''A Big Hand for the Little Lady'' (released in the UK under the misleading title ''Big Deal at Dodge City'', as the film is set in

Laredo, Texas Laredo ( ; ) is a city in and the county seat of Webb County, Texas, United States, on the north bank of the Rio Grande in South Texas, across from Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico. Laredo has the distinction of flying seven flags (the Flag of th ...

) is a 1966 American

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

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 Sidney Carroll (May 25, 1913 – November 3, 1988) was an American film and television screenwriter. Although Carroll wrote most frequently for television, he is perhaps best remembered today for writing the screenplays for ''The Hustler'' (1961) ...

, 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 Jaynes Fonda (May 16, 1905 – August 12, 1982) was an American actor. He had a career that spanned five decades on Broadway and in Hollywood. He cultivated an everyman screen image in several films considered to be classics. Born and ra ...

Joanne Woodward Joanne Gignilliat Trimmier Woodward (born February 27, 1930) is an American actress. A star since the Golden Age of Hollywood, Woodward made her career breakthrough in the 1950s and earned esteem and respect playing complex women with a charact ...

, and

Jason Robards Jason Nelson Robards Jr. (July 26, 1922 – December 26, 2000) was an American actor. Known as an interpreter of the works of playwright Eugene O'Neill, Robards received two Academy Awards, a Tony Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and the Cannes ...

. The original TV play starred

Walter Matthau Walter Matthau (; born Walter John Matthow; October 1, 1920 – July 1, 2000) was an American actor, comedian and film director. He is best known for his film roles in '' A Face in the Crowd'' (1957), '' King Creole'' (1958) and as a coach of a ...

as Meredith.

Plot

The five richest men in the territory gather in Laredo for their annual high-stakes

poker Poker is a family of comparing card games in which players wager over which hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, however in some places the rules may vary. While the earliest known form of the game wa ...

game. The high rollers let nothing get in the way of their yearly showdown. When undertaker Tropp (

Charles Bickford Charles Ambrose Bickford (January 1, 1891 – November 9, 1967) was an American actor known for supporting roles. He was nominated three times for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, for '' The Song of Bernadette'' (1943), '' The F ...

) calls for them in his horse-drawn hearse, cattleman Henry Drummond (Robards) forces a postponement of his daughter's wedding, while lawyer Otto Habershaw (

Kevin McCarthy Kevin Owen McCarthy (born January 26, 1965) is an American politician, serving as House Minority Leader in the United States House of Representatives since 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he served as House Majority Leader under spea ...

) abandons his closing arguments in a trial, with his client's life hanging in the balance. They are joined by Wilcox (

Robert Middleton Robert Middleton (born Samuel G. Messer, May 13, 1911 – June 14, 1977) was an American film and television actor known for his large size, beetle-like brows, and a deep, booming voice (for which he was known as "Big Bob Middleton"), usually ...

) and Buford (

John Qualen John Qualen (born Johan Mandt Kvalen, December 8, 1899 – September 12, 1987) was an American character actor of Norwegian heritage who specialized in Scandinavian roles. Early years Qualen was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, the son ...

) in the back room of Sam's saloon, while the curious gather outside for occasional reports. Settler Meredith (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 ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_ ...

, 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 reraise until more than $20,000 are 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 Oliver Burgess Meredith (November 16, 1907 – September 9, 1997) was an American actor and filmmaker whose career encompassed theater, film, and television. Active for more than six decades, Meredith has been called "a virtuosic actor" and "on ...

), 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 Paul Ford Weaver (November 2, 1901 – April 12, 1976) was an American character actor who came to specialize in authority figures whose ineptitude and pompous demeanor were played for comic effect, notably as Mayor Shinn in ''The Music Man'' (1 ...

