A Big Hand for the Little Lady

Meredith, a farmer who once played poker seriously, travels across Texas with his wife Mary and their young son, hoping to buy a farm with the family's savings. Stopping in Laredo, he finds the town hosting its annual high-stakes poker marathon, attended by the wealthiest men in the region, among them the wealthy Henry Drummond. Against Mary's objections, Meredith joins the game and puts the family's money on the line.

Fielder Cook directed and produced the film, his first feature, followed by Neighbors in 1971. Sidney Carroll wrote the screenplay. Henry Fonda and Joanne Woodward play the couple, with Jason Robards, Paul Ford, Charles Bickford and Burgess Meredith among the players and onlookers. The film, a Western running 95 minutes, was made by Warner Bros. Pictures with Eden Productions Inc. and released in June 1966.

Audience response has stayed favorable over the decades: on IMDb it holds 7.3/10 from about 5,100 votes, and on TMDB 7.1/10 from a smaller group of 86. Both figures point to a modest, well-regarded title rather than a widely seen one, its reputation resting on the poker-table premise and the cast.