a5c7b9f00b Tim Madigan (Tim McCoy), gentleman gambler who never carries a gun, exposes a card sharp cheating Jose Hernandez (Red Lease.) Later, the gambler is shot after being knocked unconscious by Tim. Through circumstances, Jose thinks he did the killing, while Marshal Tom Barstow (Earle Hodgins) thinks Tim is the guilty party.Tim takes refuge at the ranch of Don Hernandez (Joseph Girard) and his daughter Juanita (Luana Walters), not knowing the youth he befriended is the runaway son of the family. Saloon owner Amos Harden (J. Frank Glendon) and gambler Ace Morgan (Wheeler Oakman), who sat in on the card game preceding the murder, are plotting to acquire the Hernandez ranch by means of a forged document. Harassed by the Marshal, who is seeking to unravel the murder mystery, Tim persuades Jose to return home. Tim then wins enough in a poker game with Harden and Morgan to save the Hernandez ranch. He stakes his winnings against Harden's saloon and wins with aces-and-eights, known throughout the West as the hand held by Wild Bill Hickok when he was killed by Jack McCall. A cardsharp comes to the aid of a Mexican family. Director: SAM NEWFIELD. Screenplay: Joseph O'Donnell. Story and continuity; George Arthur Durlam. Photography: Jack Greenhalgh, James Diamond. Film editors: John English, Robert Jahns. Assistant director: William O'Connor. Sound recording: Hans Weeren. Producers: Sigmund Neufeld, Leslie Simmonds. <br/><br/>A Puritan Pictures Corp. Production, presented by Bernard Smith. U.S. release: 6 June 1936. 62 minutes. <br/><br/>SYNOPSIS: Gambler McCoy reforms when he meets up with square-shooting Marshal Hodgins and a courteous senorita, Luana Walters.<br/><br/>COMMENT: As is often the case in "B" westerns, all the action is saved for the climax. Despite this lack of action, however, the card-sharping plot promised by the title does maintain the interest, although sometimes it's a little difficult to follow. <br/><br/>A half-hearted murder mystery doesn't help, nor does the similarity between the two villains, Wheeler Oakman and John Merton. Fortunately, Tim McCoy is his usual charismatic self and is given great support here from the likes of Earl Hodgins and Jimmy Aubrey. While no sane person would go so far as to say "Aces and Eights" is a great film, it is a bit better than average for a B-series western. That's because unlike most westerns (and Hollywood made 130234482734 of them), the plot is pretty unusual. What's most unusual is that the hero (Tim McCoy) plays a professional gambler–a first that I can recall. With B-series westerns, usually the hero (Roy Rogers, Gene Autry and the like) plays a government agent or rancher or ranch hand…never a gambler. But, like other heroes, he's a honest professional gambler and what he often does is expose the crooked ones and dispense justice without even using a gun. Apparently, Tim had hands of steel and could just about crush the hands of anyone attempting to shoot him.<br/><br/>The film begins with just such a situation–Tim sees that the man gambling with him is cheating by dealing himself aces. When he confronts the guy and they are about to come to blows, the Sheriff suggests they go outside and settle it (I presume to kill each other). But Tim does NOT kill him–just threatens him and leaves. But an unseen hand from behind a tree is waiting. And, when one of the gambler's victims then confronts him, a shot rings out–and the evil gambler is killed. Who did it? Well, at first blame rests on Tim–who is forced to run.<br/><br/>Once on the run, Tim meets the family of the man who THINKS he shot the gambler (his gun DID go off but the guy behind the tree really killed him). Then, thanks to Tim, he saves the family fortune and reunites the young man with his grieving father and sister. And, in the end, all is well and the perpetrator of the foul deed is exposed.<br/><br/>I liked Tim McCoy's acting–it was simple and direct. The story was good as well–and quite entertaining. For a B-series film, it's among the better ones I've seen. Oh, and by the way, the title refers to a pair of aces and a pair of eights–the same hand held by Wild Bill Hickok when he was shot in the back while gambling.
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