The Big Street
by Irving Reis
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Agnes Moorehead, Barton MacLane, Eugene Pallette, Henry Fonda, Lucille BallDirector: Irving Reis
Brand: Warner Brothers
Cinematographer: Russell Metty
Editor: William Hamilton
Producer: Damon Runyon
Writer: Damon Runyon
Writer: Leonard Spigelgass
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 1.0; English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled)
Format: Black & White, Full Screen, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 88 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2007-06-19
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Turner Home Ent
Movie Reviews of The Big Street
Movie Review: Extremely odd film with some interesting performances...
Summary: 3 Stars
I actually had pretty high hopes for The Big Street when I discovered that it's based on a Damon Runyon short story since I'm a huge fan of his work, and Guys and Dolls is one of my all-time favorite shows. Runyon had quite a knack for creating hilarious, quirky, and unforgettable characters. I haven't read the short story "Little Pinks" that was the basis for this film, but after watching Street I have to think the story works better in print versus on-screen. Lucille Ball's pre-television screen roles are actually pretty interesting, primarily because the roles are usually the antithesis of the flamboyant comedienne she later became known and loved for through the I Love Lucy show. That said, Lucy's character, Gloria, in The Big Street is almost shocking because she's so selfish and unlikable. Henry Fonda's character only compounds the difficulty of relating to anyone in this movie at all - his timid busboy "Pinks" is so slavishly devoted Gloria for no apparent reason that when I wasn't repulsed by Gloria's meanness I wanted to smack Pinks upside the head with a baseball bat for being such a doormat. Apparently it's not enough to have Fonda and Ball play so extremely against type, because about halfway through the movie completely jumps the shark and veers into the realm of insanity when Pinks pushes Gloria from NEW YORK CITY to FLORIDA in her wheelchair. I kid you not. Yet I can't call this movie completely bad - it's more freakishly bizarre. I have to give Fonda and Ball credit for giving these roles, which now seem so antithetical to their commonly known screen personas, their all. My favorite appearances are by Agnes Moorehead as Pinks' friend Violette and Eugene Pallette as Nicely-Nicely Johnson (of Guys and Dolls fame). It's a real treat especially to see Moorehead play such a sweetheart since she's typically cast in more "prickly" roles. The Big Street is so incredibly odd and off-beat it was interesting to watch once (I'll give it this, I was engaged in that way you are when you spend the whole time staring at the screen going "I don't believe this!!"), but it's not a film I'll be revisiting. The quality of the picture is terrific, and there are two extras - the "Calling All Girls" short (rather boring) and a cutesy cartoon, "The Hep Cat," which holds the distinction of being the first Looney Tunes cartoon in color.
Summary of The Big Street
Gloria known for dating only the rich breaks up with Case Ables (Barton MacLane) for the wealthier Decatur Reed (William T. Orr). Case in turn throws Gloria down a set of stairs causing her never to walk again. "Little Pinks" (Henry fonda) comes to the rescue sending her flowers and paying her bills even though Gloria wants nothing of him.Runtime: 88 minFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre:?TELEVISION/CLASSIC Rating:?NR UPC:?053939782325 Manufacturer No:?T7823With a curious mix of comedy and melodrama, The Big Street features Lucille Ball in one of the best roles of her big-screen career. Playing up her image as a brassy gal who knows what she wants, Lucy's got a hard shell and a soft heart as Gloria Lyons, a self-centered nightclub singer who looks down upon the "little people" who enthusiastically support her career--none more than Augustus "Little Pinks" Pinkerton (Henry Fonda), a doting busboy so smitten with Gloria that he's willing to put up with her dismissive and blustery behavior. (If the movie has a major weakness, it's Pinkerton's puppy-like devotion; this is an unusually wimpy role for Fonda, whose character seems a little too tolerant of Gloria's abuse.) When Gloria is paralyzed after her mobster boss (Barton MacLane) knocks her down a flight of stairs, "Little Pinks" does all he can to speed her recovery, aided by friends and colleagues played by a fine supporting cast of RKO regulars including Agnes Moorehead, Ray Collins, and Eugene Pallette.
Lucy's character may be unlikable but her performance is not; it's refreshing to see the future TV sitcom queen as a sassy and selfish diva, and Lucy gives the role a subtle dimension of sympathetic appeal. And while the movie's pitiful depiction of disability is typically maudlin from a more enlightened present-day perspective, The Big Street is noteworthy as a Damon Runyon production, based on Runyon's short story "Little Pinks" (originally published in Collier's magazine) and featuring several of the characters (like Pallette's Nicely-Nicely Johnson) who were later immortalized in Guys and Dolls and other tales of Runyonesque folly. With a strangely downbeat ending, The Big Street may not be a crowd-pleaser, but it's certainly worth watching as an unconventional showcase for its popular costars. Also available in The Lucille Ball Film Collection, this DVD includes two Warner Bros. short subjects from 1942: "Calling All Girls" is a 19-minute Vitaphone showcase for the lavish choreography of Busby Berkeley, featuring highlights from several major Broadway and Hollywood musicals; and "The Hep Cat" is a typically wacky "Merrie Melodies" cartoon, in which the title character will do just about anything to impress the kittenish object of his feline desires. --Jeff Shannon
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