This movie was pure entertainment and a delight to watch. The acting was superb and the plot was clever but believable (well, at least you didn't have to suspend disbelief entirely).
The five richest men in the region have come to this western town for their annual poker game. Seemingly coincidentally, Henry Fonda and his wife (Joanne Woodward) and their 10 or 12 year old son have arrived on the same day and are staying at the same hotel. On hearing of the poker game on premises, Fonda (who has a gambling problem) asks if he can "watch." much to his wife's displeasure. She says he can watch but not play and she leaves their son to "baby sit" while she goes off an an errand.
He watches for a while but then gets into the game (over the son's objection). After 2 or 3 hours he has lost their $4,000 grubstake but has been dealt a "fantastic" hand (as has, apparently, everyone else in the game.) He can't continue betting because he has run out of money. While contemplating how he can come up with the money (through a loan or otherwise) he has a heart attack and the local doctor (played by Burgess Meredith) is called. He removes Fonda to his office by stretcher but not before Fonda gives his "hand" to his wife (who has returned from her errand.) She professes Ignorance of the game of poker but, believing she has a good hand, seeks out a local banker (played by Paul Ford) who agrees to loan her any amount of money on the strength of her hand. On hearing that the other five players reluctantly "drop our" and she wins "a big hand for the little lady."
But, that is not what really happened. What really happened was that Joanne Woodward was not a simple housewife completely ignorant of the game a poker but a card sharp in her own right who had engineered a magnificent Con Game. It was she who had hired Henry Fonda and the kid to play their parts. The doctor, Burgess Meredith, was in on the scam as was the banker Paul Ford. The other five poker players never knew what hit them.
At this time Paul Ford was very well known since he played the bumbling colonel on the Sergeant BilkoTV series.
For me, the conclusion to this movie was priceless. Apparently the doctor (Burgess Meredith) character's favorite song was "Ma Blushin Rosie." This has been one of my favorite songs ever since I first saw Larrry Parks lip-synch it and heard Al Jolson sing it in the 1946 movie "The Jolson Story." In the concluding scene in this movie Meredith tips his hat in tribute to the singer, Marilyn Powell, who, just before the credits roll, belts out a rousing version of: "Rosie, You are my posie. You are my hearts bouquet."
I loved this movie all the way through and I was in ecstasy at the end.
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Mrs J. Tilden
It is one of the best western movies
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on August 28, 2014Nice_Lieutenant
Big Hand for the Little Lady
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on August 13, 2015
