Big City Blues

From Warner Brothers and director Mervyn LeRoy. Eric Linden stars as Bud Reeves, a naive small-town Indiana boy who's arrived in NYC to make a name for himself. He gets taken in by his unscrupulous cousin Gibby (Walter Catlett) who tries to work the kid for every cent he's got, while Bud falls in love with showgirl Vida (Joan Blondell). However, when things take a dark turn, Bud may be left holding the bag and on his way to the hot seat.

This starts out as a rather broad comedy, with Linden playing his out-of-town Bud as a complete rube. Then it seems to switch gears and become a sweet romance between Linden and Blondell, before taking an unexpected turn and becoming deadly serious. These tonal shifts are jarring, and the movie may have worked better if it had chosen one and stuck with it. Blondell is cute and likable as always. I watched this for Bogart, who isn't even credited, although his role was a little bigger than I expected, playing a shady party-goer.

Eric Linden is "Bud", going to the big city NYC! Linden was only about 24, and would only be in hollywood about ten years. Some heavy hitters for co-stars: the awesome Ned Sparks, Guy Kibbee, Grant Mitchell.. and Walter Catlett is his cousin Gibby, who claims to know Constance Bennett. and Bud meets the young beautiful Vida (Joan Blondell ), and he falls for her. Gibby is always jabbering away, like a fast talking con man. keeps the pace moving. and it's still during prohibition, so part of the plot involves dealing with bootleggers. and an early, uncredited role for Bogart. about halfway through, there's a huge, drunken brawl, and when it hits the fan, here come the cops! the big city is a more dangerous place than Bud bargained for. good stuff, in the shortie from Warner Brothers. the resolution to the who-dunnit and the ending itself are a bit odd, but no biggie. directed by Mervyn LeRoy, nominated for Random Harvest. and directed so many other great films. check em out. Linden kind of disappeared after 1941. there's more info on him at wikipedia.

Big City Blues is a marvelous reminder of the vibrancy of American cinema in the early sound days. Directed by the always reliable Mervyn LeRoy, the film features uncredited performances by a wonderful cast, including Humphrey Bogart, Lyle Talbot, Dennis O'Keefe, Dick Powell (hilarious as the voice of a radio ad-man expounding on the virtues of Yum Yum brand popcorn), and Clarence Muse (who delivers some terrific singing in a speakeasy scene), as well as Joan Blondell as the brassy showgirl with a heart of gold, Eric Linden as a smalltown rube, and especially Walter Catlett as Linden's Cousin Gibby, who's responsible for most of the trouble that takes place. Written by Lillie Hayward, the script is hilarious, intelligent, and insightful, especially when it pokes fun at the peccadilloes of big city life. Bogart has a particularly juicy line when, reading from a newspaper, he informs partygoers that the police have recently picked up a criminal with "a handgun in one pocket and a lipstick and powderpuff in the other"! The same party sequence also features the sight of a nervous young lady reading from the infamous (and much censored) lesbian novel "The Well of Loneliness" by Radclyffe Hall. In short, this is a fine example of pre-Code filmmaking and should be of interest to all fans of 30s cinema.

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.

This comedy/drama from the olden days has quite a bit to recommend it.Young rube from Indiana moves to New York City,loses all his money,falls in love with a chorus girl(Joan Blondell),and attends a wild hotel party where the bathtub gin is flowing freely,all in the space of about 48 hours!Some interesting cinematography and that great 30's rapid-fire dialogue which seems to be a lost art these days.Joan Blondell has a very funny scene at a speakeasy craps table.Humphrey Bogart,who was still a starving actor himself at the time,appears briefly in an uncredited role,and as in most of his early roles,has that one moment of unleashed anger that served him so well in later years.Lots of fun.