The Big Street (1942) User Reviews

The Heart of Broadway

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 24 October 2006]

Years before Damon Runyon got Broadway and screen immortality with Guys and Dolls, one of his short stories was adapted for the silver screen concerning the unrequited love of a bus boy for a Broadway entertainer. That story was The Big Street and the title is named for the street that Runyon chronicled, Broadway.

Though The Big Street got good reviews for its stars Henry Fonda and Lucille Ball, the subject matter was way too much of a downer for mass audience appeal. The plot as it is tells the story of Little Pinks who is madly in love with this nightclub entertainer who being the mistress of gangster Barton MacLane, can't see him for beans and wouldn't look up from the table to try.

That all changes when MacLane slaps her so hard she falls down a flight of stairs and becomes paralyzed. All abandon her then and in truth she didn't exactly near and endear herself to too many. That is except for Fonda and the Broadway characters he lines up to give her a helping hand.

A movie like The Big Street could not be made today because we don't have the rich assortment of character players to entertain us. The people Damon Runyon created were made for such performers as Sam Levene, Ray Collins, Millard Mitchell, etc. And of course the two best performers who steal the film from the leads when they're on are Agnes Moorehead and Eugene Palette. Moorehead didn't do too much comedy and her gift for it would not be tapped again until she was Endora in Bewitched.

Lady for a Day and Guys and Dolls enjoyed much greater success because they were done in a comic vein. My guess is that is what people expect when they see Damon Runyon on a theater program credit.

Still The Big Street is nicely-nicely done as Eugene Palette and Stubby Kaye would say.

Her Highness and the Busboy

[lugonian · 7/10 · 17 May 2006]

THE BIG STREET (RKO Radio, 1942), directed by Irving Reis, from the story by Damon Runyan, who also produced, stars Henry Fonda and Lucille Ball in a very offbeat film. It's a variation of sorts to W. Somerset Maugham's "Of Human Bondage," in focusing upon an egotistic, arrogant woman loved by an ever caring young man addressing her as "her highness," and taking all the verbal abuse he can handle. While the woman is question might have been played to the liking of overly melodramatic leading ladies as Bette Davis or Ida Lupino, it's surprisingly acted by comedienne Lucille Ball in a performance that can not be categorized as her best movie, but certainly the greatest acting challenge of her career.

The first half of the story is set in New York City around the busy district of Broadway, better known as "The Big Street," where various characters, obtaining typically yet unusual Runyan names as "Horsethief" (Sam Levine), Professor "B" (Ray Collins) and "Nicely-Nicely" (Eugene Palette), are introduced. Then comes a busboy from Mindy's Cafe called "Little Pinks" (Henry Fonda) who, during an eating contest sponsored by his employer, Case Abels (Barton MacLane), leaves his post to rescue a pekingese loose in heavy traffic belonging to Gloria Lyons (Lucille Ball), a self-centered nightclub singer and Abel's girlfriend. For neglecting his post, causing him to lose a $1,000 wager, Abels socks Pinks in the jaw for his trouble and fires him. In appreciation for saving her dog, "Thanks, kid!" Gloria provides Pinks with another job as busboy. Gloria, whose very much interested in a millionaire named Decatur Reed (William Orr), sees her opportunity in living the high life and breaking away from Abels. When she tells Abels she's walking out on him, he slaps her so forcibly, causing her fall backwards down a long flight of stairs, permanently crippling her. In spite of eye witnesses, Abels makes it known that Gloria "was drunk" and "the fall accidental." Abandoned and alone, the only one to remain loyal to Gloria is Pinks. He not only works extra hours to pay for her hospital bills, but offers her lodging in his apartment surrounded by neighbors "beneath her class." Pinks goes even further by taking her away from those long bitter New York winters by wheel-chairing and hitchhiking her down really big street to Miami, where the second half of the story is set. In spite of his good deeds, Gloria's goal is not on Pinks but in resuming her high society living by marrying rich men. Spotting Decatur Reed on the beach where she is sunbathing, the two become reacquainted, but once he finds her to be a cripple, he makes it clear he's no longer interested. This rejection causes Gloria to be bitter and nastier, even to a point of placing all the fault on Pinks. He walks out on her after she hits a nerve, by belittling his line of work. Pinks continues his busboy profession in a nightclub that so happens to be leased by Abels. When he learns that Gloria may be close to dying, Pinks weakens, comes to her aide again, doing everything possible, even to a point of stealing priceless jewelry and expensive dinner dress to offer her so she'll have the will to live and become the old girl, or "her highness" again. This, folks, is not the rest of the story. The climax, as truly moving as it is, may not earn any Academy Award nominations, but indicates how good Fonda and Ball are when it comes to something as challenging as this.

