Powerful

Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike

This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

. . . whether they make an honest effort to bring the Real Killers to Justice, or if, conversely, they get their jollies by sadistically torturing random by-standers into False Confessions and Taxpayer-Funded First Degree Murder by Electric Chair, as the actual slayers roam free to slaughter again. Warner Bros. lets BIG CITY BLUES explore this barbaric American Reality of the 1930s--WHICH CONTINUES TODAY--as much as the Censors Responsible for Covering Up Truth in Cinema would allow. But, as Fox "News" always argues, there's two sides to everything. For instance, some cops have families, and might lose their paychecks if no one were ever executed for all the murders happening on their watch. When murderers prove too smart and clever (or lucky) to be caught, does it really hurt Society to grab up a random mentally troubled person, feed him details of a killing "that only the Perp could know," torture and trick him into "confessing," and then give him The Needle after Fifteen Years in Solitary (with no danger of Winter Frostbite, or missing a meal)? Fox "News" would say "No, not really;" this is the Humane Thing to Do to provide "closure" for everyone. Plus, most police "patsies" are like Buddy in BIG CITY BLUES--unarmed wimps easy to "shoot first, plant gun later," or to toy with like a cat with a mouse. This way the cops stay safe while putting food on the table for their families, and they can take out their Aggression on unattached Social Scapegoats such as Buddy, rather than beating their wives and kiddies. In other words, Fox "News" declares this American Way of Justice a "Win-Win" for Everyone (other than a few Sacrificial Buddies).

Big City Blues (1932) ** 1/2 (out of 4) A rather predictable but mildly entertaining drama from Warner about a naive boy (Eric Linden) from Indiana who heads off to New York City and doesn't last long there. His first night there sees him lose all his money but even worse is that he is at a party where a woman gets killed and soon he's getting the blame as well as another innocent woman (Joan Blondell). Plot wise there's really nothing too original here but I did like the fact that the entire trip in NYC only takes place within 24 hours and I thought this added some charm to the film because a lot of plots like this take place over a longer period of time. I also think director Mervyn LeRoy does a nice job handling everything as he keeps the film moving well and manages to have some nice drama and even a few laughs. The screenplay keeps things fairly simple as nothing over the top ever happens and instead we're told a pretty straight-forward story from start to finish. I think the biggest problem with the film is that the lead character does some incredibly stupid things that you can't help but dislike him and not really care what happens to him. Just check out the sequence where he's gambling as this scene will certainly have most people wanting to strangle him. Linden is decent in the role but one can't help but wonder why he was selected when there was surely a lot more talent on Warner's lot. Blondell gets a pretty thankless role but she does a good job with it and certainly make it a lot better than I'm sure it was on the page. There are about twelve different actors shown during the opening credits but they left out Humphrey Bogart who has a pretty good role as one of the tough guys at the party who gets a fight started. I'm not sure why the studio kept his name off the credits considering it was a bigger role in the film than some of those who actually did get a credit. Fans of these low-budget Warner films from this era will certainly want to check this out but others might want to stay clear. At 63-minutes the film moves along quick enough and is entertaining enough if you've got the time to kill.

Perhaps to underscore the quick pace of life in New York, "Big City Blues" moves along at a hectic sixty three minute pace, and tries to cram as much action as it can into that amount of time. Willow Station railroad agent (Grant Mitchell) has been there and done that, and bets a ten spot with a buddy that anxious traveler Bud Reeves (Eric Linden) will be back within a month.For his part, Bud is flush with enthusiasm and eleven hundred dollars and ready to make his mark on the big town. He's met by fast talking cousin "Gibby" Gibboney (Walter Catlett), who has a knack for getting others to pay his way, and completely monopolizes the conversation in every scene he's in. He's on a first name basis with a few up and coming showgirls, particularly cute Vida Fleet (Joan Blondell), who immediately becomes fond of the rube from Hoopersville, Indiana. Things move a bit too fast though, as Gibby organizes a welcome party for Bud in his room at the Hotel Hercules, and all manner of show biz types begin to arrive, among them Shep Adkins (Humphrey Bogart). Shep is about to move in on Len Scully's (Lyle Talbot) girl, Lenny objects with his fists, and a brawl breaks out that leaves the young showgirl dead.Not knowing what to do, young Bud follows the example of everyone else at the party, he high tails it before the law can arrive. Night watchman Hummel (Guy Kibbee) revels in his five minutes of fame for finding the dead victim, while detective Quelkin (Thomas Jackson) tails Vida who he hopes can lead him to Bud Reeves, guilty until proved innocent. By accident, Hummel solves the case by going for his whiskey bottle in the hotel linen closet, where he finds Scully's body, a suicide victim with a shard of the broken bottle that neatly fits with the piece recovered by the police.Back at Willow Station, it only takes the railroad agent three days to collect on his bet, as Bud gratefully touches down on home turf. He still has visions of grandeur for life in New York, but has grown up enough to have some patience for it. Maybe next time, things will work out a bit better.By 1932, Humphrey Bogart had a handful of movie credits to his name, but nothing significant as of yet. That was about to change with his next film, "Three on a Match", which also co-starred Joan Blondell. Both would work together two more times, in 1936's "Bullets or Ballots" with Edward G. Robinson, and the 1937 comedy "Stand-In". All are recommended for fans of either, while "Bullets or Ballots" is a fine early example of the mobster genre made popular by films like "Public Enemy" and "White Heat".

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD! This is a fun movie that gets better after the first viewing. I first watched it just for the early Bogart. When you watch it for the whole effect you'll probably wonder why it's never been on VHS or DVD. Well, there's this young man who's leaving the sticks for the Big Apple. The old men at the train station try to tell him he's in for disappointment, but he doesn't listen. In New York he gets an $8 room (nice for 1932) where his cousin takes advantage of him by using some of his $1,100 cash for parties and booze. He meets Joan Blondell and they are attracted to each other. It's funny how in this pre-code film, they never kiss once, even though adult themes are everywhere. Well, during the party in which almost everyone is drunk or stoned, Bogart tries to take another man's girlfriend home, which starts a brawl. A bottle is thrown, striking a girl in the head, killing her. Everybody runs off, leaving the poor kid from the sticks with the dead girl in his hotel room. As he avoids the police, he meets up with an older woman who would like him to spend some time with her. He finds Joan Blondell again, and loses the rest of his cash trying to win enough money so they can get away from it all. They get caught, taken down to the station, are grilled, and finally Bogart's brawling partner is found after hanging himself, with "proof" that the kid from the sticks is innocent. The two kids hug at the train station and they young man goes back to the sticks, only to decide to make some money to return to New York.