Big City (1937 film)
1937 film by Frank Borzage, George B. Seitz
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Big City is a 1937 American drama film directed by Frank Borzage and starring Luise Rainer and Spencer Tracy. The film was also released as Skyscraper Wilderness.[4]
Dore Schary
Hugo Butler
Norman Krasna
Spencer Tracy
| Big City | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Frank Borzage |
| Written by | Norman Krasna Dore Schary Hugo Butler |
| Produced by | Frank Borzage Norman Krasna |
| Starring | Luise Rainer Spencer Tracy |
| Cinematography | Joseph Ruttenberg |
| Edited by | Frederick Y. Smith |
| Music by | William Axt |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Loew's Inc. |
Release dates | |
Running time | 80 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $621,000[3] |
| Box office | $1,601,000[3] |
Plot
Joe Benton and his wife Anna are suspected of starting a taxi war. Although innocent, they are blamed for everything that has happened and the officials demand that Anna be deported from the United States. While trying to prove their innocence, the couple feels forced to hide.
Cast
- Luise Rainer as Anna Benton
- Spencer Tracy as Joe Benton
- Charley Grapewin as Robert, the Mayor
- Janet Beecher as Sophie Sloane
- Eddie Quillan as Mike Edwards
- Victor Varconi as Paul Roya
- Oscar O'Shea as John C. Andrews
- Helen Troy as Lola Johnson
- William Demarest as Beecher
- John Arledge as Bud
- Irving Bacon as Jim Sloane
- Guinn "Big Boy" Williams as Danny Devlin
- Regis Toomey as Fred Hawkins
- Edgar Dearing as Tom Reilley
- Paul Harvey as District Attorney Gilbert
- Andrew Tombes as Inspector Matthews
- Clem Bevans as Grandpa Sloane
- Grace Ford as Mary Reilley
- Alice White as Peggy Devlin
- Paul Fix as Comet Night Watchman (uncredited)
- Ray Walker as Eddie Donogan, Independent Cab Driver (uncredited)
- George Godfrey as himself
The film also casts a number of popular sports figures including Jack Dempsey, James J. Jeffries, Jim Thorpe and Frank Wykoff in minor comic roles.
Reception
In a contemporary review for The New York Times, critic Frank S. Nugent called Big City "casual, superficially diverting, singularly unimportant stuff" and wrote: "By any other names, except possibly those of Luise Rainer and Spencer Tracy, the Capitol's 'Big City' would be Class B melodrama and nothing more. With them, it becomes a trifle more, but still not enough to justify more than a passing glance."[2]
Critic Edwin Schallert of the Los Angeles Times called Big City "almost delirious fun" with "ingenious sequences" and wrote: "Matching up performers in the movies can be a fine art, and occasionally one sees the demonstrating of such art. Premier example of the moment is the film 'Big City', which finds Spencer Tracy and Luise Rainer cast together—an acting combination as good as anyone could request. They have much to do with the appeal of this story of poor struggling married folk."[1]
Writing for Night and Day in 1937, Graham Greene gave the film a poor review, describing it as "just possible to sit through". Greene's primary complaint was about the acting, which he found to be "heavily laid on" with "people in this film [being] too happy before disaster: no one is as happy as all that, no one so little prepared for what life is bound to do sooner or later". The only consolation for Greene was that of Borzage's direction, which Greene described as "sentimental but competent".[5]
Box office
According to MGM records, the film earned $906,000 in the U.S. and Canada, and $695,000 elsewhere, resulting in a profit of $462,000.[3]
