So Big!

I've always been of the opinion that you cannot make a bad movie from an Edna Ferber novel. Her stories wherever they be set have characters that are larger than life in settings the same. Texas, Alaska, the Mississipi River, Oklahoma her stuff practically writes itself for the screen.

In So Big we have the story of Selina Peake DeJong who goes west as a schoolteacher in a Scandanavian farming community. It's a place for people who work hard with little frivolity in their lives. Education is a luxury, the work on the farm comes first.

Barbara Stanwyck in her first lead in an A budget film, on loan out from Columbia to Warner Brothers plays Selina. It's a challenging role requiring Stanwyck to age 40 years. She marries farmer Earl Foxe and she has a son who eventually grows up to be Hardie Albright. Albright is trained as an architect, but decides to go into a bond selling firm at the entreaties of Mae Madison, wife of the firm's head who has other interests in Albright.

Stanwyck has as much interest in the land as Scarlett O'Hara does in Gone With The Wind. She wants to impart that to Albright and fears she has not.

Bette Davis and George Brent are both in the cast of So Big. It's their first film together. Brent plays the grown son of Alan Hale a neighboring farmer who Stanwyck boarded with when she first arrives and whom she encouraged to take education seriously and pursue his dreams. Davis has a role as an artist that Albright engages for an advertising campaign for his bonds.

In a recent biography of Barbara Stanwyck there was friction on the set as Stanwyck took note of Davis trying to upstage the cast. Bette wanted the lead role herself and probably would have done a good job. It's similar in many ways to what she did in The Corn Is Green. But there was no Davis-Stanwyck feud as their would be with Miriam Hopkins and Joan Crawford. Simply because Davis just didn't have star prerogatives yet.

There was another version of So Big made in the 50s with Jane Wyman in the lead and a silent version that starred Colleen Moore. But you watch So Big and you will be a big Edna Ferber fan immediately.

Barbara Stanwyck is a young woman who becomes a teacher in a farming community. She gets married, has a son and tries to teach him the true value of life--which is beauty and nature. But he's more interested in money and position. Can she make him see her way?

Very well-done with another great Stanwyck performance and a young Dick Winslow giving a fine performance as Roelf...also a very young Bette Davis shines as a young artist. Very lavishly done...but the film is seriously lacking. The film is very short (80 minutes) and the story seems extremely rushed and lacks focus. I've never read the book but I know it runs over 300-400 pages--there's no way that can be condensed to 80 minutes. So I do recommend the film (I'm giving it an 8) because it is very well-done and the entire cast is great. If only it weren't so short!

Showcase for Barbara Stanwyck who gracefully ages from a young woman to a mother in her late 40s. Barbara stands for hard work (on the farm) and the recognition of beauty in life (even cabbages are beautiful). Her understated portrayal shines as one of her best works. Story of her son, (who Barbara said was "So Big" with hands spread wide apart) is that of a privileged offspring who ignores his mother's advice and takes the easy way to money, ignoring the beauty in creativity, and hides his mother's career from society ladies. When he finally meets a good woman (a good Bette Davis) who appreciates someone with "bumps," he reveals his past but it is not bumpy enough to impress her. Instead Bette goes off to Paris and meets with celebrated sculptor George Brent who as a boy had lived with and loved the older Barbara. Interesting portrayal of two contemporary actresses with one playing the part of a woman old enough to be the other's mother and neither obviously updating the other. Good messages, good role models, with Barbara staying down on the farm as a success without having taken the easy road. A quiet gem to inspire depression-era audiences.

My favorite Barbara Stanwyck movie is her turn as a self-sacrificing mother in Stella Dallas. So Big! feels like her audition for her 1937 Oscar-nominated role.

Once again, Barbara is a poor woman who longs for a better life. She gets a job tutoring a wealthy boy, and then marries a poor farmer and starts a family. Her son becomes the light of her life, and she nicknames him "So Big!" because he's her only reason for living. She sacrifices, scrimps, and saves, in order to give him a better chance at life. If you liked Stella Dallas, you'll probably want to rent So Big! on a weekend. It's a Pre-Hays Code film, so there will be some moments when you gasp and ask, "How did they get away with that?" before you remember the release year of 1932. And you'll get to see a young Bette Davis and George Brent, as well as Alan Hale, who joined Barbara Stanwyck in Stella Dallas. While I like the later film infinitely better-because it's hard to compare any film to the tearjerker-this one is fun to watch because it's very obviously a precursor. If you like Barbara, add this to your list!

"So Big!" has been filmed three times, once before this version (a lost film from the original flapper Colleen Moore) and once after. But this is the treatment that rings true; this is the "So Big!" that really is so big.

Barbara Stanwyck successfully ages from schoolgirl to aged mother in this film. The story is beautiful (based on Edna Farber's novel) and the acting is superb. You can't help but cry at the end! Don't miss an early screen appearance from Bette Davis!

"So Big!" is shown on Turner Classic Movies at times, but make sure it's the Stanwyck version and not the Jane Wyman re-remake. It's worth the effort.