A tragic melodrama with some doses of comedy that at times puts this movie a little off balance, which is probably why the movie may not be for everyone's viewing pleasure, it's Lucille Ball, as a troubled woman, whose main problem is believing she's something she's not, who keeps the story together. By profession a comedienne, this is a welcome change of pace in her career. Those highly familiar by Ball's TV work on situation comedies, especially the legendary "I Love Lucy" (1951-57) show, will be simply surprised and amazed in her ability as an dramatic actress, even though the story gets to be a bit too much with its melodramatics and expecting its viewers to accept certain aspects that doesn't quite come off as logical. Overlooking these faults, it is Ball who has the key scenes worth noting: the expression on Gloria's face while sitting up on her hospital to find she's unable to feel and move her legs; her change of moods from laughter to tears while shivering in a cold damp apartment; and the most famous one of all set in the nightclub with the spotlight on Pinks dancing with the crippled Gloria. How this is accomplished is simply amazing and heartfelt.

Aside from singling out performances of both Fonda and Ball, the supporting players, especially Agnes Moorehead and Eugene Palette (the latter who loves to eat), come off second best in their amusing yet likable secondary couple; Ozzie Nelson and his Orchestra conducting to the tune of "Who Knows?" with dubbed vocalization on two different occasions by Ball; Louise Beavers as Gloria's maid, Ruby; along with Hans Conried, Marion Martin, Marion Martin and George Cleveland in smaller roles. While both Fonda and Ball had long and prolific careers, they didn't get to work together again until 26 years later with the domestic comedy success of YOURS, MINE AND OURS (UA, 1968).

Formerly available on video cassette in the 1990s as part of the "Lucille Ball Signature Collection," cable television broadcast history of THE BIG STREET consisted of frequent showings on American Movie Classics prior to 2001, and at present, Turner Classic Movies (**1/2) .

Lucille Ball is excellent, and in top-form.

[boy-13 · 5/10 · 22 August 1999]

This interesting story failed to make it big with audiences in its initial release, but is actually a noteworthy picture, nonetheless. This unlikely story has Henry Fonda as Little Pinks, a shy, timid busboy, who's obsessed with Lucille Ball's self-absorbed, mean-spirited torch singer. Despite her poor treatment of him, he continues to worship her. During an argument with her louse of a boyfriend, he (the boyfriend) pushes her down a flight of stairs. Paralyzed and desperate, Gloria moves in with Pinks. The wheelchair-bound diva alienates everyone around her with her anger and venomous commentary. But Pinks doesn't let it bother him. Instead the "odd couple" go on an unusual roadtrip together. He pushes her in her wheelchair all the way to Miami - pretty dumb, really !

Ball is excellent, and in top form. It's great to see her in such an unusual role (see also 1947's "Lured"). Fonda is great, too, as the innocent and smitten young man. And the rest of the cast is good; especially, the always fabulous Agnes Moorehead. Despite a good story and an excellent cast, the plot limps along at points, and the shoddy production value is unignorable. Plus, the whole "Let's push Lucy to Florida in her wheelchair" thing is utterly nuts! However, the final scene is an unforgettable melodramatic moment that is fascinating just for the fact that Ball is the center of it. It makes it worth sitting through the many drawbacks of this film just to see the ending scene.

Lucy makes a stunning bitch opposite Henry Fonda in the sentimental "Big Street"

[Emaisie39 · 29 April 2007]

"The Big Street" was not a major hit when first released but the critics at the time all noted Lucille Ball's superb star-making performance as one of the all-time nastiest women ever to reach the big screen. Lucy was already a minor star thanks to a string of popular B-grade comedies and dramas but this film cemented her stardom and brought her to MGM where she reached an early peak the next year. The film is sentimental and does have some plot points that have to be swallowed but Ball's great acting and chemistry with a splendid Fonda makes this tale of unrequited love work. Fonda plays a kind innocent busboy who falls madly in-love with a crippled chanteuse(Ball). The last scene on the dance floor is unforgettable. Why RKO did not get Lucy an Oscar nomination for this performance is a crime. All the critics at the time hailed her work in this but it just slipped under the rug when the film posted only small profits. This was the kind of role Bette Davis made her own but Ball does it without Davis' habit of falling into mannerisms. Agnes Moorehead is also excellent as Fonda's concerned friend. Beautiful cinematography makes Ball look incredible in her close-ups. Worth a look but overlook the occasional mawkish elements. Lucy makes it a must.

Dramatic role for La Lucille, who is flawless...but don't count out that supporting cast

[moonspinner55 · 7/10 · 6 August 2011]

Damon Runyon's short story "Little Pinks" is turned by RKO into a solid acting showcase for Henry Fonda and Lucille Ball, also utilizing a troupe of colorful supporting players to their best advantage. Supper-club singer in New York City is crippled in a fall--and promptly loses her free ticket into high society. The only person who still cares for her is a smitten, well-meaning busboy; he hitchhikes all the way to Miami with the wheelchair-bound chanteuse, where they cross paths again with the well-heeled gangster who caused her unfortunate accident. The melodrama inherent in the main plot is suffused (and some may say strengthened) by the comedic overtures of the character turns, most especially by Eugene Palette and Agnes Moorehead as a couple who love to eat and argue. Ball, floundering at RKO in 1942, was quickly snapped up by MGM after this performance, and its clear why: her narcissistic songbird is self-centered and often ridiculously delusional, but your heart goes out to her anyhow. *** from ****

