Big City Blues is a marvelous reminder of the vibrancy of American cinema in the early sound days. Directed by the always reliable Mervyn LeRoy, the film features uncredited performances by a wonderful cast, including Humphrey Bogart, Lyle Talbot, Dennis O'Keefe, Dick Powell (hilarious as the voice of a radio ad-man expounding on the virtues of Yum Yum brand popcorn), and Clarence Muse (who delivers some terrific singing in a speakeasy scene), as well as Joan Blondell as the brassy showgirl with a heart of gold, Eric Linden as a smalltown rube, and especially Walter Catlett as Linden's Cousin Gibby, who's responsible for most of the trouble that takes place. Written by Lillie Hayward, the script is hilarious, intelligent, and insightful, especially when it pokes fun at the peccadilloes of big city life. Bogart has a particularly juicy line when, reading from a newspaper, he informs partygoers that the police have recently picked up a criminal with "a handgun in one pocket and a lipstick and powderpuff in the other"! The same party sequence also features the sight of a nervous young lady reading from the infamous (and much censored) lesbian novel "The Well of Loneliness" by Radclyffe Hall. In short, this is a fine example of pre-Code filmmaking and should be of interest to all fans of 30s cinema.
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JohnSeal8 December 2002
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bkoganbing29 September 2008Humphrey Bogart's first appearance in Warner Brothers picture was in a small featured role in Big City Blues which starred Eric Linden and Joan Blondell. It's the story of a young kid from Hoopersville, Indiana who comes to the New York City to seek fame and fortune and gets a great deal less than he bargained for.
Linden plays our young man fresh off the farm and the first Linden does is look up cousin Walter Catlett who is playing the usual Walter Catlett sharpie. I do love the way Catlett keeps opening his wallet and to his amazement can't seem to find any money there. He latches on to Linden the way a political 'consultant' latches on to a spendthrift candidate.
Of course Linden's arrival in the Big Apple is cause for a party which means bootleg booze, chorus girls, and some dance music. Catlett takes the liberty and Linden's money and room to throw a party so Eric can presumably meet some of the 'important' people Catlett knows. Among the guests are Joan Blondell and a bevy of her chorus girl friends.
But things go terribly wrong and one of the girls, Josephine Dunn, winds up dead. When that happens the guests scatter with Catlett the first out the door and Blondell the last, leaving poor Linden holding the bag. Of course Linden panics and spends the next day a fugitive looking for Blondell.
Mervyn LeRoy directs Big City Blues at a sprightly pace and when you've got players like Blondell, Bogey, Catlett, and most of all Guy Kibbee playing an oaf of a house detective you know the film will be entertaining. In fact down the cast list you've got Herman Bing as a waiter, Lyle Talbot as another party guest, J. Carrol Naish as the supplying bootlegger, and Dennis O'Keefe in a small bit in a crap game and more besides, you're in for a real treat if you're like me, a big fan of the days when all these faces ruled films. Dick Powell is heard only as a radio announcer.
Kibbee by the way turns out to be the hero of the film, but you have to see it to see how he accomplishes that. And of course you have to see what happens to naive young Eric Linden.
Some nice blue cracks in this before the Code film pepper Big City Blues throughout the running time. Although one very big screen legend was in the cast, the film is actually a real salute to some of the great character players the movies ever had. -
chinaskee15 June 2001This comedy/drama from the olden days has quite a bit to recommend it.Young rube from Indiana moves to New York City,loses all his money,falls in love with a chorus girl(Joan Blondell),and attends a wild hotel party where the bathtub gin is flowing freely,all in the space of about 48 hours!Some interesting cinematography and that great 30's rapid-fire dialogue which seems to be a lost art these days.Joan Blondell has a very funny scene at a speakeasy craps table.Humphrey Bogart,who was still a starving actor himself at the time,appears briefly in an uncredited role,and as in most of his early roles,has that one moment of unleashed anger that served him so well in later years.Lots of fun.
