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Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike

Crappy film

Best movie ever!

It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

Who would believe that a film like this with such hard-boiled and often sexual dialog (as well as a baby murder!) would have been approved by the overly censorious Hays code in the mid 1930's? I sat there stunned by the witty dialog that seemed closer to things that Mae West or Jean Harlow might have said to Cary Grant three years before than Joan Bennett did to him here. The result is one of the most delightful surprises and a film that is certainly worthy of re-visiting just to catch everything each of them says to each other in this delightful screwball comedy with a touch of social relevance tossed in.Yes, Cary Grant plays a cop here, and Joan Bennett seems to go from every occupation from waitress to reporter to manicurist in less than 90 minutes. She's so hard boiled that it is surprising that Grant is able to crack her shell. The film surrounds a series of jewel robberies (a plot favorite in the 1930's), and in order to catch a thief, Grant utilizes Bennett's position on a big New York city paper that seems to focus more on scandals than detailing world news. Bennett, obviously in love with him, is jealous of his connection with robbery victim Marjorie Gateson, and obviously for no reason. Walter Pidgeon is a private investigator involved in trying to get to the bottom of the robberies, so it is no surprise when it turns out that he is involved! There's also Lloyd Nolan as a gangster whose shoot-out with fellow gangsters ends up with an innocent baby being killed in Central Park.Bennett helps crack the case by getting one of the witnesses to crack in fear of his own life. Her way of doing this is ingenious, and I will not spoil that by revealing it here. Let me just say it is brilliant. If the murder of the baby isn't shocking enough, then there's the trial of the accused and the inevitable betrayal of each gangster from the other, indicating that these criminals are fine as long as each racket is going along swimmingly, but they are the first to either point the finger at the other or wipe them out when things start to fall apart.As for that crackling screenplay, I wanted to start writing down each of Bennett's great lines, but no sooner had I started writing down the first line, she was on her third, then fourth crack, which made it impossible for me to continue that task. It's great to see these veteran stars whom many younger viewers may only remember from their later parts (in Ms. Bennett's case, either "Father of the Bride" or the TV soap "Dark Shadows"), and that deep, haunting voice of hers is a delight to behold. Grant, too, gets a lot of great retorts to each of her remarks, and their sexual chemistry is undeniable.Pre-Greer Garson leading man Walter Pidgeon is as far from Mr. Miniver or Mr. Parkington or Monsieur Curie as he can be here, a villain that seems so sure of himself that he'll never get caught. Marjorie Gateson is very amusing as the Billie Burke society matron and gets to recite some hysterically funny malapropisms. Why this film hasn't become better known among the screwball comedy's of this era is beyond me. This is the type of film that while not excellent is certainly worth many repeat viewings and one I wouldn't mind seeing shown as part of a big screen revival house.

This is by all means a 10/10 film, the very kind that I watch an actor's entire filmography to find. After having watched the film, I was absolutely shocked to learn that it actually lost the studio money and that it hardly has a wikipedia article at all. Perhaps I appreciate things in a different way than some other people: a lot of reviewers here have written off this film as being second-rate, or something only that die-hard films of the protagonists would enjoy. The fact is that when watching this film, I couldn't help but say to myself "there's something amazing about this film." Essentially, it's the way that the camera would focus on faces in a titled way; it's how three or so times they utilized a scene of angled talking faces being done over in a barber/manicure salon to provide for distinct segmenting transitions. Though maybe most of all is the cast itself, I mean Joan Bennett and Cary Grant. Joan Bennett here, as apparently I gather she does in this period in general, plays that perfect sort of woman that only existed in this era. She's full of energy and does everything with such coordination and awareness, it's simply glorious to see in another person. Then there's the little things. The scene where the two young guys were called and they were laying on a bed sideways on their backs smoking, and how after that they started talking about airplanes and parachutes -- or when the baby-killer was listening to the radio about flowers, and seemed to have a genuine interest in horticulture in general. Or what about Cary Grant leaving the police station and scraping his cigarette against the engraved plaque in the wall, the one which exhorts the necessity of justice for freedom to work? The thing is, this is clearly a film where a ton of thought and innovation has been poured into it: this film was obviously someone's darling. Those little things like that aren't found in the normal routine film either past or modern, and that's what makes it so spectacular. By all means, this is a cult film, and it is absolutely "ahead of its time" while also being so quintessentially a part of it. A total thrill, and something I hope to see again.

