From the Vaults: A Big Hand for the Little Lady

I’ve never been much for Westerns in general, but there have been a few that I do think are worth seeking out, the true classics like Stagecoach, The Searchers and Silverado. I never watched TV westerns like Gunsmoke or Bonanza, so that’s probably why I never gave a thought to tuning in to the local TV broadcast of A Big Hand for the Little Lady, which seemed to be on at least once a month. I vividly remember the local station advertising their Sunday afternoon airing of that film all through my childhood, but I never so much as caught a glimpse of it.

Thanks to modern DVD technology and the folks at the Warner Archive Collection, I now have in my hands a brand-spanking new copy of the film, and I have to say … I loved it! The plot is fairly simple: five of the richest men in the Laredo territory drop everything to attend an annual high stakes poker game, and I mean everything from a daughter’s wedding to leaving a man’s fate hang in the balance in a court of law. This game means everything to them and to the curious townspeople who gather in the saloon to await news of who is ahead as the hours pass by.

A family of strangers enters the saloon (which also has rooms for rent) looking for a place to spend the night on their way to their new home, but the husband, Meredith (Henry Fonda), is drawn to the game in an unhealthy way, begging his wife Mary (Joanne Woodward) to let him just sit in and watch the game for 15 minutes. No one is ever allowed to sit in and watch, but one of the players, Otto Habershaw (Kevin McCarthy), gives him permission so he and his son watch while Mary takes their carriage to the blacksmith for repairs on some broken spokes. Hours pass and Meredith doesn’t join her, instead he dips into their savings of $4000 to buy a seat in the game. Just as he deals what appears to be the best hand he’s ever had, Meredith suffers what appears to be a heart attack, is taken away by the town’s doctor (Burgess Meredith) and gives Mary his hand to play so they don’t lose everything. Except the pot is too high and Mary doesn’t know how to play poker. Can she get enough money to continue the game and bluff her way to a win … or does she know more than she’s letting on?

I’d always seen A Big Hand for the Little Lady billed as a comedy, but it’s all very subtle. In fact, when Meredith seems to be consumed by his gambling addiction and then suffers a heart attack, the film is quite serious. But there are some laughs and when Mary joins the game, you can begin to see more humor in the situation as (SPOILER ALERT) she plays cards as well as she plays the men at the table. I could feel a huge smile cross my face as I put all the pieces of my suspicions together and realized what exactly was transpiring, and even though you should be able to see the twist coming, it’s no less enjoyable.

The 1966 film was adapted from the 1962 TV production “Big Deal in Laredo” which aired on the Dupont Show of the Week. The TV production’s biggest names were Walter Matthau as Meredith and Teresa Wright as Mary, but the film certainly upped the ante (hey, a poker reference!) by casting not only Fonda, Woodward, McCarthy, Meredith and Jason Robards, but adding the finest character actors of the time in Paul Ford, Charles Bickford, and Virginia Gregg (better known as the voice of Norman Bates’ mother), and a host of extras who all looked like they stepped right out of the Old West.

The Warner Archive Collection DVD, which is a Manufacture on Demand edition, seems to have been burned from the files used for the previously released DVD from 2007. Whatever enhancements done for that DVD release are the same on this MOD release. The 16×9, 1.85:1 image looks perfect, with nary a scratch or blemish in sight, while the darkness of the poker room shows no digital artifacts. The mono audio, mastered in Dolby Digital, also sounds perfect with voices front and center, never overpowered by music or sound effects. The MOD presentation, I would say, pretty much replicates the 2007 DVD.

I enjoy discovering older films that I have heard of but never saw, or don’t know a thing about, and after having A Big Hand for the Little Lady as part of my memories for the better part of 40 years, it’s nice to be able to finally see it, and I highly recommend checking it out for the terrific writing, direction and, above all, the amazing cast. A Big Hand for the Little Lady is a simple delight.

This review is based on the Manufacture on Demand DVD provided to CliqueClack by the Warner Archive Collection.