Jack Haley stars as the back end of a panto horse act. He thinks he has inherited a plush dude ranch. In fact he has inherited a broken down ranch. And what do you know but his friends club together to do up the place and then they put on a show in the barn. Of course it is a success. Ozzie Nelson and his wife Harriet Hoctor are also featured.
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malcolmgsw31 March 2022
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mark.waltz7 May 2019Ozzie and Harriet Nelson are not going to be for all taste in today's view of what is talent. But like Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, they were a variation of Lunt and Fontanne, maybe dated, but certainly an interesting curiosity. Harriet is a headliner in a Vaudeville show where Ozzie and Jack Haley do a horse act that has to be seen to be believed. It is truly hysterical in parts, but it is also simply bizarre in the way that they make this phony horse move around. In Haley's case, being allegedly the back end of the horse has lead him to an emotional crisis, and to get back his masculinity, he wants to open up a western-style hotel to show off what he actually can do on stage. But financial issues get in the way, leaving Haley, the Nelsons and their team of entertainers basically stranded. Obviously things are going to come together somehow, and it's a lot of fun to see how it all unwinds.
Much of the song and dance numbers are pretty dated but there are a few good moments. The burlesque jokes are very silly, and for anybody who was lucky enough to see "Sugar Babies" on Broadway years after this will instantly recognize some of the gags generalized which only an old pro like Haley can get away with. Well known comical character actors Fritz Feld, Fuzzy Knight and Johnny Arthur are among the featured cast, and while much of so humor is eye-rolling oh, there is a sense of charm and innocence that patient viewers might pick up if they can manage to retain their attention. For followers of everything that cast members of "The Wizard of Oz" did, it's a must. -
"Take It Big" is a complete flop. This almost even isn't a movie. It is just a scenario wherein Jack Haley inherits a dude ranch out West, but then arrives at a different ranch and mistakenly thinks he owns it. And that's it! They just 'milk' that for lame jokes and then throw in a few songs.
The highlight song, however, is a 5 minute rendition of Figaro by Frank Forest. Why is it in a movie about dude ranches? I could also ask why the character played by Mary Beth Hughes is even in this, too. The character played by Hughes is only nice to Jack Haley when some unknown other guy is in view....trying to make that guy jealous. We never learn, however, who this other guy is. At the same time, Haley has a gal (played by Harriet Hilliard) who actually likes him (and we know this because Hilliard tied Haley's bow tie a few times!), but she is generally ignored throughout the movie's 75 minutes. Hilliard, apparently, is only in this to sing a song.
Add a lifeless Ozzie Nelson playing himself and you have got almost nothing good (save for the operatic aria mentioned above and one OK song by Haley).