{"id":41036,"date":"2018-10-05T13:55:27","date_gmt":"2018-10-05T20:55:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=41036"},"modified":"2020-11-27T22:58:13","modified_gmt":"2020-11-28T05:58:13","slug":"big-street-the-1942","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=41036","title":{"rendered":"Big Street, The (1942)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;Love is something that gives you one room, two chins, and three kids.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Big-Street-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Big-Street-Poster-203x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"203\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-41039\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Big-Street-Poster-203x300.jpg 203w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Big-Street-Poster-87x128.jpg 87w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Big-Street-Poster.jpg 338w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 203px) 100vw, 203px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nWith the help of his gambling friends, a hopelessly smitten busboy (Henry Fonda) cares for a narcissistic showgirl (Lucille Ball) after she&#8217;s paralyzed by her brutish boyfriend (Barton MacLane) in an accident. He arranges to push her in a wheelchair from New York to Florida to see her former suitor (William Orr) &#8212; but will Ball ever learn to appreciate the sacrifices Fonda is making?\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Agnes Moorehead Films<\/li>\n<li>Disabilities<\/li>\n<li>Gangsters<\/li>\n<li>Henry Fonda Films<\/li>\n<li>Lucille Ball Films<\/li>\n<li>Obsessive Love<\/li>\n<li>Road Trip<\/li>\n<li>Showgirls<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nDamon Runyon produced this dark fairy tale (based on his own short story &#8220;Little Pinks&#8221;) taking place in a unique milieu of kindly gamblers and gangsters with oddly articulate speech (as noted by the New York Times, &#8220;the weirdly named touts, gamblers, racketeers and hoodlums continue to distill an inordinate amount of homely humor from a too meticulous use of the English language&#8221;). There are plenty of Runyon-esque quirks to be had &#8212; including the presence of Agnes Moorehead as a competitive eater who meets her portly soulmate (Eugene Pallette) during the film&#8217;s opening sequences:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Big-Street-Moorehead.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Big-Street-Moorehead.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"540\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-55403\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Big-Street-Moorehead.png 720w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Big-Street-Moorehead-300x225.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Big-Street-Moorehead-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Big-Street-Moorehead-360x270.png 360w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p> &#8212; but it&#8217;s challenging to feel much enthusiasm for hapless Fonda, whose blind adoration simply comes across as tragically misplaced gallantry. Ball&#8217;s character is intentionally bitchy, and despite her brutal accident, we don&#8217;t feel much sympathy for her until the very end:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Big-Street-End.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Big-Street-End.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"540\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-55404\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Big-Street-End.png 720w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Big-Street-End-300x225.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Big-Street-End-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Big-Street-End-360x270.png 360w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>In fact, as written, she&#8217;s a downright unpleasant character to spend time with. According to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/title\/2428\/the-big-street#articles-reviews?articleId=147399\">TCM&#8217;s article<\/a>, Andy Warhol apparently referred to this as &#8220;the sickest film ever made&#8221;, and I suppose that case could be made &#8212; it&#8217;s easy to imagine John Waters turning this into an even darker and blacker &#8220;comedy&#8221;, starring Divine in the leading role. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Russell Metty&#8217;s cinematography<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Big-Street-Fonda.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Big-Street-Fonda.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"540\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-41038\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Big-Street-Fonda.png 720w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Big-Street-Fonda-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Big-Street-Fonda-300x225.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Big-Street-Ball.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Big-Street-Ball.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"540\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-41040\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Big-Street-Ball.png 720w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Big-Street-Ball-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Big-Street-Ball-300x225.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\" \/><\/a>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nNo; I&#8217;d say this one is only must-see for Lucille Ball or Damon Runyon fans. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0034514\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1942\/08\/14\/archives\/at-the-palace.html\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/title\/2428\/the-big-street#articles-reviews?articleId=147399\">TCM Article<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Love is something that gives you one room, two chins, and three kids.&#8221; Synopsis: With the help of his gambling friends, a hopelessly smitten busboy (Henry Fonda) cares for a narcissistic showgirl (Lucille Ball) after she&#8217;s paralyzed by her brutish boyfriend (Barton MacLane) in an accident. He arranges to push her in a wheelchair from New York to Florida to see her former suitor (William Orr) &#8212; but will Ball ever learn to appreciate the sacrifices Fonda is making? Genres,&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=41036\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41036","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41036","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=41036"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41036\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55405,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41036\/revisions\/55405"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=41036"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=41036"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=41036"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}