La grande ville

After watching Big City a, TCM, television version of the movie, I felt cheated that I had not seen Luise Rainer before. She was magnificent, sweet, and believable. Because of my research on this 1930s two-time, back-to-back Oscar winner, I can't wait to see the other seven films in which she acted. She won an Academy Award in 1937 & 1938. She left acting at the peak of her career, and that is very sad. This woman had something "different" about her. Though she is now 102 years old and lives in England, she has a new American fan. Spencer Tracy was the male lead, and he was his usual incredible self, but Luise Rainer, in my opinion, upstaged the great Tracy!

Fans of Spencer Tracy, Luise Rainer, and director Frank Borzage should enjoy this routine cab-driver/gangster melodrama. The first five minutes are a well-done perceptive trick on the viewer, but it's downhill from there. The acting and directing are above average, but the script is saccharine and almost embarrassing. The climax involves the gimmick of famous prize fighters appearing in a brawl, and there's an attempt to find humor in Guinn Williams drinking a quart of milk non-stop while policemen watch. The interesting plot turn of deportation is not very well handled.

Luise Rainer and Spencer Tracy are an affectionate couple in "Big City," a small film from MGM, which is surprising, since it has two big stars in it. The happy world of Joe and Anna is torn apart when her brother is killed as a result of a war between the independent cabbies in New York and a large cab company. Anna is blamed and plans are made to deport her.

Rainer and Tracy make a sweet couple; one really believes they're in love. Tracy is wonderful. Rainer is beautiful with soulful eyes, and of course, she gets another telephone call as in "Hello, Flo" in "The Great Ziegfeld." Rainer takes a lot of heat for winning two Oscars in a row and basically disappearing soon after, as if this was her fault. She was, and still is, a strong-willed woman who came up against Louis B. End of story. He's long dead and she's still alive as of this writing, at the age of 96, and made a film in 2003. So take that, Louis.

This film was made at a time when you weren't supposed to see a woman's pregnancy, and though Anna is pregnant in the story, in fact, far enough along to be ready to give birth, from the look of her, the baby should have weighed half an ounce.

The end of the film is a free-for-all featuring some of the great sports figures of the day, listed in the cast, including Jim Thorpe, Maxie Rosenbloom, and Jack Dempsey. Look for Ruth Hussey in a small part as the mayor's secretary.

A battle is heating up between different taxi factions in the big city. The Comet Taxi company owner John C. Andrews is reconsidering the hiring of thugs in his competition against the independents. Joe Benton (Spencer Tracy) is one of those independents and married to immigrant Anna (Luise Rainer). Anna announces that she's pregnant. She sends her brother to deliver a raincoat to the Comet garage. The thugs had planned a frame up for him. They shoot the brother after they bomb the garage to start a taxi war. Anna won't be a citizen for another six weeks and the authority decides to deport her to alleviate the public pressure.

The movie has two great Hollywood legends in Spencer Tracy and Luise Rainer. It starts like a rom-com and Spencer's charms really sell that. They're a great on-screen couple. Luise has an exotic beauty. The plot turns into a bit of a gangster thriller. There isn't much tension. It becomes a melodrama. It needs more action. Spencer wrongly continues his smiling charms which belies the dire straits of the situation. It's not a highlight for either of these legends but their star power cannot be denied.

Big City (1937)

*** (out of 4)

Incredibly off the wall and insane drama from MGM has an independent taxi service battling with a union led taxi service. When the union side has their placed bombed one of the indie guys (Spencer Tracy) has his wife (Luise Rainer) suspected and shipped out of the country. This film is all over the map that you could put it in any genre including a romantic comedy, a screwball comedy and an action film. Tracy and Rainer deliver very good performances and their chemistry together is right on the mark. They make for a very romantic couple and Tracy's big crying scene is incredibly touching. It's also great seeing NYC back in the day plus there's a scene inside Jack Dempsey's restaurant, which leads to a street fight with Dempsey himself plus other famous athletes including Jim Thorpe, Man Mountain Dean and various others.