Lucille has her ball

[nickenchuggets · 7/10 · 3 January 2022]

Because hardly anyone knows about this film, I wasn't expecting it to be that good, but it's not as bad or boring to watch as some other obscure things I've seen (Easy to Wed). I'm using that film as something to compare this one to because they both feature Lucille Ball, but her performance here is far better than in the other movie. The Big Street centers around a busboy named Augustus Pinkerton, more commonly known as "Pinks." Pinks (Henry Fonda) is attracted to a nice looking but mean-spirited girl named Gloria (Lucille Ball) whose gangster boyfriend smacks her down some stairs one day in a club. As a result, she is crippled for the time being. Pinks allows her to stay in his home, and soon, she wants to move to Florida, thinking the heat will make her feel better. After being pushed all the way to Florida in a wheelchair by Pinks, Gloria meets a former boyfriend of hers who rebuffs her after finding out she's crippled. She starts berating Pinks for no good reason, driving him away and convincing him she's more trouble than she is worth. However, Pinks later returns when a friend of his, Violette (Agnes Moorehead) tells him she might die soon. Gloria tells Pinks she wants to dance one more time, and wants an expensive gown to do it in. Pinks steals a jeweled gown from a rich woman who is being threatened by some thieves who are also aware of her wealth. Pinks then blackmails the owner of the nightclub into hosting a party meant for Gloria, or he'll tell the police he's the leader of the thieves. At the party, Gloria and Pinks dance for the first (and last) time, and for her dying wish, she says she wants to see the ocean. Right after this, she dies, but Pinks carries her body up to the top of the nightclub to make her wish come true. I thought that the ending of this movie was pretty predictable, since Gloria is a mean person throughout most of it and by having her die, it makes the audience care slightly more after she turns good. The plot is based on a short story by Damon Runyon, so they couldn't deviate from the original premise that much. Even though this is the lowest rated movie recommended to me recently, it's not really a wasted experience. Ball is given much more to do here as opposed to some other movies I've seen, and her aggressiveness throughout it almost made me mistake this for a noir at first. Although she does end up making Pinks get arrested after stealing the expensive dress, he's never put in severe danger by her. It's a common plot device in noir to have a female character destroy someone else's life somehow, but that doesn't end up happening here. I just enjoyed it because it shows Lucy in an assertive role she didn't usually play.

Little Pinks

[jotix100 · 7/10 · 16 November 2006]

Damon Runyon knew well that underbelly of Manhattan populated by colorful characters that made it into his stories for different magazines of his era. Mr. Runyon loved these people that could be seen in all the joints around Times Square creating a world of their own. "Little Pinks", the story in which picture was based, was produced by Runyon himself. The screenplay though, is by Leonard Spigelgass, and in part, it explains why the screen adaptation did not match Mr. Runyon's story. In fact, this is a hard project for anyone to translate the color and that underworld for a great audience.

The story does not nothing that would endear it to the viewers because of the unsympathetic main character of Gloria Lyons, a chanteuse that was self-centered and didn't care for anyone but herself. Then, there is the other problem in how the noble Pinks, a suffering admirer, attends to her every whim, and who basically rescues her from a horrible end after her lover, Case Able causes her to depend on the kindness of strangers, or in this case, the loyal Pinks.

Lucille Ball, who supposedly admitted this was one of her best films, made quite a departure when she accepted the meaty role of Gloria Lyons. This character didn't have any good qualities, yet, Ms. Ball did a fine job for bringing her to life. Henry Fonda, on the other hand, plays the naive man, who having fallen in love with this, apparently heartless woman, continues to cater to her, although Gloria never sees the goodness in him.

The best thing about "The Big Street" is the great ensemble cast of characters actors that was amassed for it. The excellent Agnes Moorehead is paired with one of the best secondary actors of that era, Eugene Palette. They are wonderful as Violette and Nicely Nicely two people that deserved one another. Ray Collins and Sam Levene play pals that act more like they are enemies, since they always bet on opposite sides. Barton MacLane is perfect as Case Able. The sassy Louise Beavers plays the no-nonsense maid, Ruby.

There are a lot of familiar faces in the picture that were not given credit, yet, we recognize their faces. Hans Conreid, Chet Huntley, and Marie Windsor are some of the ones we recalled watching the film. Irving Reis, the director kept things moving at a nice pace in this film that should be seen like a curiosity.

Big Flop

[kenjha · 4/10 · 28 September 2010]

A busboy (busman, really) so adores a nightclub singer that he devotes his life to caring for her after she becomes paralyzed; she treats him like dirt. It sounds like a good premise for a romantic comedy except that this is a serious drama. Ball plays such a self-centered, ungrateful jerk that it defies logic that anyone would voluntarily cater to her. Fonda loves her so much that he pushes her in a wheelchair from New York to Florida! And remember, this is not played for laughs. The finale is so utterly ridiculous that one figures it must be a comedy. No - still serious. The fine supporting cast features the likes of Palette, Moorehead, and Levene, but the script is lame.