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lugonian5 March 2006BIG CITY BLUES (Warner Brothers, 1932), directed by Mervyn LeRoy, is a Depression era melodrama without the focus on the unemployed in breadlines or the homeless struggling to survive, but a cliché story about the survival of a country boy who ventures to the big city, the "Big Apple," better known as New York. Starring Joan Blondell, her role is actually secondary but crucial to the plot, while the Eric Linden, whose name comes below hers, is the central focus.
The story revolves around Buddy Reeves (Eric Linden), a naive country boy from Hoopersville, Indiana. After inheriting $1100, he decides to fulfill his dream by coming to live in the greatest city in the world, New York. Unable to take his dog, Duke, with him, Buddy offers the pooch to a Willow Junction station master (Grant Mitchell), who accepts the animal only as a loan, knowing full well, that he will do exactly what he did as a youth, by venturing to the big city only to return home disillusioned. However, Buddy believes different, especially since he only has a one way ticket. Upon his arrival at Grand Central Station, Buddy, as he carries his suitcases, strolls down with amazement the busy streets surrounded by the "rush, tension and crowds." He registers at the Hotel Hercules, room 3663, where his Cousin Gibbony (Walter Catlett) enters the scene to teach him the ropes in becoming a true New Yorker as well as fast-talking his way in acquiring some of his money. Gibbony, a comedic con-artist who claims to know the most important people in town, ranging from Mayor Jimmy Walker to actress Constance Bennett, arranges for the young lad to be introduced to a handful of his friends by having an all night party to take place in Buddy's hotel room. That evening, Buddy becomes infatuated with an attractive show girl named Vida Fleet (Joan Blondell). During this very active party, which consists of radio background music to current hit tunes as "My baby Just Cares for Me," Lem Sully (Lyle Talbot), actor and drunk, along with globetrotter Shep Atkins (Humphrey Bogart) get into an argument over the drunken Jackie DeVoe (Josephine Dunn), a Follies girl. A physical fight ensues, leading to a whiskey bottle being thrown across the room, hitting the head of Jackie, causing her death. Suddenly the room is quiet. All the guests make a hasty departure, especially Vida, leaving Buddy to be faced with a possible murder charge. Breaking away as Hummell, the house detective (Guy Kibbee) enters to discover the body, Buddy hides amongst the crowded city, hoping to avoid being arrested by Quelkin (Thomas Jackson) of the homicide squad, who is hot on his trail.
Others in the cast consist of Inez Courtney as Faun; Ned Sparks as Stackhouse; Jobyna Howland (in her Marjorie Rambeau-type performance) as Mrs. Cartlidge, the 55 Club speakeasy "madame", along with interesting assortment of notable actors assuming no screen credit, including Josephine Dunn (Al Jolson's co-star in 1928's THE SINGING FOOL); J. Carroll Naish as a bootlegger; Herman Bing as a German waiter; Clarence Muse as the black singing waiter vocalizing "Every Day Can Be a Sunday"; and the heard but not seen Dick Powell as the radio announcer advertising Yum Yum Popcorn.
Eric Linden is ideally cast as naive but vulnerable young lad, along with Blondell in her usual street smart, tough but loyal girlfriend performance. They would be reunited once more in race-car drama, THE CROWD ROARS (1932) starring James Cagney. Of the supporting players, it is Walter Catlett sporting glasses, derby and cigar (a cross between comedians Groucho Marx and Robert Woolsey), the scene stealer who livens things up.
With so much happening during its brisk and brief 65 minutes, BIG CITY BLUES moves as quickly as any speeding cars or pedestrians depicted on screen. Along with other then current New York sounding film titles, MANHATTAN PARADE (1931), CENTRAL PARK (1932), 42nd STREET (1933), just to name a few, no other movie studio like Warners captures the feel and essence of New York City life, and BIG CITY BLUES is no exception. Not as well known as the more famous New York movies of this period, it's worth catching whenever presented during the late night hours on Turner Classic Movies.(**1/2) -
classicsoncall19 June 2005Perhaps to underscore the quick pace of life in New York, "Big City Blues" moves along at a hectic sixty three minute pace, and tries to cram as much action as it can into that amount of time. Willow Station railroad agent (Grant Mitchell) has been there and done that, and bets a ten spot with a buddy that anxious traveler Bud Reeves (Eric Linden) will be back within a month.
