A Big Hand for the Little Lady
Encyclopedia
A Big Hand for the Little Lady (released in the UK as Big Deal at Dodge City) is a 1966 western film, made by Eden Productions Inc. and released by Warner Bros.
It 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, and Jason Robards
, with Charles Bickford
, Burgess Meredith
, Kevin McCarthy
, Robert Middleton
, and John Qualen
. The original TV play starred Walter Matthau
as Meredith.
for their annual high-stakes poker
game. The high rollers let nothing get in the way of their yearly showdown. When undertaker Tropp calls for them in his horse-drawn hearse, cattleman Henry Drummond forces a postponement of his daughter's wedding, while lawyer Otto Habershaw abandons his closing arguments in a trial, with his client's life hanging in the balance. They are joined by Wilcox and Buford in the back room of Sam's saloon, while the curious gather outside for occasional reports.
Settlers Meredith, his wife Mary, and their young son Jackie 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. During a leg stretching break, Otto Habershaw, catches a glimpse of Mary in her violet dress. Being so enchanted by her, he permits Meredith's request to watch the game only if Mary allows him. 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, 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?" The other players object loudly to playing with someone who does not know the game, 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. After she shows him her hand, Ballinger assumes she is playing a practical joke. When he learns 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. Even Drummond, the most hard-hearted of the bunch, 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.
The denouement takes place in the gambling town of Black Creek, where it is revealed that Meredith, Mary, and even their "son" are confidence tricksters and expert card sharp
s. Together with Ballinger and Scully, they have perpetrated a scam
on the five poker players, who had swindle
d the banker in a real estate deal sixteen years before. "Mary" is actually Ballinger's girlfriend Ruby. She had promised him she would give up gambling after the caper, but it becomes clear that she had no such intent when she sits down to another poker game.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
It was produced and directed by Fielder Cook from a screenplay by Sidney Carroll
Sidney Carroll
Sidney Carroll was a film and television screenwriter. Although Carroll wrote most frequently for television, he is perhaps best remembered today for writing the screenplay for The Hustler for which he was nominated for an Academy Award...
, 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
Henry Fonda
Henry Jaynes Fonda was an American film and stage actor.Fonda made his mark early as a Broadway actor. He also appeared in 1938 in plays performed in White Plains, New York, with Joan Tompkins...
, Joanne Woodward
Joanne Woodward
Joanne Gignilliat Trimmier Woodward is an American actress, television and theatrical producer, and widow of Paul Newman...
, Paul Ford, and Jason Robards
Jason Robards
Jason Nelson Robards, Jr. was an American actor on stage, and in film and television, and a winner of the Tony Award , two Academy Awards and the Emmy Award...
, with Charles Bickford
Charles Bickford
Charles Bickford was an American actor best known for his supporting roles. He was nominated three times for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, for The Song of Bernadette , The Farmer's Daughter , and Johnny Belinda...
, Burgess Meredith
Burgess Meredith
Oliver Burgess Meredith , known professionally as Burgess Meredith, was an American actor in theatre, film, and television, who also worked as a director...
, Kevin McCarthy
Kevin McCarthy (actor)
Kevin McCarthy was an American stage, film, and television actor, who appeared in over two hundred television and film roles. For his role in the 1951 film version of Death of a Salesman, he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and won a Golden Globe Award for New Star of...
, Robert Middleton
Robert Middleton
Robert Middleton, born Samuel G. Messer , was an American film and television actor known for his large size and beetle-like brow. With a deep, booming voice, Middleton trained for a musical career at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music and Carnegie Tech in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania...
, and John Qualen
John Qualen
John Qualen was a Canadian-American character actor of Norwegian heritage who specialized in Scandinavian roles....
. The original TV play starred Walter Matthau
Walter Matthau
Walter Matthau was an American actor best known for his role as Oscar Madison in The Odd Couple and his frequent collaborations with Odd Couple star Jack Lemmon, as well as his role as Coach Buttermaker in the 1976 comedy The Bad News Bears...
as Meredith.