Two incredible talents in their early years: Ball and Fonda

[Eventuallyequalsalways · 9/10 · 8 November 2006]

Anyone who has the slightest desire to learn more about the incredible talent of Lucille Ball and Henry Fonda owes it to themselves to see this marvelous movie. Over the years, these two stars built up such powerful images of themselves as star characters, and most of the public came to know them as a result of the cumulative impressions which they made on our individual consciousness. Your strong impression of Lucille Ball is as a comedian, correct? You seldom if ever think of her as a dramatic actress. Can you imagine Lucille Ball playing a role of a vain self-centered and arrogant harridan who seems to live for the sole purpose of tormenting the lowly busboy who is her one true friend in all the world? Few people can imagine Lucy in such a role, but if you watch this movie, you will see it happen. It is also totally believable because, even though Lucy worked primarily as a comedian, she was a great dramatic actress when she chose to accept a role of that type. As for Henry Fonda, who could even conceive of casting this great actor as a busboy? It was early in his career and he is playing a role of the type that he would never have to play again, but he pulls it off. You wonder at times why he is taking so much abuse from this woman. But the answer is incredibly simple. He deeply loves the woman, and his love comes shining through. If you want to see two great stars at work in the early days of their careers, check out this movie.

Lucy Plays a Meanie

[nycritic · 6/10 · 24 November 2006]

Lucille Ball plays something of a she-monster with almost no redeeming values in this implausible romantic drama about what can only be addressed as masochistic love. The person from whom this kind of sick emotion stems from is Agustus Pinkerton, a.k.a. "Little Pinks" (Henry Fonda), a man who works as a busboy at the nightclub where Gloria Lyons, a.k.a. "Your Highness" (Ball) works as a showgirl. She's way out of his league; he loves her from a distance. She could notice him less; he has made her his world and reason of existence. She flirts with men left and right; he only has eyes for her. Can you just see the romance blooming like the Rites of Spring?

The plot thickens: Gloria gets into an altercation with her gangster, Case Ables (Barton MacLaine) that lands her at the low end of a flight of stairs where she debuts in her newly created role as a cripple (not that she wasn't already, albeit one on the inside). Little Pinks, previously little more than an observer, steps up and takes her in, wanting to (symbolically) Make Her His Woman despite her brittle demands that he leave her alone. However, here is where the story takes an odd turn: Little Pinks is so fixated in Gloria's (selfish) happiness that he is willing to transport her (for lack of a better word) to Florida so she can resume her relationship with another man.

Leopold von Sacher-Masoch couldn't have written a more tender story. All that is missing here are the whips and chains and an assortment of kinky accoutrement. It's really not Ball's or Fonda's fault that this dismal, Kleenex-happy movie is a travesty of a melodrama. Ball committed herself tooth and nail to a role handed down to her by recently deceased pal Carole Lombard (one wonders how Lombard might have handled this nasty role). Fonda was a great actor who could convince you he was as noble as he is here. This is what really matters, and is a postulate that Bette Davis herself was known to obey: that a movie, no matter how awful it would look, should be remembered more for the quality of the actors' performance. THE BIG STREET is that kind of movie: one that is laughable in its contrivances, but that boasts two really fearless performances, most notably Ball cast completely against type since she is still regarded as America's Favorite Crazy Redhead.

A Nasty Lucy Not Fun To Watch

[ccthemovieman-1 · 2/10 · 3 December 2006]

Two big and popular acting stars: Henry Fonda and Lucille Ball, and one famous writer - Damon Runyan - BUT, who do you have? A very annoying and boring film. Who wants to watch and listen as a nasty, spoiled woman is miserable a nice, adoring fan for almost the whole movie? The real sad thing was that the nastier she (Ball, playing against type) was to him (Fonda, playing a busboy!), the more he seemed to love her. There are people like that, of both sexes, and it's pathetic.

This also wouldn't appeal to most people because almost all of us have such a positive image of "Lucy," so why ruin things and watch her play this role of the opposite: a sadistic. rotten person? No thanks.

Yes, there is an audience for "downers," meaning depressing movies, but I'm not in that group so that's another reason this film did not appeal to me.....and, I assume, to most folks.

Packed with great actors, major and minor, in a fast fast whirlwind

[secondtake · 8/10 · 21 September 2009]

The Big Street (1942)

Packed with great actors, major and minor, in a fast fast whirlwind

First of all, Agnes Moorehead and Ray Collins played the previous year in another raging movie of some fame (Citizen Kane, yup), and here they are loaded up against a dozen other great character actors, plus a couple big names. Headlining is the well known Henry Fonda, still young, but fresh off of a couple great films, Grapes of Wrath (1940), and The Young Mr. Lincoln (1939). But in a kind of startling role for those who know Lucille Ball as a brilliant and goofy t.v. comedian a decade later, we have her here as a big-eyed femme fatale, or would-be femme fatale until fate takes a turn.