For his part, Bud is flush with enthusiasm and eleven hundred dollars and ready to make his mark on the big town. He's met by fast talking cousin "Gibby" Gibboney (Walter Catlett), who has a knack for getting others to pay his way, and completely monopolizes the conversation in every scene he's in. He's on a first name basis with a few up and coming showgirls, particularly cute Vida Fleet (Joan Blondell), who immediately becomes fond of the rube from Hoopersville, Indiana. Things move a bit too fast though, as Gibby organizes a welcome party for Bud in his room at the Hotel Hercules, and all manner of show biz types begin to arrive, among them Shep Adkins (Humphrey Bogart). Shep is about to move in on Len Scully's (Lyle Talbot) girl, Lenny objects with his fists, and a brawl breaks out that leaves the young showgirl dead.
Not knowing what to do, young Bud follows the example of everyone else at the party, he high tails it before the law can arrive. Night watchman Hummel (Guy Kibbee) revels in his five minutes of fame for finding the dead victim, while detective Quelkin (Thomas Jackson) tails Vida who he hopes can lead him to Bud Reeves, guilty until proved innocent. By accident, Hummel solves the case by going for his whiskey bottle in the hotel linen closet, where he finds Scully's body, a suicide victim with a shard of the broken bottle that neatly fits with the piece recovered by the police.
Back at Willow Station, it only takes the railroad agent three days to collect on his bet, as Bud gratefully touches down on home turf. He still has visions of grandeur for life in New York, but has grown up enough to have some patience for it. Maybe next time, things will work out a bit better.
By 1932, Humphrey Bogart had a handful of movie credits to his name, but nothing significant as of yet. That was about to change with his next film, "Three on a Match", which also co-starred Joan Blondell. Both would work together two more times, in 1936's "Bullets or Ballots" with Edward G. Robinson, and the 1937 comedy "Stand-In". All are recommended for fans of either, while "Bullets or Ballots" is a fine early example of the mobster genre made popular by films like "Public Enemy" and "White Heat". -
AlsExGal9 April 2023From Warner Brothers and director Mervyn LeRoy. Eric Linden stars as Bud Reeves, a naive small-town Indiana boy who's arrived in NYC to make a name for himself. He gets taken in by his unscrupulous cousin Gibby (Walter Catlett) who tries to work the kid for every cent he's got, while Bud falls in love with showgirl Vida (Joan Blondell). However, when things take a dark turn, Bud may be left holding the bag and on his way to the hot seat.
This starts out as a rather broad comedy, with Linden playing his out-of-town Bud as a complete rube. Then it seems to switch gears and become a sweet romance between Linden and Blondell, before taking an unexpected turn and becoming deadly serious. These tonal shifts are jarring, and the movie may have worked better if it had chosen one and stuck with it. Blondell is cute and likable as always. I watched this for Bogart, who isn't even credited, although his role was a little bigger than I expected, playing a shady party-goer. -
ksf-216 November 2020Eric Linden is "Bud", going to the big city NYC! Linden was only about 24, and would only be in hollywood about ten years. Some heavy hitters for co-stars: the awesome Ned Sparks, Guy Kibbee, Grant Mitchell.. and Walter Catlett is his cousin Gibby, who claims to know Constance Bennett. and Bud meets the young beautiful Vida (Joan Blondell ), and he falls for her. Gibby is always jabbering away, like a fast talking con man. keeps the pace moving. and it's still during prohibition, so part of the plot involves dealing with bootleggers. and an early, uncredited role for Bogart. about halfway through, there's a huge, drunken brawl, and when it hits the fan, here come the cops! the big city is a more dangerous place than Bud bargained for. good stuff, in the shortie from Warner Brothers. the resolution to the who-dunnit and the ending itself are a bit odd, but no biggie. directed by Mervyn LeRoy, nominated for Random Harvest. and directed so many other great films. check em out. Linden kind of disappeared after 1941. there's more info on him at wikipedia.
