Von Katzen und Katern

This Big Hangover gives the audience a big hangover. There are several problems with this film.

First, with a title like "The Big Hangover" you would normally think that this is a comedy. There are no big laughs.

Next, the Hair of the Dog is significant because there is a talking dog in the movie. Once again, no laughs.

Next, in 1950 Van Johnson was 35 years old, and Elizabeth Taylor was 17.

Next, while always beautiful, Liz Taylor at 17 is completely unconvincing as an adult psychologist.

Finally, the concept of PTSD was not yet recognized in 1950. Obviously, many WW II veterans were suffering from PTSD and this movie does not take that seriously. If you want to see a good movie about WW II PTSD watch "The Best Years of Our Lives."

Plot--A top-notch law student is courted by a powerful legal firm. Trouble is the budding legal eagle gets silly drunk on just a taste of alcohol. Of course, that creates problems in the boozy world of formal dinners. And, oh yes, something about a Chinese man losing his apartment because of discrimination gets dropped in.

I was curious. The production has two of MGM's brightest young stars, Taylor and Johnson, yet I'd never heard of the movie. Now I know why. It can't make up its mind what it is— comedy, social conscience, drama. Okay, some movies manage to combine the three into a luminous package, like The Apartment (1960). But that film benefited from the versatile Jack Lemmon in the lead. Now Van Johnson could do light comedy, especially with engaging dialog. And that's the trouble here. In a difficult role that calls for traversing from bibulous one-liners to sober righteousness he looks dour throughout, turning many of his sudden inebriated moments from humor to confusion. I'm not sure what the cause was, but the results look like miscasting. Trouble is that his is the central role, and thusly the movie as a whole is compromised.

Not that the script is any help, especially the fancy dinner scene that's almost painful in its misplaced humor. Then too, the pregnant premise—getting drunk on a mere whiff of alcohol —is a tricky one that might work in a different context, but not here. Anyway, Taylor's gorgeous, while about every middle-aged actor in Hollywood picks up a payday. But whatever impresario Krasna was reaching for just doesn't come off. Good thing both stars went on to bigger and better things.

"The Big Hangover" is a rather unpleasant film that seen today doesn't play well. Acting-wise, the cast is very attractive: a gorgeous Elizabeth Taylor, then 18 years old, Van Johnson, Leon Ames, Rosemary DeCamp, Percy Waram, and Edgar Buchanan. Johnson plays a law student on the GI bill who's about to graduate. He has an embarrassing problem with alcohol: one taste and he's plastered. He talks to lamps; he thinks his dog is talking to him; he sings loudly at a formal alumni dinner. His boss' daughter, Taylor, who once worked for a psychiatrist, wants to cure him.

All of this has the makings of a comedy, except the film takes a turn with the introduction of a subplot where a Chinese man and his wife are denied an apartment. Johnson believes the matter to be resolved in the man's favor, and then learns that the law firm he works with has lied to him. This has the makings of a good drama, with Johnson having to face some cold facts of life and decide what he wants to stand for in his career.

But as neither comedy nor drama, the film ends up as not much. There's an aggravating scene where one of the good old boy attorneys spikes Johnson's food at the alumni dinner to watch him get plotzed. It's mean-spirited, and it makes you wonder why the other people at the table are laughing.

Despite its excellent cast and good performances, The Big Hangover is more of The Big Waste.

This movie is based on a very contrived plot device. Van Johnson plays a man who has a peculiar sort of reaction to alcohol--the type you'll only see in movies and I doubt if anyone on this planet does what his character did. While the IMDb summary says he passes out when he drinks, this is NOT the case. Instead, even the smallest taste of alcohol sends him into a fit where he behaves roaring drunk for several minutes--afterwords, he has no clear recollection of his behaviors. As I said, it's contrived--but also odd because the film really isn't exactly a comedy--in fact, much of it is VERY serious. In fact, with a subplot involving racism, the mix is uncomfortable and bizarre to say the least.

On the plus side, the film has very good acting. Van Johnson, despite the material, is excellent and he's given tons of support from the likes of Liz Taylor (who is at her radiant best), Leon Ames (whose speech at the end is terrific), Gene Lockhart (June's father) and Edgar Buchanan--among others. It is clearly filled with quality actors. It's just too bad that the script itself isn't high quality. In fact, it could clearly have used a re-write. It's a B-movie script with A-list actors and production values. Not a bad film but not at all a good one either.

Van Johnson portrays a young World War II veteran who, upon joining a prominent law firm, attempts to avoid scandal stemming from his allergy to alcohol. He forms an alliance with the daughter of the firm's leader, played by Elizabeth Taylor, and their romance is light hearted and moderated with realism. Ensemble playing from the talented cast is top-drawer throughout, with excellent timing ever in evidence. A shadowy sub-plot dealing with racial prejudice (victims: Chinese) is not overdone and is necessary for developing the film's principal theme: the inherent value of performing public service. Playwright Norman Krasna, who wrote, produced and directed this understated comedic drama, keeps matters moving briskly, while allowing scenes to develop properly by emphasizing the sharp dialogue, some of which is startling with its insight. There is good acting aplenty, by the mentioned leads as well as by Leon Ames and Edgar Buchanan; but the honors must go to the veteran English stage performer, Percy Waram, whose delivery is perfection.