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Big City

  • 1948
  • Approved
  • 1h 43m
IMDb RATING
6.3/10
380
YOUR RATING
Big City (1948)
DramaMusical

Margaret O'Brien sings, dances and keeps the faith in this heartwarming musical drama co-starring Robert Preston, Danny Thomas and George Murphy.Margaret O'Brien sings, dances and keeps the faith in this heartwarming musical drama co-starring Robert Preston, Danny Thomas and George Murphy.Margaret O'Brien sings, dances and keeps the faith in this heartwarming musical drama co-starring Robert Preston, Danny Thomas and George Murphy.

  • Director
    • Norman Taurog
  • Writers
    • Whitfield Cook
    • Anne Morrison Chapin
    • Aben Kandel
  • Stars
    • Margaret O'Brien
    • Robert Preston
    • Danny Thomas
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    6.3/10
    380
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Norman Taurog
    • Writers
      • Whitfield Cook
      • Anne Morrison Chapin
      • Aben Kandel
    • Stars
      • Margaret O'Brien
      • Robert Preston
      • Danny Thomas
    • 19User reviews
    • 4Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 1 win total

    Photos6

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    Top cast48

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    Margaret O'Brien
    Margaret O'Brien
    • Midge
    Robert Preston
    Robert Preston
    • Reverend Phillip Y. Andrews
    Danny Thomas
    Danny Thomas
    • Cantor David Irwin Feldman
    George Murphy
    George Murphy
    • Patrick O'Donnell
    Karin Booth
    Karin Booth
    • Florence Bartlett
    Edward Arnold
    Edward Arnold
    • Judge Martin O. Abercrombie
    Jackie 'Butch' Jenkins
    Jackie 'Butch' Jenkins
    • Lewis Keller
    • (as Butch Jenkins)
    Betty Garrett
    Betty Garrett
    • 'Shoo-Shoo' Grady
    Lotte Lehmann
    Lotte Lehmann
    • 'Mama' Feldman
    Page Cavanaugh Trio
    Page Cavanaugh Trio
    • Page Cavanaugh Trio
    Connie Gilchrist
    Connie Gilchrist
    • Martha
    David Bair
    • Boy
    • (voice)
    • (uncredited)
    Bobby Barber
    Bobby Barber
    • Fighter
    • (uncredited)
    Stanley Blystone
    Stanley Blystone
    • Mike
    • (uncredited)
    George Calliga
    George Calliga
    • Rabbi
    • (uncredited)
    Page Cavanaugh
    • Page Cavanaugh
    • (uncredited)
    Heinie Conklin
    Heinie Conklin
    • Drunk Barfly
    • (uncredited)
    George Davis
    George Davis
    • The Florist
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • Norman Taurog
    • Writers
      • Whitfield Cook
      • Anne Morrison Chapin
      • Aben Kandel
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews19

    6.3380
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    10

    Featured reviews

    8Ishallwearpurple

    Apropo for out times

    A 1948 film on religious tolerance. A rabbi(Danny Thomas), a Protestant clergyman(Robert Preston), and a Irish Catholic policeman(George Murphy), discover an abandoned baby and decide to bring her up equally between them. Of course, conflict arises and they are about to break the ties that bind them, but with darling Margaret O'Brien and a wise judge, they bring them all together by the end.

    A film that was evidently not well thought of, but seeing it today with all the conflict caused by religion around the world, you realize if we can't get along in our own little corner or the world, and these characters were not, how can the greater conflicts ever be solved. Really made me stop and think. And should have been better received in 1948. 8/10

    Jane
    8thesommers

    A well done Social Drama applicable to 1948 and to today...

    Synopsis:

    As the film opens, three men, all of whom live in the same neighborhood but have differing religious and social circles, come across an abandoned infant in a basket at the steps to one of the men's apartment building...

    This film, whose alternate title could have been 'Three Men and a Baby', deals with the commonalities of the Jew, the Catholic and the Protestant as they work for the common good of this baby girl. The cast is rounded out by a sweet, if not stereotypical, Jewish 'grandmother', a benevolent judge and a couple of 'love interests'.

    After the initial introduction of the characters, we are left to assume that all goes well for some 10-12 years where the film picks up on the co-mingled lives of the odd family and some of the challenges faced by Midge, the infant now turned lady-beyond-her-years, in the classroom, and by her adoptive fathers in their courtships. It includes many of the aspects of today's 'reality television' shows, including 'alliances', differing moral values, and competition among participants.