You might think this one is a screwball comedy the way it starts, but keep watching-- there is violence and trauma soon enough, and the movie takes a turn that Fonda is worthy of. There is a Frank Capra feel-good element amidst the hardship, but it is full of verve, and all these odd characters who really are (were and are) what New York is at its best. The director Irving Reis (with photographer Russell Metty) keeps the scenes snappy, and sometimes moves from a closeup of a face to a background quickly, to let a character make a dramatic point. There are lots of movie tricks, quick fades from scene to scene to show the passing of time, and some tacky back projection, and it really goes along with the fairy tale narrative.

And there really is an unbelievable ending, which you have to take with the whole flavor of the movie, a kind of sincerity/fantasy mixture.

Lucille Ball At Her Best

[atlasmb · 7/10 · 22 September 2014]

Lucille Ball plays a callous chorine named Gloria Lyons who is undeservedly adored by a busboy named "Little Pinks" Pinkerton (Henry Fonda). She treats him--and most other people--like dirt, but he is willing to take abuse from the woman he worships.

When Gloria faces adversity, Pinks is there to see her through it, but she remains a resolute bitch. Ball never acted better than in this role. Fonda portrays a favorite from his repertoire--the earnest man.

Adapted from a story by Damon Runyon, the film is populated in part by those from the other side of the (race)track. Another reviewer implied that few would be familiar with the patois of Runyan, but any of the millions upon millions who have seen "Guys and Dolls" are already infinitely familiar with his peculiar but lovable vernacular.

How does it all end? Will Pinks finally grow tired of his unappreciative goddess? Will he finally get the girl then regret it? I won't say. But it ends rather nicely nicely.

Aside from some wonderful supporting characters, this is one of the WORST films of the 1940s!

[planktonrules · 2/10 · 9 November 2006]

I saw this movie with my family and we were all shocked at just how amazingly bad this film could be! On the plus side (and there is ONLY ONE), the supporting characters were really cute and their Damond Runyan dialog was hilarious (any film with Eugene Palette can't be 100% bad--in this case, only 99.44% bad). However, despite wonderful support which at least allows the film to earn a 2, everything else about this film was absolutely horrid--and I am talking about worse than THAT HAGAN GIRL, PARNELL or SWING YOUR LADY bad!!! So bad that I wonder how this movie slipped by being in the FIFTY WORST MOVIES book by Harry Medved!

The very biggest problem with the film are the leads, Henry Fonda and Lucille Ball. Fonda's character is so dumb and such a chump for Lucille that he defies common sense--no one is that stupidly in love with anyone--especially someone so thoroughly unlikable! Lucille Ball, to put it bluntly, is nastier and more self-centered than Hitler or Kim Il-Jong and yet this idiot keeps calling her "your Highness" and doing everything for this horrible invalid. There's only so much sympathy ANYONE can have until they ultimately kill the person they are caring for--and Lucille was that bad!!! Because Fonda is such a sap, after a short time you stop feeling sorry for him and start hating him. Don't believe me?! Well, Lucille in her wheelchair throws a fit and insists that Fonda MUST take her to Florida for the winter. However, they have zero money--none. So, she demands that he pushes the wheelchair from New York to Florida,....and he DOES!!!!! So, not only is he totally stupid, but he does the impossible. And if this doesn't convince you Fonda is 100% stupid and too-dumb-to-live, when he commits a robbery, he accidentally lets his Social Security card fall out at the scene of the crime to identify who he was!!!!! As for Lucille, while her being truly despicable could have been a nice departure from her usual sweet or sassy roles, she truly descended to the level of almost being Satan. Do you need another example of her evil? Well, when they finally get to Florida, Lucille insists that Fonda MUST pretend to be her butler and carry her about the beach. Then, when an old boyfriend of hers shows up and sees she is handicapped, she screams at and berates Fonda!! With her being that bad and him being that dumb, the movie can't help but sink from under itself.

Apart from the total unlikability of the leads, the film abounds with clichés and sappiness. The most egregious examples are when the cops find out that it was Fonda who committed the robbery but let him go because,....well I really DON'T know why!! And also, and this is the part that made our skin crawl, at the very end, Fonda lifts Lucille out of her wheelchair in front of the crowd at the huge party and SHAZAM--she can stand and actually kind of dance even though she's paralyzed!!!! At this point, mercifully, this awful film ended. Thank goodness, otherwise I might have thrown my shoe through the TV tube!!

Don't watch this film unless you are at least as dumb as Fonda's character. Don't say I didn't warn you!!!

Ball Shows Her Chops in Movie Oddity

[dougdoepke · 8 July 2017]

For fans of Lucy, Ball's role here takes real getting used to. "Her Highness" character is shrewish and generally not very likable. Ball does, however, get to show some very real chops outside her usual comedic range. As a result, I've got a new appreciation of her as an actress as well as a comedienne.

The movie itself is undermined by a weak central focus. Neither Ball's Her Highness nor Fonda's servile bus boy is easy to identify with. Thus, it's hard to sympathize with the overbearing HH even after she's crippled. Nor is Little Pink's (Fonda) utterly selfless devotion understandable given the imperious way she treats him. As a result, the movie's core flounders. A charitable view might take the movie as a fairy tale where the unlikely bus boy, a prince in his sudden formal wear, rescues the crippled princess if only for a moment.

