Aces and Eights (1936)

Director:

Sam Newfield

Writer:

George Arthur Durlam (story)

Release Date:

6 June 1936 (USA)

Genre:

Western

Tagline:

Gentleman Tim Deals A Death Hand In A Crooked Game!

Plot:

A cardsharp comes to the aid of a Mexican family.

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Debt | California | False Accusation | Actor Shares First Name With Character

Cast

Tim McCoy	...	'Gentleman' Tim Madigan
Luana Walters	...	Juanita Hernandez
Rex Lease	...	Jose Hernandez
Wheeler Oakman	...	Ace Morgan
J. Frank Glendon	...	Amos Harden (as Frank Glendon)
Charles Stevens	...	Captain de Lopez
Earle Hodgins	...	Marshal (as Earl Hodgins)
Jimmy Aubrey	...	Sidekick Lucky
Joseph W. Girard	...	Don Julio Hernandez (as Joseph Girard)

Runtime:

62 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Approved (MPAA rating: certificate #2116)

Company:

Puritan Pictures Corporation

Goofs:

Miscellaneous: The bartender in two separate saloon scenes, can be heard asking patrons "another one?" every five seconds.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Lucky: [rolls dice into his hand] Ah! Lucky day!
Juanita Hernandez: It is indeed a lucky day for the house of Hernandez.

"Mister, when you dealt yourself that pair of aces you forgot and dealt me three"

This low-budget oater opens with a brief prologue featuring Wild Bill Hickok (Karl Hackett), who was shot in the back and killed while holding a poker hand of a pair of aces and a pair of eights, before showing our hero Gentleman Tim Madigan (Tim McCoy) winning a game with the very same hand. Madigan is a somewhat ambiguous hero who dresses sharply and knows all the card sharp's tricks. He can also tear a pack of cards into four, which is pretty impressive. He also never uses a gun, choosing instead to simply disarm anyone who aims one at him.

Together with his sidekick Lucky (Jimmy Aubrey, probably the only Liverpudlian you're ever likely to see in a western), Gentleman Tim gets involved in foiling a plan by a local bar owner and his partner to swindle a Spanish ranch owner out of his property. The film is fairly good for a low budget effort, with decent acting from the leading man. The modest nature of the budget shows through every now and then, though; for example, the background crowd noise during the final poker game between Tim and the bar owner is clearly a loop which repeats every five seconds or so. Despite this, the film is reasonably enjoyable, with the only drawback being the wooden acting of the female lead Luana Walters, who fortunately only has about five minutes screen time. Walters went on to feature in a further sixty films over the next twenty-four years, though, so I guess she must have had something going for her.