For this Western Night viewing, Sheila Ellis chose A BIG HAND FOR THE LITTLE LADY (1966), a delightful and comedic look at avarice.
Five wealthy, ardent gamblers gather in the back room of a saloon in Laredo, Texas, for their yearly high-stakes poker game. They include Henry P.G. Drummond (Jason Robards), a hard-nosed rancher, and Habershaw, (Kevin McCarthy), a corrupt lawyer. Shortly, a reformed gambler named Meredith (Henry Fonda), and his naïve, bonnet-wearing wife Mary (Joanne Woodward) and young son Jackie (Jean-Michel Michebaud) come into town needing their wagon repaired. Meredith hears about the poker match and soon desperately wants in.
A BIG HAND FOR THE LITTLE LADY originated as BIG DEAL IN LAREDO, a tv movie for the DuPont Show of the Week in 1963. Both films were sharply written by Sidney Carroll and Fiedler Cook expertly directed them.
Most of A BIG HAND takes place in cramped rooms, yet it doesn’t feel claustrophobic. The film also moves quickly, the editing nearly seamless. Fonda shifts skillfully from protective husband to desperate gambler. McCarthy plays the shameless rogue well, and Robards almost steals every scene with his no-nonsense crankiness. As Mary, Woodward is both innocent and luminous. And yet through it all, you just know something is coming.
With a running time of 95 minutes, A BIG HAND FOR THE LITTLE LADY is available on DVD, and to rent or buy on Amazon Prime.
Along with Sheila, our group includes Johnny D. Boggs, record nine-time Spur Award-winning author (he’ll be awarded his tenth this month for his historical novel, BLOODY NEWTON), Kirk Ellis, Emmy-winning screenwriter and producer and also author of the book RIDE LONESOME about the production, themes and historical relevance of that classic film, David Morrell, award-winning author and New York Times best-selling author of FIRST BLOOD, the novel that introduced the character Rambo, and Robert Nott, author of several books on Western films, including his most recent RIDE THE HIGH COUNTRY that examines the production, themes and legacy of the film that launched Sam Peckinpah’s career.
A Big Hand for the Little Lady – Movie Trailer