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paparay25 September 2004WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD! This is a fun movie that gets better after the first viewing. I first watched it just for the early Bogart. When you watch it for the whole effect you'll probably wonder why it's never been on VHS or DVD. Well, there's this young man who's leaving the sticks for the Big Apple. The old men at the train station try to tell him he's in for disappointment, but he doesn't listen. In New York he gets an $8 room (nice for 1932) where his cousin takes advantage of him by using some of his $1,100 cash for parties and booze. He meets Joan Blondell and they are attracted to each other. It's funny how in this pre-code film, they never kiss once, even though adult themes are everywhere. Well, during the party in which almost everyone is drunk or stoned, Bogart tries to take another man's girlfriend home, which starts a brawl. A bottle is thrown, striking a girl in the head, killing her. Everybody runs off, leaving the poor kid from the sticks with the dead girl in his hotel room. As he avoids the police, he meets up with an older woman who would like him to spend some time with her. He finds Joan Blondell again, and loses the rest of his cash trying to win enough money so they can get away from it all. They get caught, taken down to the station, are grilled, and finally Bogart's brawling partner is found after hanging himself, with "proof" that the kid from the sticks is innocent. The two kids hug at the train station and they young man goes back to the sticks, only to decide to make some money to return to New York.
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Michael_Elliott7 January 2010Big City Blues (1932)
** 1/2 (out of 4)
A rather predictable but mildly entertaining drama from Warner about a naive boy (Eric Linden) from Indiana who heads off to New York City and doesn't last long there. His first night there sees him lose all his money but even worse is that he is at a party where a woman gets killed and soon he's getting the blame as well as another innocent woman (Joan Blondell). Plot wise there's really nothing too original here but I did like the fact that the entire trip in NYC only takes place within 24 hours and I thought this added some charm to the film because a lot of plots like this take place over a longer period of time. I also think director Mervyn LeRoy does a nice job handling everything as he keeps the film moving well and manages to have some nice drama and even a few laughs. The screenplay keeps things fairly simple as nothing over the top ever happens and instead we're told a pretty straight-forward story from start to finish. I think the biggest problem with the film is that the lead character does some incredibly stupid things that you can't help but dislike him and not really care what happens to him. Just check out the sequence where he's gambling as this scene will certainly have most people wanting to strangle him. Linden is decent in the role but one can't help but wonder why he was selected when there was surely a lot more talent on Warner's lot. Blondell gets a pretty thankless role but she does a good job with it and certainly make it a lot better than I'm sure it was on the page. There are about twelve different actors shown during the opening credits but they left out Humphrey Bogart who has a pretty good role as one of the tough guys at the party who gets a fight started. I'm not sure why the studio kept his name off the credits considering it was a bigger role in the film than some of those who actually did get a credit. Fans of these low-budget Warner films from this era will certainly want to check this out but others might want to stay clear. At 63-minutes the film moves along quick enough and is entertaining enough if you've got the time to kill. -
. . . BIG CITY BLUES, with the wealth of knowledge and experience he's able to share with wet-behind-the-ears young whipper-snappers such as "Buddy." In the Big Apple alone, this American patriot has worked as a telegraph operator, process server, part-time Rockaway Beach lifeguard, BMT employee, taxi driver, Turkish bath masseuse, day-shift hymn book binder, night-shift Bowery flophouse functionary, hash slinger, Chinese laundry mauler, pet shop clerk, stiff-sorter at the morgue, coal barge stoker, gin deliverer for an Astoria druggist and Bronx iceman. (Viewers are not told when he cometh.) The station master knows that Manhattan has a real estate valuation north of $1 trillion in 1932 (or 14 zillion Today, adjusted for inflation). Every town needs a train station, just to gain access to Life Masters such as this dude!
