A Big Hand for the Little Lady

Comedy western in which a traveler bets more money than he can afford in a poker game, and unusual events follow.

• Director: Fielder Cook
• Genre:Comedy / Drama / Western
• Runtime:95 minutes

Cast

Henry Fonda : Meredith Joanne Woodward : Mary Jason Robards : Henry P.G. Drummond Paul Ford : C.P. Ballinger Charles Bickford: Benson Tropp

The five richest men in the territory gather in Laredo 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 begs to sit in, “just to watch,” but Mary will not hear of it. However, while she is taking the wagon to the blacksmith, Habershaw invites Meredith into the back room. 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 a woman, particularly one 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. Read more