Their Big Moment

Zasu Pitts and Slim Summerville star as a pair of stooges in a fake medium act that William Gaxton has in this RKO B film. Pitts and Summerville were teamed on a few occasions and this is typical of their work.

But the real reason for seeing Their Big Moment is the appearance of both William Gaxton and Tamara Geva, a pair of Broadway stars making a most infrequent film appearance. Tamara plays the fake medium and when she quits, Zasu Pitts gets her star billing.

The act gets hired by Bruce Cabot to help expose the malevolent influence that Dr. Ralph Morgan has over the widow of his former client Julie Haydon. But of course Cabot very much has his own agenda.

It's a neat little comedy with both Pitts and Summerville doing their respective shticks.

When her sister becomes involved with shady psychic Dr. Portman, Eve Farrington enlists the help of rag-tag magician the Great LaSalle (Gaxton) to debunk Portman, but his assistant Tillie (who becomes Madame Marvel) actually has psychic abilities she's never been aware of and together with some detective skills of LaSalle, the murder of Eve's brother-in-law is solved. ZaSu Pitts steals the show in this average offering.

For a film that deals with an interesting subject like fake mediums, this '34 mystery/comedy fails to hit the mark. It's not particularly impressive as a mystery and the comedy is on the weak side.

It's a B-film programmer with ZASU PITTS and SLIM SUMMERVILLE providing the comic relief while others carry the straight plot line. Pitts and Summerville play WILLIAM GAXTON's assistants in a magic act where he bills himself as The Great La Salle. BRUCE CABOT hires them to take part in a fake seance at a wealthy woman's home where a young woman has been receiving messages from a dead husband. RALPH MORGAN is suspected of being a swindler trying to deceive the woman at her swanky home on Long Island.

Unfortunately, ZASU PITTS is saddled with a ditzy role beyond belief. And to make matters worse, nobody else in the cast has lines that are any smoother or wittier.

"Not a very friendly fellow," says Gaxton.

"About as friendly as a rattlesnake," says Summerville.

That gives you an idea of the wit and sophistication. The suspense, of course, lies in finding out how the fake seance will go and who the real culprits are in the household. Not hard to guess the predictable outcome.

Summing up: A clumsy mystery/comedy hardly worth bothering about.

Grief-stricken Fay Harley (Julie Haydon) is comforted and controlled by fake spiritualist Dr. Portman (Ralph Morgan) after the death of her husband. Her sister Eve Farrington (Kay Johnson) is desperate to get her away from the charlatan. Eve's husband has an idea, vaudevillian magician The Great La Salle (William Gaxton). Bill Ambrose (Slim Summerville) and Tillie Whim (Zasu Pitts) are his two assistants.

This could be a fun scammer vs scammer idea. That part has some good aspects, but I would need for some better tricks and counter-tricks and debunking of the tricks. It seems rather rudimentary, but it goes well. This turns into more a murder mystery. By going this way, the movie opens itself up for some questioning. All in all, this has some interesting aspects.

The Great La Salle is a stage mentalist who impresses audiences with his routine. A man sees their act and impressed by their vaudeville act..and offers them money to expose a faker...Dr. Portman (Ralph Morgan). It seems that Portman has an unusual hold over a widow and he seems to be a con man...and La Salle and his friends go to see her and, hopefully, stop Portman. But something odd happens when La Salle's partner (Zasu Pitts) is in her trance...she REALLY does receive a message from the dead husband! What's next? And, what's RALLY going on here?! And, could the woman who is being bilked actually be in dancer?!

During the 1930s, Hollywood made hundreds or, perhaps, thousands of B-mystery movies. Most have a very strong sameness about them...but not "Their Big Moment"...which turns out to be very well written, very well acted and is much better than I might have expected. And, most importantly, it's a very smart film that doesn't rely on the usual cliches!