Long before LUCILLE BALL took a trip with hubby Dezi Arnaz in THE LONG, LONG TRAILER, she took another kind of cross-country trip to Florida in a wheelchair being pushed by an adoring HENRY FONDA. At least, that's what we're supposed to take from THE BIG STREET in the way of plot development.
It's easy to see why THE BIG STREET never made it big with the critics. First of all, the offbeat casting with LUCILLE BALL as an Agnes Moorehead kind of monster, just doesn't work. Secondly, HENRY FONDA's adoration of her, despite being treated with complete indifference, doesn't hold water unless you want to think of his busboy as being retarded. And lastly, all of the characters have as much depth as cartoon creations in a comic strip--nothing to make them seem even remotely believable.
Not that RKO didn't try. They've got Agnes Moorehead, Barton Mac Lane, Eugene Palette, Ray Collins, Sam Levene, William T. Orr and Ozzie Nelson and His Orchestra all pitching in with supporting roles that outshine the stars.
Any Damon Runyon story has its problems in being transferred literally to the screen. In short story form, this probably worked on paper. But given the sharp eye of a camera and an audience, it simply fell flat at the box-office and for years Lucille Ball vowed never to do any more dramatic roles. Well, here's why.
Summing up: Neither Fonda nor Ball are on display here the way you'd like to remember them.
It's easy to see why THE BIG STREET never made it big with the critics. First of all, the offbeat casting with LUCILLE BALL as an Agnes Moorehead kind of monster, just doesn't work. Secondly, HENRY FONDA's adoration of her, despite being treated with complete indifference, doesn't hold water unless you want to think of his busboy as being retarded. And lastly, all of the characters have as much depth as cartoon creations in a comic strip--nothing to make them seem even remotely believable.
Not that RKO didn't try. They've got Agnes Moorehead, Barton Mac Lane, Eugene Palette, Ray Collins, Sam Levene, William T. Orr and Ozzie Nelson and His Orchestra all pitching in with supporting roles that outshine the stars.
Any Damon Runyon story has its problems in being transferred literally to the screen. In short story form, this probably worked on paper. But given the sharp eye of a camera and an audience, it simply fell flat at the box-office and for years Lucille Ball vowed never to do any more dramatic roles. Well, here's why.
Summing up: Neither Fonda nor Ball are on display here the way you'd like to remember them.