In A Big Hand for the Little Lady (1966), Henry Fonda plays Meredith, a gambler who is trying to resist the temptation to take up the game again. As the film opens Meredith is traveling to San Antonio, Texas with his wife Mary (Joanne Woodward) and young son, Jackie (Gerald Michenaud) to buy a farm and start a new life there. Unfortunately for him, one day he comes upon an annual high-stakes poker game between Henry Drummond (Jason Robards), Benson Tropp (Charles Bickford), Dennis Wilcox (Robert Middleton), Otto Habbershaw (Kevin McCarthy), and Jesse Buford (John Qualen) in Loredo. Though his family pleads otherwise, Meredith can’t resist joining the game. He willingly pays a $1,000 entry fee, which was earmarked to help pay for the farm and represents a quarter of their life savings. Meredith keeps on gambling until his debts become higher and higher. In time, he has all $4,000 of his family’s savings in the pot and he doesn’t have the $500 needed to call the most recent bet. At that point, Mary comes charging into the poker game. While Meredith is trying to explain to his wife what’s happened, he suffers a heart attack. (The “little lady” had to take over sometime, right?) Mary, admitting she knows nothing about how to play poker, begs to take her husbands place because of her family’s dire financial situation. After much consternation, Wilcox is finally persuaded to let her leave the room with most of the other men, in order to see the local banker about giving her a loan. Convinced he’s the victim of a scam put forth by Mary and the others–the only collateral she offers is the hand of cards she holding–the banker has them thrown out. Sometime later, the banker arrives at the game and finds out that Mary and the men weren’t kidding, there was in fact a real contest going on. After giving a lecture about what a conservative investor he is, the banker announces that he will back Mary on the basis of her hand, calls the $500 and raises everyone else $5000, causing each of them to fold. Even in defeat, the men feel satisfied to have played poker with a woman who laid everything on the line for the man she loved.
A Big Hand for the Little Lady probably runs about thirty minutes too long. There are times when the dialogue drags and feels like filler. However, there is a surprise ending which I won’t reveal, that makes A Big Hand for the Little Lady a rather satisfying film.
The DVD is presented in widescreen format with English and French subtitles. The audio is in Dolby digital 5.1 surround sound and the picture is clean and crisp. There are no special features.
I’ll Cry Tomorrow (1955) stars Susan Hayward as Lillian Roth, who was a star of vaudeville and had limited success in early talkie musicals, disappeared in a haze of alcoholism and reemerge in the 1950’s with a memoir about her career and descent into the bottle. This tale of a star’s descent into despair was perfect for Hayward, who made a career out of playing deeply hurt women. Hayward was nominated for an Oscar five times in her career for playing a cripple in With a Song in My Heart and an alcoholic on three different occasions. The actress finally won the award in 1958 for her role as Barbra Graham, a woman executed in the gas chamber. Needless to say, Hayward was the perfect choice to play Ms. Roth.
Hayward plays well off Jo Van Fleet who plays her overbearing stage mother, Katie. They both spend the film flailing their arms in big emotional gestures at each other. As the film begins, Roth is a weak girl under the thumb of her overbearing mother with a weakness for the charms of men and a stiff drink. As the film moves on, things get increasingly dark. Hayward is in her element as she must deal with the (hinted) various beatings inflicted on her by her husband Tony Bardeman) Hayward convincingly takes the viewer through Lillian Roth’s descent to skid row, turn to prostitution and more. For you Hayward fans out there, I’ll Cry Tomorrow is something to see. Susan Hayward’s obvious commitment to bringing Lillian Roth’s story to life makes I’ll Cry Tomorrow a standout of this box set.
The print is crisp and clear but the sound is a bit tinny at higher levels. The special features include a short film about Lillian Roth, newsreel coverage of the films premiere and the trailer.
Rich and Famous (1981) an update of Warner Brothers 1943 film Old Acquaintance, was the last film directed by the legendary George Cukor. The movie stars Jacqueline Bisset and Candice Bergen and marks the film debut of Meg Ryan. Bisset (Liz Hamilton) and Bergen (Merry Noel Blake) friends since college have both become writers. Liz writes serious intellectual things, while Merry churns out trashy bestsellers. While Merry churns out books at a Danielle Steele like pace, Liz writes one and develops a severe case of writers block. With Liz blabbing on about honesty, Merry finally writes a serious book that is nominated for a national book award. Predictably, Liz is on the jury to decide the winner. All of a sudden, books take a backseat, when in the second half of Rich and Famous, Liz has a compulsion for strange sex and Merry tries to bribe everyone on the jury to make sure she wins the national book award.
My advice would be to see Old Acquaintance starring Miriam Hopkins and Bette Davis. It’s a much better film without the choppy dialogue and gratuitous sex scenes. It’s too bad that this had to be Cukor’s last film, he deserved better.
The picture is clean and crisp and the sound is good. The special features include a vintage featurette: “On Location with Rich and Famous” and the theatrical trailer.
Shoot the Moon (1982) starring Diane Keaton (Faith Dunlap) and Albert Finney (George Dunlap) is about the disintegration of a marriage and it’s effect on the parents and their four children. While accepting an award for his latest book at a banquet, George is effusive in his praise for his wife. However, when he kisses her as he returns to the table Faith realizes he’s having an affair. After an emotional confrontation the next morning, George leaves the house with bags Faith had packed the night before. George goes to live with his mistress Sandy, who loves him but is not fully committed to the relationship. Meanwhile Faith makes the acquaintance of a laborer, Frank Henderson (Peter Weller). Now, with his life in flux, George begins to appreciate the job Faith has been doing as a mother and longs to take a more active role in their daily lives. The acting in Shoot the Moon is superb. Though the viewer isn’t given specific details of what led to the marital strife, the pain of all family members is clearly laid to bare.
The audio and picture on the DVD is clear and clean. Shoot the Moon includes commentary by the films director Alan Parker and screenwriter Bo Goldman. It is nice to see such a rarely seen but well crafted film finally available on DVD.
Up the Down Staircase (1967) stars Sandy Dennis (Sylvia Barrett) as a young, idealistic teacher in the New York City public school system trying to deal with unruly students who don’t want to learn. Up the Down Staircase was definitely a precursor to movies like Stand and Deliver and Lean on Me. While Staircase seems a bit dated when viewed today, the film still has several positive points. Sandy Dennis gives an outstanding performance that is fascinating to watch. Dennis lets her facial expressions show all of the anger and frustration Sylvia has over not being able to handle the job. The storyline itself is predictable; just as she is ready to quit, Miss Barrett finds that she has made a difference in the life of one student. Viola! She tears up her resignation and decides to walk “up the down staircase” and have faith in her student’s ability to succeed.
The audio and video of this DVD are good. Up the Down Staircase includes the original theatrical trailer.
