Movie: A Big Hand for the Little Lady

This Review Reveals Minor Details About the Plot.

Ante up!

Plot Overview

Defense attorney Otto Habershaw (Kevin McCarthy) cuts short his closing argument and exits the court­house leaving his client Owy's neck in the noose. Cattleman Henry Drummond (Jason Robards) splits from his daughter's wedding at the “love, honor and obey” line. A cattle broker nixes a big sale for his client being half an hour late. They high­tail it over to Sam Rhine's hotel in Black Creek for the annual high stakes poker tourna­ment played by the five richest hombres in the sur­roun­dings. To the question of them being, “All such gallant gentlemen,” Drummond replies, “Yeah, we're gallant on Sunday. This is Friday, and we're playing poker.” The town doctor Joseph Scully (Burgess Meridith) complains about the mortician who's playing, “If you're the richest under­taker in Texas, you're entitled to a fancy rig, but if you spend your days and nights trying to keep people alive, you ride around in the likes of this [decrepid carriage].” Sparrow the stage driver remarks: “I wouldn't play poker with Henry Drummond if his back was to a mirror! Even if I had the money!” But for the most part the town seems content with their lot, even cheering the players.

A settler family on their way to Laredo, Texas arrives by covered wagon needing a black­smith. While the woman Mary (Joanne Woodward) tends to it down the street, the man Meredith (Henry Fonda) sits in on the game with their life savings that he proceeds to squander—even with his hanky suspic­iously passing over his cards. As dealer he asks for a new deck. When he chokes on a pot grown astro­nomical, the doctor is sent for. When the brown-eyed boy Jackie Meredith (Gerald Michenaud) tries to hurry the doctor along, “Doc, they're playing,” he responds with, “So am I, my boy. So am I.” The boy's “parents” both had blue eyes. In 1907 it was discovered that brown was a dominant trait unable to be inherited from both parents being blue-eyed. A couple of contem­porary record cylinders played here: “Ma Blushin' Rosie” and “Hello My Baby” both came out around 1900. The boy was a ringer, the doc in on it, and the over­confident players unable to catch it, what­ever it was.

Mary a rube of the first order is left to play her sick husband's hand—a peek shows it to be weak. She goes across the street to the Cattle and Merchants bank and using feminine logic persuades the bank manager C.P. Ballinger (Paul Ford) to stake her. It's not for nothing the players had a policy of no women.

Ideology

The apostle Paul enjoins (1Tim. 2:9-10) “that women adorn them­selves in modest apparel, with shame­faced­ness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array; But (which becometh women pro­fes­sing godli­ness) with good works.” “Shame­faced­ness” has to do with being embar­rassed, as was Drummond's daughter having to keep her wedding gown on multiple days, because it was considered bad luck to remove it before the wedding was done. The relevant note in my Franklin Electronic Bible reads, “Early printer's error for ‘shame­fast­ness’, which means modesty of character.” The New Cambridge Paragraph Bible restores the original ‘shame­fast­ness’, and the ASV retains it, too.

Bible translators being mostly men diddle around with clothing epithets not necessarily under­standing the repercussions; their goal is enough variegation to make their translation unique, to acquire a copyright necessary to sell their product. The difficulty in getting it right is illustrated in a Stephanie Perkins novel:

“Who can tell me one of the problems translators face?”

Rashmi raises her hand. “Well, most words have different meanings.”

“Good,” Professeur Cole says. “More. Elaborate.”

“Well,” Rashmi says. “It's the translator's job to determine which definition the author means. And not only that, but there could be other meanings in relation to the context.”

“So what you're saying,” Professeur Cole says, “is that the translator has a lot of decisions to make. That there are multiple meanings to be found in any word, in any sentence. In any situation.” (332)

An example of the worst in attire is being moderately modest as updated by the NKJV. The modernized New King James Version (NKJV) opts for a simplified vocabulary, (1 Tim. 2:9) “that women adorn them­selves in modest apparel, with propriety and moderation.”

Mary was modestly attired from head to toe, her hair covered by a full bonnet. She was modest of character who having discussed her husband's gambling addiction with him, left the decision about it up to his discretion. She was the one and only “good woman” Drummond had ever met. Being implicated in “cheating” she responded it wasn't cheating per se but “bluffing” within the parameters of the game. Right.

A diva at the saloon was dressed immodestly, for their time, showing a little cleavage and a lot of shoulder. Ruby, C.P.'s wife, was moderately modest in her dress—per the NKJV—showing the same slight cleavage but no bare shoulders. She was also moderately modest of character having consented to her husband's demand that she give up gambling, which she did but contrarily only for a time.

Production Values

“” (1966) was directed by Fielder Cook. It was written by Sidney Carroll. It stars Henry Fonda, Joanne Wood­ward and Jason Robards. Also featured are Paul Ford, James Berwick Kevin McCarthy, John Qualen, Robert Middleton, and Burgess Meredith, with brief appear­ances by James Griffith, Virginia Gregg, Milton Selzer, and Mae Clarke. This movie's cast was great with Woodward, Fonda, and Robards particularly impressive.

Certificate was approved per artistic standards of the time. The script was plum full of irony & sarcasm, women receiving the brunt of it contrary to modern political correctness. Colorful as well as evocative cinema­tog­raphy was done by Lee Garmes. An atmos­pheric and approp­riate musical score was composed by David Raskin. Runtime is 1 hour 35 minutes.

Review Conclusion w/a Christian's Recommendation

A man was seen having relied on God and failed to stay on the “poker wagon.” Shoulda given temptation a wider berth. This is an eminently funny movie with material comedians generally avoid any­more. It's a fun western with a major twist towards the end. Tolerable for children but not for some adults.

Movie Ratings

Action Factor: Weak action scenes. Suitability for children: Passed rating. Special effects: Well, at least you can't see the strings. Video Occasion: Good for Groups. Suspense: Keeps you on the edge of your seat. Overall movie rating: Four stars out of five.

Works Cited

Unless otherwise indicated, Bible quotations are from the King James Version. Pub. 1611, rev. 1769, 1873. Software.

Scripture quotation marked NKJV is from the New King James Version, Copyright © 1979 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Print.

Franklin note is from “The Bible Word Book,” R. Bridges and L. Weigle, Thomas Nelson 1960.

Perkins, Stephanie. Anna and the French Kiss. Copyright © 2010 by Stephanie Perkins. New York: the Penguin Group, Speak edition, 2013. Print.