William Brighenti How can a film fail with nine great actors and actresses! Henry Fonda, Joanne Woodward, Jason Robards, Paul Ford, Charles Bickford, Burgess Meredith, Kevin McCarthy, Robert Middleton, John Qualen; and there are other fine, if not great, performances by other actors and actresses in the movie as well.My personal favorite performances in this movie are rendered by Jason Robards, Paul Ford, Burgess Meredith, and Kevin McCarthy. I loved the scene when Robards returns home and offers his future son- in-law an hilarious choice. But there are little touches that are unforgettable: when Burgess Meredith blows a kiss to the sensuous curvaceous entertainer, played by Marilyn Powell, while singing seductively and enticingly, "My Little Poesy", to banjo music, no less. It doesn't get any better than this!"How many good women have you met in your life?" Only McCarthy dares to answer Circe's riddle: "one."

ma-cortes This is an ironic and sarcastic comedy Western with extraordinary roster of character actor , centering in poker game , a marathon in city of Laredo . This is picture set in the old west , a tale that adds comedy , emotion , and a rich sense of humor to make the picture a funny and entertaining flick . It tells the story of a poker game which is deemed the most important in the West for the amount of money bets , personality and social highlight of the players (Jason Robards , Kevin McCarthy , John Qualen , Robert Middleton) , and for its long tradition , sixteen years ; as they regularly meet once year in the location , date and time agreed . Rule of the game is the following : you must sit in from the beginning and it's the wildest poker game in the west . The event raises great expectations and the winner becomes a folk hero of legend . There arrives a traveler (Henry Fonda) who bets more money than he can afford in the poker game , and unusual events follow , as he fails to overcome his penchant for gambling . Then , his wife (Joanne Woodward) , a strong woman , ready to defend her rights until the end .This enjoyable film contains humor , irony , tongue-in-check and results to be an agreeable caper plenty of close-ups and irrelevancies . The script of the film is an ironic and sarcastic story with an all-star-cast giving magnificent acting who make up the yarn , including a neat surprise final , too . The dialogue is amusing , short and accurate , with artful twists free of traps and full of surprises . The combination of suspense and humor is perfectly achieved : both factors are complementary . This movie was initially written for television as "Big Deal in Laredo", in fact , this started life as a 48 minute teleplay by screen-writer Sidney Carroll . Director Fielder Cook manages to recreate a powerful story , told with great austerity , but that keeps us interested until the ending . ¨Big Hand for a Little Lady¨ and ¨The Sting¨ (1973) are both movies about swindling big shot gamblers who were used to swindling unsuspecting players ; these two movies are also connected by the actors who starred in them . The film has a top-notch cast , as Joanne Woodward as the ¨Little Lady¨ who uses her feminine shrewdness to scoop the pot , Henry Fonda as her husband shows modest and emotional attitude , and plunges us into a dramatic character which threatens all our hopes . And with them , Jason Robards , Kevin McCarthy , John Qualen , Paul Ford , Robert Middleton , Burgess Meredith , all of them manage to give the best result to a bemusing flick . Furthermore , brief apparitions from James Griffith , Virginia Gregg , Milton Selzer , and veteran Mae Clarke . This film provides the final film of Charles Bickford , and ending screen appearance of comedian Chester Conklin, who had appeared in about 300 movies from 1913 .Colorful as well as evocative cinematography by Lee Garmes . Atmospheric and appropriate musical score by David Raskin who previously composed the classic soundtrack for ¨Laura¨ . The motion picture was well written and directed by Fielder Cook , he was an usual filmmaker for TV , in fact , several of his 1970s productions were originally televised on the "Hallmark Hall of Fame" and occasionally for cinema such as ¨Patterns¨, ¨Seize the day¨ , ¨Eagle in a Cage¨ and this ¨A big hand for the Little lady¨. .

fimimix After an extremely frustrating evening, I stumbled onto TCM's presentation of "A Big Hand for the Little Lady". WOW ! what a pleasure it was to see a wonderful movie I've been looking for, for a long time.This movie has everything a movie needs. I truly can't understand how some users thought it was too long, and was "slow". It does take time for all the characters - with such a stellar cast ! - to be developed, and the story to build, you know ! Does everything HAVE to happen all at once? AND, I don't think those guys who say the plot-twists were obvious......sure fooled me ! Fielder Cook (TV-director or not) got the best performances out of his cast, from the brilliant script by Sidney Carroll. Henry Fonda ("Meredith") and Joanne Woodward ("Mary") headed a cast to die for and played their roles with total conviction. Jason Robards, Paul Ford, Charles Bickford, Burgess Meredith, Kevin MacCarthy, Robert Middleton and John Qualen, et al, were as good as a cast can be - everyone delivering solid characters.Shame on those users who wrote too much and gave-away the plot. This is a film to enjoy - get involved in - every minute. Nothing is wasted in this production. It should be in every collection, even ones for families. I'm looking for it, beginning right now. I rate it as 20.This movie is one of those which deserves to be given another release, with all the hoopla - Bravo!

jimbenben I recall seeing the TV version of this when I was a kid. In that version, the "son" was revealed to be an adult performer from a circus. In the movie, the son is clearly identified as a child but there is still a comment from Henry Fonda that they need to return him to the circus. That never makes sense to me. Without the plot twist that he is an adult, what does the circus have to do with anything? And why would the child be handling the cash? That only makes sense if he is actually an adult. Has anybody else wondered about this plot point, or am I over-analyzing? (Also, is there a cast list for the TV version or has that been lost? I don't find it on IMDb. In my memory, the "son" was played by the same young actor in both versions... but it's been too long for me to be certain of that.)