Of course, being a Damon Runyon creation, there's the usual number of street-smart Broadway mugs. So the margins shine with such colorful types as Palette, Levene, Collins, et al. Also, catch dragon lady Agnes Moorehead in a rare sympathetic role (Shumberg); plus premier eccentric Hans Conreid as the grumpy headwaiter. And for folks interested in 50's TV, there's Wm. T. Orr as handsome socialite Decatur Reed. This is the same Orr who produced many of the popular hour-long TV shows of the late 50's, such as Maverick, 77 Sunset Strip, Lawman, et al. I've seen his name for years, never thinking he might show up on screen.

All in all, the only reason to catch this 80-minute pastiche is for Lucy's surprising performance and the colorful peripheral characters. Otherwise, it's pretty forgettable, especially for fans of Fonda.

supporting cast far outshines the two stars

[pyamada · 6/10 · 29 April 2002]

With some casting changes, this could have been a satisfying and interesting movie. Ray Collins, Sam Levene, Agnes Moorehead and Eugene Pallette all perform very well; in fact, they carry the film. Fonda is decent, but never projects any motive for his loyalty and infatuation for the Ball character. Ball does a fairly good job portraying the nasty side of her character, but everything else falls flat; she projects no warmth or style as an orchestra singer, and is not credible as the back stage gold digger. Had Lorraine Day gotten this part, this could have been a very good movie. Ball got it, and really dragged it down.

Small Potatoes

[cnycitylady · 6/10 · 3 August 2016]

The Big Street is one of the few films that cast Lucille Ball as the leading lady. She had an iffy relationship with films before fame found her with "I Love Lucy" and watching this film I can see why. She has this sparkle and this charm, but for some reason her power is not charged to 100%. She plays the gangsters moll very well, and you can easily see her fitting the part of the villain's-girl-with-a-heart-of-gold, but that isn't who she is here. She's just snarky and beneath everyone.

She is lovely to look at and she does attempt to encapsulate and encompass herself in the character, but it doesn't work. I unfortunately believe that Ball is more of a character actress than a leading lady. She steals the show as the Best Friend or wacky neighbor, but in the spotlight her sparkling light fails to shine through.

The script is also promising, but the last forty five minutes or so derail the story and you're wondering what went wrong. Henry Fonda is horribly cast and isn't very believable as the gullible chump who is infatuated with Ball's character. He's gaunt and sallow and looks far too menacing to be the good guy.

This movie sounded promising, and you will watch it eagerly for the cast and premise but it will only let you down. This is a prime example of mediocrity during the Golden Age of film, and will prove the point that not all "old movies" are "classics". 5.7/10

Moderately successful

[JohnHowardReid · 6/10 · 25 February 2018]

The Big Street is one of those sentimental little yarns blown up from the whimsical attractiveness of print to the harsher light of the cinema screen. It is the sort of story that Damon Runyon excels in - and here he is producing it for the screen himself! Alas, the principal pleasure in reading his stories is his very characteristic literary style - a tongue-in-cheek amalgam of East Side slang and back of Broadway jargon - that is extremely difficult to transfer to the screen without losing the bite and humor that is an essential ingredient of its flavor. One-dimensional characters which seem so amusing on the printed page are also much less appealing on the screen unless the players can achieve exactly the right balance between fancy and reality.

This adaptation is only moderately successful. The direction is routine and production values are very moderate. A lot of obvious process work doesn't really help either. On the other hand, Russell Metty's lighting photography is so polished and atmospheric and the sets and costumes are so attractive as to overshadow the lack of craftsmanship in other departments. Furthermore, the cast is outstanding. True, some of the more interesting players like Eugene Pallette, Agnes Moorehead and Barton MacLane have only small parts, but Henry Fonda and Lucille Ball make a worthy team. Fonda manages to bring absolute conviction and sincerity to the incredibly naive and almost impossibly devoted Little Pinks. As for Lucille Ball, she herself and many critics regard her characterization of the willful and conceited Gloria as her finest screen performance.

N.B. Similarity of the plot and principal characters to those of Midnight Cowboy (1969) should not go unnoticed. Miss Ball's singing voice was dubbed by Martha Mears.

Good Cast In Disagreeable Movie

[Handlinghandel · 3/10 · 30 November 2004]

This must be the only mainstream S&M movie turned out by Hollywood after the Code and before, well, maybe "The Damned." The more cruel to the Henry Fonda character the Lucille Ball character is, the more he loves her. He gives her all his money. He risks his life.

I guess this is meant to be heartwarming, like the far more successful Runyon tale "Lady for A Day." I hadn't seen it in ten years and back then I thought the Ball character unspeakably mean to the Fonda character. Now it seems as if he is, figuratively speaking, lapping it up. And the whole thing is an unpalatable mix of the harsh, the cutesy, and the maudlin.

(The final scenes in which he makes her wheelchair-bound, dying person into royalty are very mawkish.