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1930s_Time_Machine8 December 2021Mervyn Leroy made some of the greatest films ever.....and he also made this. Can't believe it was his fault, the script and the choice of Eric Linden as lead are terrible; nobody can work miracles.
The grimy, sleazy but exciting New York of 1932 is the only character which shows some sparkle in this nonsense.
You almost feel sorry for young Eric Linden in this who seems to be rehearsing for a school play. It's beyond belief that Joan Blondell could develop any feelings for his character so she doesn't really try... just read the lines, look pretty and get your paycheque.
With a decent script and if Mervyn Leroy had been bothered, it could have been good because the plot itself isn't too bad. None of the scenes however fit together. None of the characters seem to know each other, let alone be aware that they're meant to be filming a movie so to liven it up, after the hick from the sticks has all his money stolen, he gets mixed up in a murder that's then followed by the worst police investigation ever in a film. Our hero doesn't seem that bothered by by any of this but then he gets his happy ending, resolved by an innocent alcoholic hanging himself. Nobody cares!
Can't imagine that Humphrey Bogart was proud of this being his first role at WB. -
film_poster_fan25 January 2022"Big City Blues" is a well written story of a naïve young man who travels to NYC, innocently becomes involved in a murder while falling in love, and then returns home vowing to go back to the city to be with the woman he loves. As played by Eric Linden, he is not an idiot or moron as he is repeatedly called by one reviewer and the film is not a waste of an hour of your life as this reviewer claims. It is very entertaining and fun to view.
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. . . whether they make an honest effort to bring the Real Killers to Justice, or if, conversely, they get their jollies by sadistically torturing random by-standers into False Confessions and Taxpayer-Funded First Degree Murder by Electric Chair, as the actual slayers roam free to slaughter again. Warner Bros. lets BIG CITY BLUES explore this barbaric American Reality of the 1930s--WHICH CONTINUES TODAY--as much as the Censors Responsible for Covering Up Truth in Cinema would allow. But, as Fox "News" always argues, there's two sides to everything. For instance, some cops have families, and might lose their paychecks if no one were ever executed for all the murders happening on their watch. When murderers prove too smart and clever (or lucky) to be caught, does it really hurt Society to grab up a random mentally troubled person, feed him details of a killing "that only the Perp could know," torture and trick him into "confessing," and then give him The Needle after Fifteen Years in Solitary (with no danger of Winter Frostbite, or missing a meal)? Fox "News" would say "No, not really;" this is the Humane Thing to Do to provide "closure" for everyone. Plus, most police "patsies" are like Buddy in BIG CITY BLUES--unarmed wimps easy to "shoot first, plant gun later," or to toy with like a cat with a mouse. This way the cops stay safe while putting food on the table for their families, and they can take out their Aggression on unattached Social Scapegoats such as Buddy, rather than beating their wives and kiddies. In other words, Fox "News" declares this American Way of Justice a "Win-Win" for Everyone (other than a few Sacrificial Buddies).
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planktonrules9 January 2010This film begins with Bud Reeves (Eric Linden) leaving his small home town for a life in New York City. The fast pace of the city is then lampooned in a montage sequence. Yep, the 'big city' certainly is fast...and Reeves is a total boob. This becomes apparent when his cousin (Walter Catlett) preys upon him. Anyone with a dozen functioning brain cells would immediately recognize him as a con man, but dumb ohttp://www.imdb.com/title/tt0022676/usercomments-enterld Reeves lets the guy rob him blind. How can anyone be THAT stupid?! In fact, the Reeves character was awfully broadly written with his "aw, shucks" attitude and wide-eyed innocence. Frankly, he was annoying and completely unrealistic--and this seriously impacted the quality of the film.
