A Big Hand for the Little Lady

When I caught this one on TV, was I sorry I'd missed it during its theatrical release. The whole cast is in top form, especially Paul Ford giving one of his funniest performances. Joanne Woodward never looked lovelier while running the gamut from great distress to the wittiest of high spirits. Too bad her hubby, Paul Newman, couldn't have joined the poker players at the table where most of the action takes place. The production values are quite good but the standout is the ever-reliable David Raksin's lively score...his music for the opening title sequence and at the film's close is terrific! If you haven't seen this one yet, you're in for a treat.

A Big Hand For The Little Lady takes place in Laredo, Texas circa the turn of the last century. The film actually dates itself because a couple of current record cylinders are played, Ma Blushin' Rosie and Hello My Baby both of which came out around 1900. Anyway a big annual event in this town is when five of the big movers and shakers of the community get together for a big no holds barred poker game. The big five are Jason Robards, Jr., Charles Bickford, Kevin McCarthy, Robert Middleton, and John Qualen.

After the game gets going with the whole town just hanging on word of every hand, a very tired trio of pilgrims, Henry Fonda, Joanne Woodward, and their child Gerald Michenaud arrive in town. They are a sorry trio, especially Fonda who would be a candidate for Gamblers Anonymous if such a thing existed in 1900. Fonda just asks if he could watch, kind of like Arthur O'Connell who hasn't got the price of favors at the bordello in There Was A Crooked Man, but the madam allows him a little fun at the keyhole for old time's sake.

Kevin McCarthy is the one who takes pity on him and in fact this is the first but not the last time he shows gallantry as a true Southern gentleman.

A Big Hand For The Little Lady is a film that's almost impossible to write about without giving away anything. I absolutely dare not go any further in talking about it.

But what A Big Hand For The Little Lady is is that it is a really original idea for a western comedy that I defy anyone to watch without enjoying it. It's not got the rough house type humor that Burt Kennedy or John Ford do in their films, but there are laughs a plenty.

This film turned out to be the farewell appearance on the big screen for Charles Bickford one of the best and most durable character actors the screen ever saw. He's kind of subdued in the film, my guess is that health problems were starting to overtake him. Still he fits the gruff part he has perfectly.

It's a fine film with a surprise twist that beats all.

Not that 7.5/10 is a horrible fan average, but this here is a whole lot better than most if not every single similar contorted film that is heralded as an absolute classic.

Why, this should be way up there at the top. It's got every ingredient needed, and is really superbly constructed, down to the little details in dialog, acting and plot.

All actors are superb in their respective, various and well defined roles. The gorgeous, warm Joanne Woodward in particular does superbly well, because it really was no easy task on paper reading the story.

While, as often, the film starts seemingly a little slow, as soon as we're introduced to the main characters it's nonstop, meaningful, captivating to the very last scene action.

Great ending too...

Top notch cinema. 8.5/10.

Joanne Woodward is one of the cinema's greatest, and most beautiful, actresses. She had all my attention from the moment she appeared on the screen, so staggeringly gorgeous that her lovely blue eyes distracted me from the real trick, that of distracting the men at the poker table while her ensemble delivered the sting to the five richest men in the region, played by Kevin McCarthy, Jason Robards, Gig Young, John Qualen and Charles Bickford.

Paul Ford, portaying an unfeeling, interest-charging banker who is supposedly charmed by Woordward's delightfully deceptive femininity and ignorance of poker, also stands out.

Great photography, very solid script with twist ending and splendid direction by Fielder Cook, better known for his TV work.

Well worth watching!

Like Frank Gilroy's From Noon Til Three(1977), A Big Hand for the Little Lady is a surprisingly enjoyable, and generally unknown western comedy. Centering around an annual poker game in the old West, the film is bolstered by a well-chosen and diverse group of veteran actors at the top of their game giving thoroughly committed performances. At 60 years old, Fonda looks great, and is a master of facial expression;no poker-face here, and Woodward is perfectly cast as his wife. The first rate ensemble features a stellar Kevin McCarthy along with Burgess Meredith, Jason Robards Jr, Charles Bickford and a delightful Paul Ford. The direction keeps what might have been static bustling. Well made film with an authentic atmosphere has a nice payoff at the end. The G-rated A Big Hand for the Little Lady gives family comedy a good name.