Aces and Eights

The title refers to the "dead man's hand" which was held by Wild Bill Hickok when he was gunned down during a poker game, and which plays an important part in this limply directed Western which fortunately stars the always poised Tim McCoy, whose piercing glances enfeeble his rivals in his portrayal of "Gentleman" Tim Madigan, an unethical gambler whose finer instincts cause him to assist a beleaguered Mexican family near the California/Nevada border. Madigan survives by his wits as he carries no gun and is given some clever lines, from the uneven screenplay, which McCoy delivers with aplomb, stealing the acting honors with ease in this rather subdued example of the genre, wherein recovery is the keyword: of pride, honor and property.