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The Big Street

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Runyonesque busboy Little Pinks (Henry Fonda) hitchhikes to Florida with a gangster's (Barton MacLane) ex-moll (Lucille Ball) in a wheelchair.
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The Big Street

Critics Reviews

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James Agee TIME Magazine Ball, who was born for the parts Ginger Rogers sweats over, tackles her "emotional" role as if it were sirloin and she didn't care who was looking. Feb 22, 2018 Full Review Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews A dispiriting tale. Rated: C+ May 18, 2011 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Jack M What’s waste of a great cast! It was painful watching one of my favorite actors, Henry Fonda embarrass himself pushing Lucille Ball’s wheelchair from NYC to Miami. Fonda prostrates himself endlessly before the insufferably mean snarky Lucy. He takes the creepy abuse and goes endlessly back for more. It ends finally with crippled Lucy belting out a song from her table to an adoring crowd at the overflowing night club. She dies of unbearable happiness after Fonda steered her through a few awkward dance steps while the entire cast looks on in awed silence and Agnès Moorehead weeps shamelessly. Fonda bites his lip to keep from laughing and carries Lucy’s lifeless body up the stairs to gaze at the moon. I felt exhausted after enduring this mess and vowed to never let the name Damon Runyon be uttered in my presence. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 10/06/25 Full Review Raj A First time seeing this film and while I enjoyed watching it because I’m a lover of classic black and white films regardless of script, this one was definitely not one of my favorites. Of course Henry Fonda was his stellar self playing the forlorn hapless hero who sacrifices everything for the spoiled selfish Lucille Ball. As a fan of Miss Ball I was touched by her poignant performance as the tragic nightclub singer. This was worth a watch if only to see the famous Queen of comedy in a serious and touching role. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 10/05/25 Full Review Audience Member Decided to watch as one of Lucille Ball's critical successes. It didn't age well, and she was a very dislikable character. it was nostalgic, to see an old movie, if however implausible some of the plot points were. One has to recall people used to go to the movies *every* week... Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/28/23 Full Review Audience Member The best romance movie ever made! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/26/23 Full Review Audience Member Sensational movie, I'm a HUGE Lucy fan and this is some of her best work its a shame that they took out a major dancing scene from the movie and the fact I cant find the song she sings in it either. But still one of my favorites. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/08/23 Full Review Audience Member Henry Fonda gets the top billing, but it is Lucille Ball's performance that elevates the film above its ordinary romantic storyline. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/06/23 Full Review Read all reviews
The Big Street

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Movie Info

Synopsis Runyonesque busboy Little Pinks (Henry Fonda) hitchhikes to Florida with a gangster's (Barton MacLane) ex-moll (Lucille Ball) in a wheelchair.
Director
Irving Reis
Producer
Damon Runyon
Screenwriter
Leonard Spigelgass
Distributor
RKO Radio Pictures
Production Co
RKO Radio Pictures Inc.
Genre
Comedy, Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Aug 13, 1942, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Aug 11, 2008
Runtime
1h 28m
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