La poupée brisée

Original title: The Big Street

1942
Approved
1h 28m

IMDb RATING

6.4/10

1.7K

YOUR RATING

Henry Fonda, Lucille Ball, Agnes Moorehead, and Sam Levene in La poupée brisée (1942)

A busboy in unrequited love with a nightclub performer grows closer to her after she is paralyzed in an attack by her gangster boyfriend.

Play trailer1:34

1 Video

99+ Photos

Drama Music Romance

A busboy in unrequited love with a nightclub performer grows closer to her after she is paralyzed in an attack by her gangster boyfriend.A busboy in unrequited love with a nightclub performer grows closer to her after she is paralyzed in an attack by her gangster boyfriend.A busboy in unrequited love with a nightclub performer grows closer to her after she is paralyzed in an attack by her gangster boyfriend.

Director
- Irving Reis
Writers
- Leonard Spigelgass
- Damon Runyon
Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.4/10

1.7K

YOUR RATING

Director
- Irving Reis
Writers
- Leonard Spigelgass
- Damon Runyon
Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 2 wins total

Videos1

Trailer 1:34

Official Trailer

Photos102

+ 96

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
Lucille Ball's favorite of her films. She felt her performance was unjustly ignored by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS).

Goofs
A gathering to raise money to send Gloria Lyons to Florida doesn't raise enough, so a suggestion is made to put it on a horse. A face-on shot of Horsethief shows him sitting down and pulling a paper from his inside pocket. He stands up and unfolds the paper, but then a long shot shows him just starting to take the paper from his pocket.

Quotes
Gloria Lyons: Love is something that gets you one room, two chins and 3 kids.

Crazy credits
Opening credits: "Loser's Lane --- the sidewalk in front of Mindy's Restaurant on Broadway-- is not as high-toned a trading center as Wall Street, but the brokers are a lot more colorful. Generally they prefer to put their money on a prizefight or horserace, but when the action slows, anything can happen and it usually does. Tonight, for example, the citizens of the Lane are discussing the latest contest in their usual quiet way --"

Connections
Featured in AFI Life Achievement Award: A Tribute to Henry Fonda (1978)

Soundtracks
Who Knows?
(1942)
Lyrics by Mort Greene
Music by Harry Revel
Performed by Lucille Ball at the New York nightclub (uncredited)
Reprised by her with Ozzie Nelson and Orchestra at the Florida nightclub (Vocals for Miss Ball by Martha Mears) (uncredited)
Played often in the score

User reviews55

Featured review

8/10

Lucy Has a Ball with Henry Fonda

Broadway busboy Henry Fonda (as Agustus "Little Pinks" Pinkerton) idolizes self-centered lounge singer Lucille Ball (as Gloria "Your Highness" Lyons). When Ms. Ball falls on hard times, Mr. Fonda gets to lend a helping hand. The pair move to Florida, but tragedy follows Although "Guys and Dolls" (1955) remains most representative, "The Big Street" captures the spirit of writer Damon Runyon's characters better than most Hollywood efforts, probably because Mr. Runyon produced.

They weren't the author's first choice for the leads, but Fonda's innocent charmer and Ball's selfish tragedienne are exemplary characterizations. Ball is especially noteworthy, as she did not receive many opportunities to play against type, and places herself squarely on par with the more successful "Golden Age:" actresses of the 1930s and 1940s; she is startling. Director Irving Reis coordinates his fine cast and crew very well, making camera angles and movement seem uncommonly fresh.

******** The Big Street (8/13/42) Damon Runyon : Irving Reis ~ Lucille Ball, Henry Fonda, Agnes Moorehead, Eugene Palette