). After she shows him her hand, Ballinger suggests she is playing a practical joke. When he is told otherwise, he lends 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. In the end, Meredith, Mary, and even their "son" are revealed to be confidence tricksters and expert

card sharp A card sharp (also cardsharp, card shark or cardshark, sometimes hyphenated) is a person who uses skill and/or deception to win at poker or other card games. "Sharp" and "shark" spellings have varied over time and by region. The label is no ...

s. With the help of Scully—who dreams of romance far from the tedium and poverty of a country doctor's life—and at Ballinger's behest, they have perpetrated a

scam A confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust. Confidence tricks exploit victims using their credulity, naïveté, compassion, vanity, confidence, irresponsibility, and greed. Researchers hav ...

on the other poker players, who had swindled the banker in a real-estate deal 16 years before. "Mary" is actually Ballinger's mistress, Ruby. She promised him she would give up gambling after the caper, but she sits down to another poker game, much to Ballinger's dismay, as the credits roll.

Cast

as Meredith/Benny *

as Mary/Ruby *

as Henry P.G. Drummond *

as C.P. Ballinger *

as Benson Tropp *

as Doc Joseph Scully *

as Otto Habershaw *

as Dennis Wilcox *

as Jesse Buford *

Percy Helton Percy Alfred Helton (January 31, 1894 – September 11, 1971) was an American stage, film, and television actor. He was one of the most familiar faces and voices in Hollywood of the 1950s. Career A Manhattan native, Helton began acting ...

as Kevin McKenzie * Gerald Michenaud as Jackie * James Kinney as Sam Rhine * Allen Collins as Toby *

Jim Boles Jim Boles (February 28, 1914 – May 26, 1977) was an American actor. He appeared in the films '' The Tattooed Stranger'', '' The Man with My Face'', '' Naked in the Sun'', '' Fluffy'', ''The Ghost and Mr. Chicken'', '' The Trouble with Angels'' ...

as Pete *

Virginia Gregg Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are ...

as Mrs. Drummond *

Chester Conklin Chester Cooper Conklin (January 11, 1886 – October 11, 1971) was an early American film comedian who started at Keystone Studios as one of Mack Sennett’s Keystone Cops, often paired with Mack Swain. He appeared in a series of films with Ma ...

as Old Man In Saloon *

Mae Clarke Mae Clarke (born Violet Mary Klotz; August 16, 1910 – April 29, 1992) was an American actress. She is widely remembered for playing Henry Frankenstein's bride Elizabeth, who is chased by Boris Karloff in ''Frankenstein'', and for being o ...

as Mrs. Craig *

Ned Glass Nusyn "Ned" Glass (April 1, 1906 – June 15, 1984) was a Polish-born American character actor who appeared in more than eighty films and on television more than one hundred times, frequently playing nervous, cowardly, or deceitful characters. ...

as Owney Price *

James Griffith James Jeffrey Griffith (February 13, 1916 – September 17, 1993) was an American character actor, musician and screenwriter. Education Griffith attended Santa Monica High School, where he was a classmate with Glenn Ford. Both were active in s ...

as Mr. Stribling * Noah Keen as Sparrow

Nominations

Joanne Woodward was nominated for the

Golden Laurel Award The Laurel Awards was an American cinema awards system established to honor films, actors, actresses, producers, directors, and composers. This award was created by the ''Motion Picture Exhibitor'' magazine, and ran from 1948 to 1971 (with the ...

for Female Comedy Performance.A Big Hand for the Little Lady (1966) - Awards
/ref>

Reception

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

' Robert Alden enjoyed the film, praising the “seasoned set of actors” in the cast: “They are a skillful bunch, and it is a pleasure seeing real film professionals having at each other. A foxier bunch of artful poker rascals would be hard to find” crediting Meredith with “perhaps the most memorable performance of the lot.” Observing that “Lee Garmes, (is) one of the master camera hands of the West, and the roving camera eye of Mr. Garmes and company provides some of the film's best moments,” Alden adds “the mixing of comedy and tragedy is sometimes uncomfortable for an audience” seeing it for the first time. However, the “delightful surprise ending” ...”makes the feast worthwhile. “

References

External links