Big City Blues

Some nice pre code sexiness courtesy of a saucy, racy screenplay by Lily Hayward and the always sassy Joan Blondell. But at this early stage in his long, mostly good directorial career Mervyn Le Roy did not have the skill or desire to tone down Eric Linden's way too broad rube and he, along with an equally over the top Walter Catlett as his sleazy cousin, tends to drag down the proceedings into a pit of noisy, exaggerated boredom. C plus. PS...Bogie's first WB feature features a role he thankfully soon jettisoned...the cynical roue.

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.

"Big City Blues" stars Eric Linden as Bud Reeves, a small town kid from Hoopersville, Indiana who went to New York. While in New York he was taken for a ride and swindled by a man he referred to as Cousin Gibby (Walter Catlett). Bud was totally ignorant to the fact Cousin Gibby was bilking him, but getting fleeced by Cousin Gibby would become the least of his worries.

During a party a girl was killed with a champagne bottle and Bud would become the number one suspect. The only person he trusted in all of New York was a small town woman named Vida Fleet (Joan Blondell) and he was hoping that she could help him out.

"Big City Blues" is chiefly about how big cities chew up and spit out country bumpkins like Bud on a daily basis. Pie-eyed suckers like him flock to New York, L. A., and Chicago on a regular basis just to find out how cut-throat and vicious those places are. I liked the theme of the movie even if I didn't like Bud's character. He was too Mayberry. It was pathetic. I doubt any normal human being ever talked like Bud did.

Also of note in the movie was Humphrey Bogart. This was before he became a big star, hence he had a small part in the movie.

"Big City Blues" is a well written story of a naïve young man who travels to NYC, innocently becomes involved in a murder while falling in love, and then returns home vowing to go back to the city to be with the woman he loves. As played by Eric Linden, he is not an idiot or moron as he is repeatedly called by one reviewer and the film is not a waste of an hour of your life as this reviewer claims. It is very entertaining and fun to view.

Humphrey Bogart's first appearance in Warner Brothers picture was in a small featured role in Big City Blues which starred Eric Linden and Joan Blondell. It's the story of a young kid from Hoopersville, Indiana who comes to the New York City to seek fame and fortune and gets a great deal less than he bargained for.

Linden plays our young man fresh off the farm and the first Linden does is look up cousin Walter Catlett who is playing the usual Walter Catlett sharpie. I do love the way Catlett keeps opening his wallet and to his amazement can't seem to find any money there. He latches on to Linden the way a political 'consultant' latches on to a spendthrift candidate.

Of course Linden's arrival in the Big Apple is cause for a party which means bootleg booze, chorus girls, and some dance music. Catlett takes the liberty and Linden's money and room to throw a party so Eric can presumably meet some of the 'important' people Catlett knows. Among the guests are Joan Blondell and a bevy of her chorus girl friends.

But things go terribly wrong and one of the girls, Josephine Dunn, winds up dead. When that happens the guests scatter with Catlett the first out the door and Blondell the last, leaving poor Linden holding the bag. Of course Linden panics and spends the next day a fugitive looking for Blondell.

Mervyn LeRoy directs Big City Blues at a sprightly pace and when you've got players like Blondell, Bogey, Catlett, and most of all Guy Kibbee playing an oaf of a house detective you know the film will be entertaining. In fact down the cast list you've got Herman Bing as a waiter, Lyle Talbot as another party guest, J. Carrol Naish as the supplying bootlegger, and Dennis O'Keefe in a small bit in a crap game and more besides, you're in for a real treat if you're like me, a big fan of the days when all these faces ruled films. Dick Powell is heard only as a radio announcer.

Kibbee by the way turns out to be the hero of the film, but you have to see it to see how he accomplishes that. And of course you have to see what happens to naive young Eric Linden.

Some nice blue cracks in this before the Code film pepper Big City Blues throughout the running time. Although one very big screen legend was in the cast, the film is actually a real salute to some of the great character players the movies ever had.