On the other hand, Fonda is excellent. Ball -- well, she always, even in her TV series, which I like, came across as hard; and here she plays a woman with a heart of pure cast-iron. Eugene Palette is always great to have around and Agnes Moorehead! What a marvelous actress she was. She shows a flair for comedy here. (Guess that wouldn't be surprising to the 99.9% of the public who know her, if at all, as Endora on "Bewitched" rather than for her 1940s roles such as the great performance she gives in "The Magnificent Ambersons.")

On the other hand, Fonda is excellent. Ball -- well, she always, even in her TV series, which I like, came across as hard; and here she plays a woman with a heart of pure cast-iron. Eugene Palette is always great to have around and Agens Moorehead! What a marvelous actress she was. She shows a flair for comedy here. (Guess that wouldn't be surprising to the 99.9% of the public who know her, if at all, as Endora on "Bewitched" rather than for her 1940s roles such as the great performance she gives in "The Magnificent Ambersons.")

Exceptional However

[candidcamel · 10/10 · 23 December 2013]

This is a Must See Movie with stellar acting from Ball, Fonda and all others, however; this is one of the most depressing movies that I have ever watched and I will never watch it again. So, if you are on the sensitive side you might want to brace yourself with a box of tissues as Meg Ryan said in You've Got Mail and be prepared to endure a really difficult movie to watch. Do not think that because Lucille Ball stars in this movie that there will be any comedic and/or light moments. This movie is almost dark from beginning to end and Lucille's character is the most extreme opposite of anything that you have ever seen her in. I adore all of Lucille's early comedies and mysteries. She was right to be upset for her snub at the academy as her performance is startling brilliant, so much so as I stated before, to be seen, but for me...nevermore.

A New Side of Lucille Ball

[thien314 · 7/10 · 6 December 2001]

The Big Street is one movie that you'll notice Lucille Ball's true acting ability. In this movie, she plays a very bitter and uncaring singer who only thinks about herself as the "heiress." If you watch this movie, you'll probably think she acts quite snobby and self-centered. Although it might get on your nerves, it proves that a true actress can really make you hate her on the big screens, and that's what Lucille Ball has proved.

If you're also a big "I Love Lucy" fan, you'll see a different view of Lucy when she actually cries with real tears- which is a sad version, rather than the crying she does in "I Love Lucy"- which is the funny version. Lucille Ball does a terrific job in the snobby role. The movie is also mainly centered on her as well.

The bad thing about this movie is that the storyline is a little unreal and seems to have been written beyond the normal imagination. If the minor problems would have been done right, this movie, otherwise, is great and a true classic to watch.

Better played as farce

[Igenlode Wordsmith · 4/10 · 23 May 2005]

The beginning of this film is deliciously silly, and I thought I was going to enjoy it enormously. But from Gloria Lyons' first appearance on the scene, the film seems to lurch around the corner into another genre... and it never seems to be quite sure what it is after that.

Overall I found it hopelessly uneven. The vivid life of the 'big street' is sidelined very early on by the constant demands of the character Gloria, who dominates the film with much the same insatiable need as she does the hero -- but unlike, say, in 'Dolores Claiborne', the story all but fails to establish any flashes of sympathy for the cantankerous invalid, and the audience is left largely bewildered by the Job-like endurance of Little Pinks. It could have been done -- perhaps in the original story it was done -- but here shrewish Gloria comes across as simply unlikable rather than, as apparently intended, tragically self-deluded.

For much of the time, after its beginnings in pure comedy, the film seems to be striving for melodrama, although the plausibility rating tends even here to be undermined by the sheer improbability of the situations obtained. The supporting characters, played for laughs, are far more engaging than the would-be urban fairytale of the principals, and it was never clear whether Pinks's predicament was intended to be tragic, life-affirming or simply prat-fall humorous, in the manner of all comedy dependent on humiliation. The set-up is simply too strained and the main characters too one-dimensional to be taken as drama or grand tragedy, but by and large it seems to take itself too seriously for us to be expected to laugh at Gloria either.

If played as outright farce, this could have been a decent, if cruel, slapstick comedy; if played with more depth and more appealing characters, it might have been a two-handkerchief weepie. What it's not is the meaningful street fable it seems to crave to be... and as a heavy-handed morality play its intended lesson left me rather foxed.

If you don't like it, then you don't get it...

[jacksflicks · 10/10 · 6 August 2001]

...and that's not the movie's fault. Those who've panned The Big Street and this review say more about themselves than the movie.

Damon Runyon was a beloved chronicler of a microcosm that no longer exists - the street life of New York's Broadway district, during its heyday, when it was known as The Great White Way or The Big Street. You will never see characters like Runyon's anywhere else in literature or film. The closest are perhaps to be found in Dickens, say, the souls who populate the London of Mr. Pickwick.

Other comments, who have been put off by the dialog finding it saccharine or phony, don't understand the special language Runyon uses for his characters, the picaresque vernacular of the small-time Broadway hustlers, promoters, racetrack touts and "professors," whose schemes and rackets are cloaked with highfalutin patter.