When the guests to a party that his cousin puts on (despite Reeves paying for EVERYTHING), you may notice Shep--Humphrey Bogart in his first role with Warner Brothers, though he does not receive screen credit. In addition to Bogart, familiar Warner players Joan Blondell, Guy Kibbee and Ned Sparks are in attendance.
Lyle Talbot, like Bogart, is uncredited in a small scene--and the two of them get involved in a dandy brawl. Then, when the lights go out you hear a scream. When the fight is over and the lights return, a young girl is dead and everyone scrams. Wow..that Reeves is an idiot--and the cops suspect HE did it! And, instead of going to the police, the idiot tries to leave New York. What a moron!! If you haven't noticed, I have called Reeves 'moron' many times and even for a B-film this is a terribly written character. This certainly didn't help Eric Linden's career, though the stink of this film didn't seem to hurt Blondell or Bogart. It is quite bad, but not bad enough to be anything more than a small speed bump in their careers.
Overall, in insignificant and dumb film--and my nominee for the broadest morality tale written in the 1930s. The only people who may want to see it are Bogart fans--otherwise, beware--it's just not worth an hour of your life. -
mossgrymk6 August 2021Some nice pre code sexiness courtesy of a saucy, racy screenplay by Lily Hayward and the always sassy Joan Blondell. But at this early stage in his long, mostly good directorial career Mervyn Le Roy did not have the skill or desire to tone down Eric Linden's way too broad rube and he, along with an equally over the top Walter Catlett as his sleazy cousin, tends to drag down the proceedings into a pit of noisy, exaggerated boredom. C plus. PS...Bogie's first WB feature features a role he thankfully soon jettisoned...the cynical roue.
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SnoopyStyle9 September 2022Small town Bud Reeves buys an one-way ticket to New York City and leaves his doggie behind. He connects with his fast-talking scheming cousin Gibby and falls for chorus girl Vida Fleet. Everybody is having fun and partying in Bud's room until something bad happens. Everybody runs away. Vida is spotted leaving the room.
Why does Vida ask if the boy is white? It seems to be a joke that I don't get. I hope it's not racist. The talk is fast. One should keep an eye out for Bogie in one of his early minor roles as a thug. I would have preferred a darker ending for a noir film. It's pre-Code. Let's take full advantage of that. This should be a paranoid journey into the dark underbelly of the big city. This is fine. -
michaelchager30 September 2023A little Eric Linden goes a long way. Blondell (Vida) is the life in this production, taking Linden (Bud) under her wing during his visit to NYC through the typical activities like a hotel gin party, a dice game and his arrest for suspicion of murder. This is a diverting NYC movie, like by Woody Allen with Linden, a New Yorker himself, an Allen lead. Mervyn LeRoy directs with beautiful photography, strong acting from a fun script. Bud wanted to meet Constance Bennett but gets to meet Vida and a heavy hitting lineup of Warners talent including Lyle Talbot, Bogie, Jobyna Howland, Ned Sparks, Walter Catlett, Inez Courtney, Guy Kibbee and the great Thomas Jackson. The Indiana scenes with Grant Mitchell lend authenticity.
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boblipton29 September 2023Eric Linden leaves his Indiana town for New York with nort of a grand, determined to never come back.
It's based on a play by Ward Morehouse, and does it ever show! Although director Mervyn Leroy tries to open it up for the screen, it's mostly through editing tricks. When co-star Joan Blondell has a long speech, she sounds pretty stagey, and a game of dice is narrated endlessly rather than shown in any manner.
Even so, it's interesting for its cynical attitude, as well as being the first movie Humphrey Bogart appeared in at Warner Brothers. At 63 minutes, it won't take up much of your time, and there's the usual wealth of Warner Brothers stock company. -
AAdaSC8 September 2019Eric Linden (Bud) is a simpleton who heads for New York to find his fortune. On arrival, he meets up with relative Walter Catlett (Gibby) who vows to show him a good time. Hence, the introduction to chorus girls and in particular Joan Blondell (Vida). However, things take a turn for the worse when he holds a party and chorus girl Josephine Dunn (Jackie) is murdered. Everyone bails out of the apartment sharpish. Linden is suspect number one. Can things work out in New York for him?
