing behind, Mary crosses the street and talks to the owner of the Cattle and Merchants’ Bank, C. P. Ballinger (Paul Ford). After she shows him her hand, Ballinger suggests she is playing a practical joke. When he is told otherwise, he loans her $5,500 (at 6% interest) and makes a $5,000 raise for her. The other players, aware of Ballinger’s tightfisted, cautious nature, all reluctantly fold. Mary collects her sizable winnings and pays Ballinger back with interest. The game then breaks up, no one ever having seen the winning hand.
The lady’s determination earns her the admiration of the men. Drummond is so touched that, when he returns home to the waiting wedding ceremony, he talks privately to his weak-willed, prospective son-in-law, gives him some money, and orders him to run away and find himself a better wife than his daughter.
A Big Hand for the Little Lady (1966)
Directed by: Fielder Cook
Starring: Henry Fonda, Joanne Woodward, Paul Ford, Jason Robards, Burgess Meredith, Charles Bickford, Kevin McCarthy, John Qualen, Robert Middleton, Jean-Michel Michenaud, Virginia Gregg
Screenplay by: Sidney Carroll
Production Design by: Robert S. Smith
Cinematography by: Lee Garmes
Film Editing by: George R. Rohrs
Set Decoration by: Ralph S. Hurst
Makeup Department: Gordon Bau, Jean Burt Reilly
Music by: David Raksin
MPAA Rating: None.
Distributed by: Warner Bros. Pictures
Release Date: May 31, 1966
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