The Big Street (1942)

Little Pinks is in love with a nightclub singer named Gloria. But it is a unrequited love as she does not know that he exists. Pinks is a shy busboy and Gloria only goes out with men who ... See full summary »

Director:

Irving Reis

Writers:

Leonard Spigelgass (screenplay), Damon Runyon (from the Collier's Magazine story "Little Pinks")

Stars:

Henry Fonda, Lucille Ball, Barton MacLane

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Henry Fonda	...	Little Pinks
Lucille Ball	...	Gloria Lyons
Barton MacLane	...	Case Ables
Eugene Pallette	...	Nicely Nicely Johnson
Agnes Moorehead	...	Violette Shumberg
Sam Levene	...	Horsethief
Ray Collins	...	Professor B
Marion Martin	...	Mimi Venus
William T. Orr	...	Decatur Reed (as William Orr)
George Cleveland	...	Colonel Samuel Venus
Vera Gordon	...	Mrs. Lefkowitz
Ozzie Nelson and Orchestra	...	Night Club Orchestra
Ozzie Nelson	...	Orchestra Leader

Storyline

Little Pinks is in love with a nightclub singer named Gloria. But it is a unrequited love as she does not know that he exists. Pinks is a shy busboy and Gloria only goes out with men who are loaded. When she tries to dump Case for richer Reed, Case dumps her down the stairs. After months of treatment, she will never walk, but Pinks is the only one who takes care of her. He pays all her bills and sends her flowers with unsigned cards. But to Gloria, he is nothing in her eyes. When she wants to leave New York for Florida, to be with the money set, he takes her.

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Plot Keywords:

eating contest | busboy | nightclub performer | new york to florida trip | fortune hunter | 

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Taglines:

It's LUCILLE! The Laugh-Queen Everybody Loves! (reissue poster)

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Genres:

Drama | Music | Romance

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 September 1942 (USA)

Also Known As:

Damon Runyon's The Big Street

Filming Locations:

RKO Studios - 780 N. Gower Street, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

RKO Radio Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

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).

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Quotes

Louie - Headwaiter: [Little Pinks, busboy, is busily scavenging leftover champagne and caviar from a restaurant table to take to Gloria] It's none of my business, Pinks, but can't that dame of yours eat nothin' but champagne and caviar?
Agustus 'Little Pinks' Pinkerton, II: She's on a diet.

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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 --"

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Connections

Featured in Lucy and Desi: A Home Movie (1993)

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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 Reviews

The Heart of Broadway

Years before Damon Runyon got Broadway and screen immortality with Guys and Dolls, one of his short stories was adapted for the silver screen concerning the unrequited love of a bus boy for a Broadway entertainer. That story was The Big Street and the title is named for the street that Runyon chronicled, Broadway.

Though The Big Street got good reviews for its stars Henry Fonda and Lucille Ball, the subject matter was way too much of a downer for mass audience appeal. The plot as it is tells the story of Little Pinks who is madly in love with this nightclub entertainer who being the mistress of gangster Barton MacLane, can't see him for beans and wouldn't look up from the table to try.

That all changes when MacLane slaps her so hard she falls down a flight of stairs and becomes paralyzed. All abandon her then and in truth she didn't exactly near and endear herself to too many. That is except for Fonda and the Broadway characters he lines up to give her a helping hand.

A movie like The Big Street could not be made today because we don't have the rich assortment of character players to entertain us. The people Damon Runyon created were made for such performers as Sam Levene, Ray Collins, Millard Mitchell, etc. And of course the two best performers who steal the film from the leads when they're on are Agnes Moorehead and Eugene Palette. Moorehead didn't do too much comedy and her gift for it would not be tapped again until she was Endora in Bewitched.

Lady for a Day and Guys and Dolls enjoyed much greater success because they were done in a comic vein. My guess is that is what people expect when they see Damon Runyon on a theater program credit.

Still The Big Street is nicely-nicely done as Eugene Palette and Stubby Kaye would say.