Well, I didn't expect the shock of a murder in what was up to that point a light, frothy tale. Maybe things will start to get good. Unfortunately not. The main problem is the awful lead character who is just impossible to relate to. Once the party scene starts, you become aware that Humphrey Bogart is in this film. And he's in a familiar Mr No-Nonsense role. Great. I then realized where his fame began. Obviously, he's going to kill Linden and audiences were so grateful for this that he became an overnight sensation and his popularity soared to the heights of superstardom. Well, that's not what happens no matter how much you may wish for it. He does start a fight, though, which provides the film with its most memorable sequence. -
view_and_review27 June 2023"Big City Blues" stars Eric Linden as Bud Reeves, a small town kid from Hoopersville, Indiana who went to New York. While in New York he was taken for a ride and swindled by a man he referred to as Cousin Gibby (Walter Catlett). Bud was totally ignorant to the fact Cousin Gibby was bilking him, but getting fleeced by Cousin Gibby would become the least of his worries.
During a party a girl was killed with a champagne bottle and Bud would become the number one suspect. The only person he trusted in all of New York was a small town woman named Vida Fleet (Joan Blondell) and he was hoping that she could help him out.
"Big City Blues" is chiefly about how big cities chew up and spit out country bumpkins like Bud on a daily basis. Pie-eyed suckers like him flock to New York, L. A., and Chicago on a regular basis just to find out how cut-throat and vicious those places are. I liked the theme of the movie even if I didn't like Bud's character. He was too Mayberry. It was pathetic. I doubt any normal human being ever talked like Bud did.
Also of note in the movie was Humphrey Bogart. This was before he became a big star, hence he had a small part in the movie. -
jonerogers15 January 2019A very early Talkie film and one that at 63 minutes long gets the point across its not always so cool in the Big Apple. its the story of Bud Reeves a naive Young farm hand seeking a lavish and exciting new life in New York. He travels there with enough money to last as long as needed before a suitable job is found and when he arrives he seeks the advice and companionship of his Cousin who ends up fleecing him for every dollar he possesses, pretending to have no money on him as he proves by continually opening his empty wallet.
The loss of all his money is bad enough but at a party on his first night in his apartment the jolly festivities end bad when a drunk picks a fight with the legend himself Mr Humphrey Bogart who plays Shep Adkins a wise cracking young man who is actually Unaccredited in this his first Warner film. A young woman is killed accidentally in the fight as something cracks her on the head and everyone leaves her to be found by the House detective Hummell played by that great actor Mr Guy Kibbee.
well they know who the apartment is occupied by and a hunt is on, meanwhile the young Bud is beside himself and seeks the help of Vida Fleet played by the lovely Joan Blondell. it really is a short film but enough to entertain and a very young sharp dressed Mr Bogart is born to Warner brothers and deserved a credit in the line up. -
gbill-748778 December 2021A short bit of fluff, dealing with a run of the mill pre-Code theme, that of a young person (Eric Linden) heading off to New York City to make it. There he meets his unscrupulous uncle (Walter Catlett), who talks big, but immediately begins leeching off his nephew. While it seems pretty obvious where it's heading, things take a pretty unexpected turn when the pair host a bootleg party up in their hotel room. Among the party-goers is a Ziegfeld girl with a soft heart (good old Joan Blondell), as well as a sharp talking young man (an uncredited Humphrey Bogart, in his first film for Warner Bros.).
This isn't a masterpiece or anything, but I loved its energy, and seeing these actors. Blondell is wonderful both as a budding love interest to Lindell, as well as when she spouts out all the lingo while shooting craps, one of my favorite moments. Catlett is oddly charismatic and the rest of the supporting cast is deep.
