Mister Big

This utterly delicious hilarious swing musical is terrific. Made as part of a series at Universal that seem to be the dance version of those MGM Andy Hardy films; instead (and better) here we have the dynamic and effervescent talent of Donald O'Connor with gorgeous Gloria Jean and zany Peggy Ryan who make a trio of song and dance talent that is an entertaining as it is astonishing. MISTER BIG is completely engaging for its 63 minutes and with sensational tap numbers from the jivin' Jacks and Jills solid Universal production values and a roster of house actors, this film deserves renewed appreciation on DVD. It would be appropriate for Universal to box-set all these teen 40s musicals with Donald O'Connor and the Jivin Jacks and Jills and set them before a very appreciative public again. The group tap numbers are real musical dynamite; O'Connor is simply hilarious; the music numbers are fun and the sets and art direction is excellent. The other titles in the series are: GET HEP TO LOVE.... CHIP OFF THE OLD BLOCK... PATRICK THE GREAT... GIVE OUT SISTERS... PRIVATE BUCKAROO... and WHAT'S COOKIN'.... all of which I now am keen to enjoy. What a teen talent Donald O'Connor was! I have never seen his early comedy films and this intro into the 40s musicals he made has me enthralled to see more. MISTER BIG is the sort of musical with acrobatic group tap dance numbers you could only dream of, and here is a 63 minute musical with 7 songs and routines, better than I could have wished for. MISTER BIG is just great. My dollars are ready for the whole box set, when Universal care to plonk it on a shelf in a DVD store anytime soon.

I heard of this movie while watching a documentary about Donald O'Connor. I thought it sounded good and watched some clips online. It was great! I tried to find the film and I couldn't find it anywhere. Finally, after a few months of searching, I found that Gloria Jean herself was selling copies. I bought one immediately. I saw it and it is now my favorite movie. The comedy is hilarious. Like the rationing scene between Peggy and Donald. I loved the songs. They were very well written and the choreography was phenomenal. All the performances given were stupendous. Especially Bobby Brooks and the Ben Carter Choir. They were fabulous! I highly recommend this film to everyone. It is appropriate for families to watch, too. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

My copy of this is so murky it's like looking through the mists of time, but the movie itself is as fun now as it was in 1943. It was a star-maker for Donald O'Connor, and it's easy to see why - he's hilarious, adorable, and already shows the crisp, weightless precision in his dancing that later became his trademark.

Peggy Ryan (like a young Lucille Ball!) and Gloria Jean (endearingly beautiful and with a voice to die for) are both at their best, and Louis DaPron, head choreographer at Universal, did right by the Jivin' Jacks and Jills, who are thrilling to watch. Some even get small acting parts, but it's their acrobatic dancing that astounds, then and now.

As another reviewer commented, there is a routine in blackface, and that is always jarring for modern audiences, me included. The later sequence where the black children sing in a hayloft could (as the earlier reviewer suggested) be seen as demeaning, or it could be seen as the kids being an angelic choir (I think more the intent). I doubt that Universal gave it a lot of deep thought either way... it was intended as a means of separating on stage two separate 'acts', the choir from the dancers.

There's not too much time wasted on plot here, but what little there is is friskied-up by off-the-cuffs and a general lack of formality. According to Peggy Ryan, the filming took eight days. The result is a film with a lively spontaneity that would only have been muted with further polishing.

As a fan of musicals in general and Donald O'Connor in specific, I was all set to enjoy my first dive into the teen musicals he made with Universal in the 1940s. Mister Big turned out the be incredibly enjoyable in some respects, and incredibly cringe-worthy in others.

On the one hand, the performances are generally top-notch, the one-liners are that wonderful mix of hokey and enjoyable, and Donald wears some ridiculous clothing. (Am I the only person who wants to tell him to stop trying on his father's suits? They all look so big on him!) The entire movie is worth buying just for the opportunity to watch Peggy Ryan kick Donald O'Connor in the face in "Rude, Crude, and Unattractive"--the play violence is half the gimmick in their dancing, but that song goes above and beyond the usual. O'Connor's interpretation of Hamlet's soliloquy is likewise charming, and Gloria Jean's solos are a delight.

On the other hand, there are some painfully racist scenes--I'm honestly surprised the other reviews haven't mentioned them. There's an entire number in blackface, and a group of black children are allowed the opportunity to perform with the lily-white main cast in the final number...from a hayloft. Because, of course, people of colour performing in a stable-like setting doesn't imply that they're animal-like at all. Insert eye rolling here.

I'd love to see Mister Big and all the rest of the hep musicals released on commercial DVD someday in a proper boxed set. Even if they're imperfect, these films need to be preserved for study and enjoyment (because really, the less racist moments are worth watching multiple times). However, if the other titles in the O'Connor/Ryan/Jean catalogue contain such blatant racism as is found in this one, I can understand why Universal's been hesitant to put these to press.

My 8/10 rating is for the parts of the film that didn't make me cringe from the unrepentant blackface and marginalization of the blacks in the cast. Including those parts, my rating goes down significantly.

At the Davis School of the Theater, run by Jeremy Taswell, where teenagers learn drama and serious art, instructors Johnny Hanley and Alice Taswell are in love. Students, including Donald, Patricia and Peggy, secretly want to be singers. Patricia's aunt, Mrs. Davis, who owns the school, disapproves. Donald wrote a musical comedy for the class piece of the year that students want to do; but Mrs. Davis selected it and insists they make Sophocles' "Antigone." Taswell agrees that the kids will play Donald's show. Donald manages to keep Mrs. Davis away on the day of the show, and when the Broadway producers present are flooded with Donald's play, she will be a supporter.