Customer Reviews

The Big Street

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a wonderful movie if you are interested in seeing a different side of Lucille Ball. She is absolutely wonderful, yet there is not a single thing funny about her character. She is cold, mean, and stubborn...but Lucy potrays the character brilliantly. you can truly see her talent as a dramatic actress in this movie. It's a tear jerker and a must for all Lucy fans.

This is a great movie, great acting, the best of the best stars and a perfect plot. See Lucy at her best, and Fonda so wonderful. You will love this movie and won't leave the room until it ends..........5 stars

Lucille Ball's performance shines in this intense drama. You'll not find the bumbling clown she is known for in the movie.

In 1942, 31 year-old Lucille Ball got her first major dramatic role as Gloria Lyons, the selfish, arrogant moll of Barton McLane. Lucy is crippled as a result of McLane slapping her around and finds a devoted admirer in Henry Fonda as "Little Pinks"... Lucy was very excited about acquiring this part and even went to Charles Laughton and his wife Elsa Lanchester for advice on how to interpret Gloria. Henry Fonda wasn't impressed with Ball's acting style at all and he would make statements such as "You're not going to play her like THAT -- are you"? - much to Lucy's intimidation and dismay. Incredibly, Lucy had already been in Hollywood for 9 years when this meaty role was offered her. Ball received mostly positive reviews from the critics, but the movie was not a financial success at the box-office. Charming, touching and often funny in parts, this Damon Runyon vehicle wavers from good to too sticky. Although I'm a tried-and-true Lucy fan, I'm in total agreement ... that this IS a rather oddball film. THE BIG STREET has long been hailed as Lucy's best dramatic venture but I much prefer her serious performances in LURED (1947), THE DARK CORNER (1946) & DANCE, GIRL, DANCE (1940)...

I loved this movie! This was a Lucy I was not used to and she was great in it. Henry Fonda was his usual excellent self. I totally recommend this movie to all die hard Lucy fans!!!

Hi,

This was a very good movie. The supporting cast is very well developed and you care about everyone because of this. For me it was a very touching movie. It had an unusual plot and fine performaces by Lucy and Henry Fonda.

Try to not read too much about it so the plot is not spoiled for you.

Highly recommended.

Kevin

It's great to be able to watch this movie alone or with friends. I think Henry Fonda should have won an Oscar for this, and Lucille Ball showed real acting skills instead of her well known superb humor.

There are very few words that can properly discribe this movie. Odd tops that list. However, odd doesn't neccessarily mean bad. The story centers around a young star-struck bus-boy nicknamed "Pink" who is infatuated by glamours nightclub-singer Gloria Lions (Lucille Ball). In a strange and bizzare set of events Mrs. Lions loses the use of her lower extremities. Pink takes the rude Mrs. Lions into his home to help her recouperate. Deciding she doesn't like the cold of New York, Mrs. Lions (often reffered to as "Your Majesty") makes Pink push her to Florida in her wheelchair. Once down there Gloria tries to attract the intrest of the local billonair. In a final attempt to cheer up Mrs. Lions, Pink throws her a large party.

For the most part this is a very predictable film. Except for, of course, the sudden lapses of sanity (like the 1000+ mile hike from New York to Florida). Despite that, however, it makes for an enjoyable film.

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.

The sound quality is kind of poor - I kept wanting to tell them to SPEAK UP PLEASE! But other than that, the movie was clear. It was "funny" seeing Lucy play the dramatic role...