There is also a forbidden aspect to the whole thing, with Prohibition still being in effect and yet the booze flowing and intoxicated people alternating between bantering with one another and various bad behavior. The book one of them is reading, 'The Well of Loneliness,' was very well known and highly controversial for its lesbian protagonist. There is darkness to the plot twist and how it resolves, house detective Guy Kibbee leading the way while searching for his stashed alcohol, but it's buoyed by the vulnerability of Lindell and sweetness of Blondell.
The film isn't a deep study of anything really, but it is a small window into the period. It reflects the changing fortunes of the Depression and the theme of hunger when Blondell says "Chorus girls used to get pearls and diamonds. Now all they expect is a corned beef sandwich and they yell if they don't get it." Director Mervyn LeRoy zips things along over 63 minutes, and includes a few nice visual moments along the way, including a montage of close-ups. If you like films from the era, it's worth seeing. -
It starts in Willow Junction, a fictional Indiana town, where a naive young man (Eric Linden) says goodbye to his dog at the train station. He's heading to New York City with money bequeathed to him by an aunt. The agent (Grant Mitchell) thinks he'll be back inside of a month and wagers a bet on it with an onlooker. Of course, we know that it wouldn't be a precode drama if big adventures and disaster did not await Mr. Linden in the Big Apple, so chances are he'll be back...only it doesn't take a month. More like a weekend, since he returns just three days later!
During those eventful three days in the city, he doesn't actually get the blues because there isn't enough time. He's too busy meeting up with a slick talking cousin (Walter Catlett) who quickly introduces him to some showgirls. Yeah, these gals are a far cry from the wholesome chicks back in the midwest.
Fortunately for Linden, one of the women (Joan Blondell) is not a wild partier. She's learned to do what she's had to in order to survive metropolitan life, but there is a softness about her that he finds attractive. A get-together takes place later inside Linden's hotel room, which the cousin arranges and to which is invited a motley assortment of urban types. Blondell comes to the party, and when the group goes off to another suite for awhile, they remain behind and get to know one another. She admits she is from a small town in upstate New York.
The rest of the group comes back, and trouble follows. This bunch includes a bootlegger (an uncredited Humphrey Bogart, already stereotyped by Warners); some drunken chorus girls; and another man (Lyle Talbot) who doesn't like Bogey putting the moves on his girl. Incidentally, Lyle Talbot is the most handsome actor in this film, more handsome than Eric Linden. One has to wonder why the studio didn't capitalize on Talbot's good looks and turn him into their very own Cary Grant.
Soon Talbot and Bogart engage in a brawl, the lights go out and the girl in question is killed when a broken bottle cuts her skull. Everyone scrams, leaving Linden to deal with the death on his own since this is his room. Blondell tries to whisk him away when a detective (Guy Kibbee), whom they met earlier, turns up.
The middle portion of the film has Linden on his own, wandering around the big city trying to make sense of recent events. He stops into a club and meets a wealthy older woman (the always superb Jobyna Howland). It is implied that she is on the prowl for a younger man and indulges gigolos.
She can see that Linden is upset about something. When he overhears patrons discussing a newspaper headline and realizes the police are still looking for him, he skips out. Soon he reconnects with Blondell, and they go gambling to get their mind off their worries. But the law will probably catch up to them.
He loses all his money at a high stakes gaming table. When he accidentally drops his hotel key, someone picks it up and knows he is the man the police are looking for...so he is apprehended and taken in, with Blondell in tow.
However, he is not arrested because the hotel detective has found Talbot in a closet, having hanged himself. The detective has also found proof in Talbot's possession- the top half of the broken bottle that killed the party girl- which clears Linden. Since Linden has run out of money, he must return to his family in Indiana but at least he is a free man.
There is a poignant scene where Blondell sees Linden off before he hops the train to the midwest. They will stay in touch and it is left open-ended that they may end up marrying someday. The last segment of the film has him returning to the station in Willow Junction, a good way to bookend the story, where he is reunited with his dog. The agent collects on the bet he won.