Plot
The five richest men in the territory gather in LaredoLaredo, Texas
Laredo is the county seat of Webb County, Texas, United States, located on the north bank of the Rio Grande in South Texas, across from Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico. According to the 2010 census, the city population was 236,091 making it the 3rd largest on the United States-Mexican border,...
for their annual high-stakes poker
Poker
Poker is a family of card games that share betting rules and usually hand rankings. Poker games differ in how the cards are dealt, how hands may be formed, whether the high or low hand wins the pot in a showdown , limits on bet sizes, and how many rounds of betting are allowed.In most modern poker...
game. The high rollers let nothing get in the way of their yearly showdown. When undertaker Tropp calls for them in his horse-drawn hearse, cattleman Henry Drummond forces a postponement of his daughter's wedding, while lawyer Otto Habershaw abandons his closing arguments in a trial, with his client's life hanging in the balance. They are joined by Wilcox and Buford in the back room of Sam's saloon, while the curious gather outside for occasional reports.
Settlers Meredith, his wife Mary, and their young son Jackie are passing through, on their way to purchase a farm near San Antonio
San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio is the seventh-largest city in the United States of America and the second-largest city within the state of Texas, with a population of 1.33 million. Located in the American Southwest and the south–central part of Texas, the city serves as the seat of Bexar County. In 2011,...
, 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. During a leg stretching break, Otto Habershaw, catches a glimpse of Mary in her violet dress. Being so enchanted by her, he permits Meredith's request to watch the game only if Mary allows him. 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, 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?" The other players object loudly to playing with someone who does not know the game, 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. After she shows him her hand, Ballinger assumes she is playing a practical joke. When he learns 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. Even Drummond, the most hard-hearted of the bunch, 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.
The denouement takes place in the gambling town of Black Creek, where it is revealed that Meredith, Mary, and even their "son" are confidence tricksters and expert card sharp
Card sharp
A card sharp is a person who uses skill and deception to win at poker or other card games...
s. Together with Ballinger and Scully, they have perpetrated a scam
Confidence trick
A confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person or group by gaining their confidence. A confidence artist is an individual working alone or in concert with others who exploits characteristics of the human psyche such as dishonesty and honesty, vanity, compassion, credulity, irresponsibility,...
on the five poker players, who had swindle
Swindle
The term swindle may refer to:* Swindle, a confidence trick* Swindle, a kind of fraud* Swindle , a ruse by which a chess player in a losing position tricks his opponentIn media and popular culture, Swindle can refer to:...
d the banker in a real estate deal sixteen years before. "Mary" is actually Ballinger's girlfriend Ruby. She had promised him she would give up gambling after the caper, but it becomes clear that she had no such intent when she sits down to another poker game.
Cast
- Henry FondaHenry FondaHenry Jaynes Fonda was an American film and stage actor.Fonda made his mark early as a Broadway actor. He also appeared in 1938 in plays performed in White Plains, New York, with Joan Tompkins...
as Meredith - Joanne WoodwardJoanne WoodwardJoanne Gignilliat Trimmier Woodward is an American actress, television and theatrical producer, and widow of Paul Newman...
as Mary - Jason RobardsJason RobardsJason Nelson Robards, Jr. was an American actor on stage, and in film and television, and a winner of the Tony Award , two Academy Awards and the Emmy Award...
as Henry P.G. Drummond - Paul Ford as C.P. Ballinger
- Charles BickfordCharles BickfordCharles Bickford was an American actor best known for his supporting roles. He was nominated three times for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, for The Song of Bernadette , The Farmer's Daughter , and Johnny Belinda...
as Benson Tropp - Burgess MeredithBurgess MeredithOliver Burgess Meredith , known professionally as Burgess Meredith, was an American actor in theatre, film, and television, who also worked as a director...
as Doc Joseph Scully - Kevin McCarthyKevin McCarthy (actor)Kevin McCarthy was an American stage, film, and television actor, who appeared in over two hundred television and film roles. For his role in the 1951 film version of Death of a Salesman, he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and won a Golden Globe Award for New Star of...
as Otto Habershaw - Robert MiddletonRobert MiddletonRobert Middleton, born Samuel G. Messer , was an American film and television actor known for his large size and beetle-like brow. With a deep, booming voice, Middleton trained for a musical career at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music and Carnegie Tech in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania...
as Dennis Wilcox - John QualenJohn QualenJohn Qualen was a Canadian-American character actor of Norwegian heritage who specialized in Scandinavian roles....
as Jesse Buford - Jean-Michel Michenaud as Jackie
- James Berwick as Sam Rhine