    Social Impact:

    The movie deals nicely, if not superficially and somewhat predictably, with the issues of finding common ground to base friendships on, rather than differences upon which to build enmity.

    Recommendation:

    This film is timely for 1948 and for today in a world where religious differences seem to be playing a vital role in public opinion.

    I recommend this film for its cinematography (B&W) and for its ability to remind the viewer that there are things worth working together for, especially the future we build for our children.
    6nlathy

    three guys come find a baby and become her dads.

    Big City is one of the later movies Margaret OBrien made during her time as a child star with MGM in the 1940s. It's an entertaining film, which isn't quite up to the level of some other movies she made with the studio. It's an unusual situation especially for the time to have three foster fathers and no mother. A reality which isn't lost in the film. It's good to see Margaret in movies with Butch Jenkins. This one seems a little long. Robert Preston, George Murphy and Danny Thomas play the parents. I'd never seen Thomas in a movie before, and he used his singing and acting talents well. The movie explains its designed for people who like people, and it makes the case for the importance of family well. There's also the message of redemption after past mistakes in Betty Garrett's character. This message is also displayed in Norman Taurog's Boys Town movies. The people involved have done better work elsewhere, but a family film with God Bless America in it is well worth any viewer's time.
    keithharmon

    Hear Marni Nixon sing for Margaret O'Brien...

    In the filmography of Stanley Donen's biography "Dancing on the Ceiling" Marni Nixon is listed as the singing voice of young Margaret O'Brien. That tidbit alone made we want to see/hear this movie with the early work of filmdom's greatest vocal dubber ever. I saw a sweet performance by Margaret O'Brien in Baltimore in the autumn of 1963 in "A Thousand Clowns". On stage as in film the unique, sympathetic colors of her voice stayed with you. Elements of compassion, anxiety and sweetness in a soft thickish voice...how can a young clarion voiced soprano duplicate those complex textures? I haven't heard her yet, but I'll bet Marni pulled it off! Margaret, Deborah Kerr, Natalie Wood and Audrey Hepburn owe Marni a big kiss from Heaven or Earth.
    10soccrstr6

    Margaret O'Brien at her best.

    I watched this movie on television for the first time, and have to say that it was a great movie. Margaret O'Brien at age 11, was a great actress, acting better than many other famous adults of her times. Danny Thomas and Robert Preston add talent to the movie. One of the best parts of the movie was when Margaret sang the Shu-Shu song. A great family film.

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Marni Nixon, famed for doing similar voicing duties on Le roi et moi (1956) and West Side Story (1961), sings for Margaret O'Brien in the synagogue choir scenes.
    • Quotes

      [first lines]

      Midge: [voice over] Back in nineteen thirty-seven, our street was pretty much like it is today. One end was the settlement house where you could find the Reverend Phillip Andrews almost any time of the day or night. If you ever needed a policeman, there'd be Patrick O'Donnell coming around the corner. He was a good friend to all the kids in the neighborhood, and to the grown-ups too. Sometimes while he was walking his beat, he'd stop and listen to the music coming from the temple down at the other end of the street. It would be the cantor singing and the boys choir.

      [Cantor David Feldman and the boys choir are seen performing Kol Nidre in the temple]

      Midge: [voice over] One Sabbath evening after service, Cantor Feldman was on his way home.

      Passerby: Good evening, Cantor Feldman.

      Cantor David Irwin Feldman: Oh, good evening.

      Midge: [voice over] As he started up his front steps, he heard a funny little noise.

      Cantor David Irwin Feldman: [looking around] Here kitty. Here...

      Midge: [in Cantor Feldman spotting a newspaper covered basket, and removing the newspapers to find a baby crying inside] It was me.

    • Crazy credits
      The following general acknowledgment is listed following the opening credits: "This picture is dedicated to people who like people."
    • Connections
      Referenced in La lampe bleue (1950)
    • Soundtracks
      God Bless America
      Written by Irving Berlin

      Performed by Marles Noie (uncredited), Margaret O'Brien (uncredited), Robert Preston (uncredited), Danny Thomas (uncredited), George Murphy (uncredited), Betty Garrett (uncredited), Karin Booth (uncredited), Edward Arnold (uncredited) and Jackie 'Butch' Jenkins (uncredited)

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • March 25, 1948 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Languages
      • English
      • Hebrew
    • Also known as
      • Brothers of the East Side
    • Filming locations
      • Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA(Studio)
    • Production company
      • Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $1,725,000 (estimated)
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 43 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

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