Where I work, we do a fairly brisk trade in DVDs, including hard-to-find films, old films, some strange stuff too. And we are technically adept enough to have a nice big screen at the back which we have managed to hook up to something that will play the movies. If Stan is in, he basically picks what we will be watching for most of the day--special pleading or claims of overkill aside--but when Stan leaves, it generally devolves to me to select what will be showing. And this is fun. It means that, temporarily, MASTER AND COMMANDER, or LAWRENCE OF ARABIA, or PERRY MASON episodes are set aside, and we can loosen things up a bit, at my discretion. Into the realm of "What The Heck Are We Watching, And Why Am I Hypnotized By It?".A rousing round of CULT OF THE COBRA, followed up by either DR CYCLOPS or FIEND WITHOUT A FACE (depending on whether I'm feeling a Marshall Thompson double-bill is called for), and onto NARROW MARGIN (Peter Hyams remake; not the suspense film of the ages, but I do like this director's work overall, plus the Lady Archer, and people our store will stop and watch the action, or the fun scene where Sikking confronts Hackman over drinks, on the train). If I'm feeling things should take a classier turn, Hitchcock's NOTORIOUS is a favorite, and just exactly how many times BRAZIL has been shown on the premises is a matter of debate...but it's somewhere between infinite, and whatever comes after infinite.When it occurs to me to slap BIG BROWN EYES on again--a wonderful, if forgotten "crime comedy"--I always get a warm fuzzy feeling. I love going that far back and yet still playing a film nobody seems to know, but is ultra-cool, and a little bit before its time. Some early vigilante-movie stuff going on here. Very savvy leading lady, aggressive, gets it done, out-performs the male detective who is enthusiastic to kick crime where it hurts, but seems either befuddled or embittered next to our smart-mouthed superwoman. Speaking of smart- mouths, I've just come fresh from my review of THE LONG KISS GOODNIGHT, and those who like the punch of a Shane Black script, and all that lightning-fast and super-entertaining dialogue, would do well to listen to everyone trading zingers in BIG BROWN EYES, decades ago. Try and listen; try and keep up.Back to the screening of this film--me your Master Of Ceremonies--there are four huge reasons to watch this film, at the very least: Joan Bennett, Cary Grant, Walter Pidgeon, and maybe especially the amazing Mr. Lloyd Nolan. This was really my first look at Lloyd Nolan (I had seen HOUSE ON 92ND STREET, but that is a film that is trying not to draw attention to actors and acting, as it goes for docudrama as done by "regular people"), and I only really knew his name as if vaguely connected to THE TERMINATOR and lawsuits and THE TWILIGHT ZONE or some such complicated frippery. Anyway, when I run BIG BROWN EYES at the store, we are known to attract some curious viewers. Mainly the old fellows with the sentient beards, who realize they are watching something sprightly, and just a bit dangerous, filled with these big names giving energetic performances, and spouting sharp dialogue while weaving in and out of mayhem. These knowledgeable old film buffs with their beards and their trivia-packed memories try to connect Cary Grant, Joan Bennett, LLoyd Nolan, and Walter Pidgeon all together in a superior film which surely they must know, but don't--and all wind up asking me "Sirrah--(oops, or rather:) --Good Sir, stout fellow, what be yon film?". And I give them the scoop. And sometimes we sell a Cary Grant boxset. And everyone comes away happy. Especially me, as I watch flower-loving gangster prone to violence Lloyd Nolan define the breezy nastiness of this film in all his scenes.Hitchcock seemed to do some culling here, for casting, Hey, isn't that the dude who shows up in FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT? That other guy there, playing one of the gunsels--he shows up in SABOTEUR, yes? Goodness me, I'm getting good at these old movies finally! And Cary Grant, I seem to recall him showing up in a few Hitchcock films, or am I wrong? Anyway, suffice it to say: I like BIG BROWN EYES better than ARSENIC AND OLD LACE, which I guess means there's something wrong with me and I can't be totally trusted, but there it is. A little less loudness and bombast going on, and I'm happy. A little more naturalism to the performances (even in 1936!), and I'm enjoying myself. Noisy where necessary, calm and cool where required.A baby-killing in the middle of a "comedy" is probably not something everyone likes. I'm not saying that I sat there waiting for it to happen ("where's this big infanticide they advertised-- they sure are taking their sweet time!"--no no, nothing like that), but once the film commits to such a development, in a 1936 comedy, the film has one of those ahead-of-its-time moments. Is this Tarantino, shaking things up, making it edgy, making it a bit discomforting and depraved while still brilliant? No, it can't be. I don't think he wrote stuff before he was born. Anyway, I like risks; I like it when it gets in your face a bit. This film is charming enough--throw in some vigilante-justice stuff, and a vile act or two, and things percolate better. The social conscience of the film--before and after the life-taking gunplay in the park--means that it's wrong to see this just as a screwy comedy, and that's fine with me.So, BIG BROWN EYES. Something a bit edgy for its time. Very slick and clever--great dialogue coming at you throughout, especially from the lady, who rips through things with guts and gusto. Hail Joan Bennett in this, liberated woman. I love this movie!

Cary Grant and Joan Bennett co-star in Big Brown Eyes which had it been done over at Warner Brothers would have been standard material for James Cagney and Joan Blondell. In fact the whole project was an unusual one for Paramount, it was a gritty urban drama that Warner Brothers specialized in.Grant is a police detective and Bennett a manicurist turned reporter (only in Hollywood) who team up in life and who team up to solve a series of robberies. What begins as high end jewel robberies turns deadly serious when during a payoff gone bad, a baby is killed in the park by a stray bullet.When the doer Lloyd Nolan is acquitted in court due to perjured testimony and political influence, Grant quits the force and Bennett goes back to manicuring and look for justice in an unofficial manner. Need I say they get it though you have to see Big Brown Eyes to find out how its done. But I will say that forensics and Bennett's manicurist training does help a lot. Walter Pidgeon is also in the cast as a crooked politician, hip deep in the rackets, a type that Thomas E. Dewey was putting in jail with increasing frequency in New York at the time. Two very funny supporting performances come from Marjorie Gateson as an amorous robbery victim with an eye for Cary Grant and Douglas Fowley who was one of the gang that they trick into squealing. That is the highlight of the movie.Big Brown Eyes is a slick comedy directed by Raoul Walsh who gets the whole cast in sync like a Swiss watch. An unusual film for Cary Grant, but his fans will like it.