Among the steady, low-level service people who interface with these demi-mondes is Little Pinks, "the best busboy in the whole wide world". Pinks (Henry Fonda), has a good heart and the misfortune of falling head-over-heels for a gangster's moll, played against type by Lucille Ball, who has none of the former (good heart) and plenty of the latter (misfortune). Devoted to a fault, Pinks acts as her guardian angel, from her pinnacle, all the way to her pitiful decline and fall. Director Irving Reis, knows how to keep his material from becoming mired in bathos by using Runyon's whimsy and humor and the most delightful character players in Hollywood, from Eugene Palette and Agnes Moorehead to Ray Collins, Louis Beavers and Hans Conried.

"The Big Street" faithfully recreates Runyon's world and its inhabitants. Like all of his stories, it is a parable, and like all parables it teaches a lesson. But the lesson is delivered gently, never preaching. The most moving moment comes in the final scene, at once tragic and triumphant. The tragedy is apparent. But the triumph, the triumph of love over all, is apparently lost on the idiots who have panned this gem.

Prima dona Lucy mostly ignores Fonda's devotion, in a double tragedy

[weezeralfalfa · 7/10 · 27 November 2016]

This is a double tragedy. Having just watched "Dance, Girl, Dance", also released by RKO, 2 years before, I couldn't help noticing that both films were dramas, featuring the romantic designs of a superaggressive, heartless, gold digging, Broadway club entertainer or burlesque queen, played by Lucille Ball. The main difference is that ,in the present film, Lucy's character(Gloria) is the only significant female character, whereas in "Dance, Girl, Dance", she shares the spotlight with Maureen O'Hara in a good/bad girl competition and cooperation. Also, in that film, they compete for a wealthy patron, whereas in the present film, it's the men who initially compete for Gloria's romantic attention.

Rather early in the film, Gloria is rendered a cripple by falling backwards down a flight of stairs after a push from her jealous gangster boyfriend and employer, after learning that she plans to marry wealthy playboy Decatur Reed. Thereafter, the powerful men in her life ignore her. Her only consistent friend is an overaged bus boy: Little Pink(Henry Fonda). Despite all the things he does for her to make her life bearable, she usually treats him like trash. Nonetheless, he continues to address her as "Your Highness", denoting his continued respect. He even lets her sleep in his low class basement apartment.

Perhaps the most implausible aspect of the screenplay is that Little Pink supposedly somehow gets her with her wheelchair from NYC to a plush seaside resort in Florida, without money for public transport. Several instances of hitchhiking are shown, along with periodic shots of Little Pink pushing Gloria along a highway. No word on how they managed to live and sleep during this marathon!?

When it becomes evident that Gloria will likely never walk again, she goes into a greater depression and seemingly wills a gradual degeneration of her body. Gloria tells Little Pink she has a wish before she dies that she is dressed in a fancy expensive dress and expensive jewelry, and can look over the ocean. Well, there's no money forthcoming to fulfil this request. So, crazy Little Pink breaks into a house and steals the items Gloria requested. She wears the items to a party in a restaurant, apparently not questioning where Little Pink got them. When Gloria finds out that Little Pink stole the items she is wearing, and that the police are on their way to arrest Little Pink for grand larceny, she softens her attitude toward him. Little Pink asks her to dance with him. She doesn't think she can, but he holds her up initially, then lets go of her, and she stands. She is elated. I will leave you to see the conclusion of this film.

Lucy showed that she could do convincing tragic drama, playing an unsympathetic character. Fonda was also excellent in his unusual role as a crazy young man, including dashing into NYC traffic to save Gloria's Pekingese. However, he seemed too old and sophisticated to be a busboy. Supporting actors included some familiar faces: Eugene Palette, Agnes Morehead, Ray Collins, George Cleveland, Louise Beavers, and Ozzie Nelson's band.

Damon Runyon fable works better on paper...

[Doylenf · 4/10 · 31 October 2006]

Long before LUCILLE BALL took a trip with hubby Dezi Arnaz in THE LONG, LONG TRAILER, she took another kind of cross-country trip to Florida in a wheelchair being pushed by an adoring HENRY FONDA. At least, that's what we're supposed to take from THE BIG STREET in the way of plot development.

It's easy to see why THE BIG STREET never made it big with the critics. First of all, the offbeat casting with LUCILLE BALL as an Agnes Moorehead kind of monster, just doesn't work. Secondly, HENRY FONDA's adoration of her, despite being treated with complete indifference, doesn't hold water unless you want to think of his busboy as being retarded. And lastly, all of the characters have as much depth as cartoon creations in a comic strip--nothing to make them seem even remotely believable.

Not that RKO didn't try. They've got Agnes Moorehead, Barton Mac Lane, Eugene Palette, Ray Collins, Sam Levene, William T. Orr and Ozzie Nelson and His Orchestra all pitching in with supporting roles that outshine the stars.

Any Damon Runyon story has its problems in being transferred literally to the screen. In short story form, this probably worked on paper. But given the sharp eye of a camera and an audience, it simply fell flat at the box-office and for years Lucille Ball vowed never to do any more dramatic roles. Well, here's why.

Summing up: Neither Fonda nor Ball are on display here the way you'd like to remember them.